Oaklandazulasylum

2003 studio album by Why?

Oaklandazulasylum

Studio album by

Why?

Released

June 16, 2003 (2003-06-16)^[1]

Genre

Indie rock
alternative hip hop
sound collage^[2]

Length

38:30

Label

Anticon

Producer

Why?, Jel

Why? chronology

Miss Ohio's Nameless
(2001)

Oaklandazulasylum
(2003)

Early Whitney
(2003)

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	70/100^[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Dusted Magazine	favorable^[5]
Pitchfork	8.1/10^[6]
Prefix	7/10^[7]
Stylus Magazine	A−^[8]

Oaklandazulasylum is a studio album by Yoni Wolf under the Why? moniker. It was released by Anticon on June 16, 2003.^[1] It peaked at number 85 on the CMJ Radio 200 chart.^[9]. While it was not a full-band Why? record, the band now count it as part of their discography.^[10]

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70% based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[3]

No Ripchord placed it at number 32 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2003" list.^[11] Stylus Magazine contributor Ethan White later said the album had an "anything-goes sound collage aesthetic" which made it "an engaging adventure, all the more charming for its faults. Some found it scattered, but to my ears the variety of the material meant that lackluster moments were easily absorbed into the rough-edged jumble that made up the whole."^[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf, except "Our Neighbor's Daughter" by Wolf and Jel

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ferriswheel"	2:24
2.	"Cold Lunch (Albert Brown Mortuary Dumpster Dive Remix)"	1:36
3.	"Afterschool America"	1:19
4.	"Our Neighbor's Daughter"	1:44
5.	"A Little Titanic"	3:32
6.	"Weak Moon"	2:14
7.	"Early Whitney"	4:03
8.	"Dream on Cortelyou"	2:55
9.	"Women Eye, 'No.'"	1:32
10.	"Dirty Glass"	3:27
11.	"Shirtless, Sheetless, And..."	1:59
12.	"Bad Entropy"	5:02
13.	"Seventeen"	2:33
14.	"Ape in Cage with Wire Cutters"	4:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Jonathan "Yoni" Wolf – vocals, production
Jel – co-production (1, 4), drums (14)
Odd Nosdam – sampler (11), art direction, photography
Josiah Wolf – bass guitar (11)
Doug McDiarmid – guitar (12)
Alex Kort – cello (14)

References

^ ^a ^b "Oaklandazulasylum". Anticon. Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ ^a ^b White, Ethan (November 9, 2005). "Why? - Elephant Eyelash - Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Oaklandazulasylum by Why?". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ Kellman, Andy. "Oaklandazulasylum - Why?". AllMusic. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ Thomas-Glass, Daniel (July 21, 2001). "Why? - oaklandazulasylum". Dusted Magazine. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ Dahlen, Chris (July 3, 2003). "WHY?: Oaklandazulasylum". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ Krolak, Mike (June 24, 2003). "Why? - Oaklandazulasylum". Prefix. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ Boeckel, Gentry (September 1, 2003). "Why? - Oaklandazulasylum". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on October 27, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
^ "CMJ Radio 200 (Period Ending 7/29/2003)". CMJ New Music Report: 13. August 11, 2003.
^ "WHY? announce their eighth full-length album, The Well I Fell Into". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2024-08-03.
^ "Top 50 Albums of 2003". No Ripchord. December 21, 2003. Retrieved July 3, 2018.