Why? God? WHY?!
So when I was writing for the Washington City Paper, they didn’t much like me. It was probably fair, since I always made for just about the worst Alt Weekly music journalist ever, being a child of the bloody 'fork, message boards full-up with unsupervised children, and James Joyce white papers. Anyway, I was just digging through some of my old stuff, and no wonder they hated me. But more importantly, no wonder I fucking hated them. Here’s 2 drafts of a pick I did on Why?, my editor’s retort after I yelled at her and told her to take my name off her version, and what eventually went to print. Never before have I had the urge to kill, or die, for syntax. It's too bad, because this kind of writing should probably get people killed. I mean, hell, this is America.
Draft 1 -- Quick, name the best electro-folk anthem by a mustachioed rapper since “Hey Ya.” My money’s on “Rubber Traits” by emcee-cum-rock band frontman Yoni Wolf, aka Why? Well, Why? is sort of Wolf’s pseudonym, but the name has gone from his alias as a really weird rapper, to designating his middle period as a lo-fi impresario in the style of the Sebadoh doing EPMD covers, to the name of a full on rock band. Running the anything-goes eclecticism of his 2003 solo album Oaklandazulasylum through a filter of Malkmus-sized melancholia and shiny guitars, Elephant Eyelashes is among the first releases on anticon records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship, and the fact that it’s far more than a curio is a tribute to Wolf’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter. Wolf has the ability to make slice of life near-nonsense take on anthemic profundity; you know he’s a songsmith when you find yourself hollering along to lines like, “All the people who taught me card tricks are dying.” Wolf’s voice suggests Ad Rock’s shy younger brother with an encyclopedic knowledge of Elephant 6 vocal tics, and his new backing band gives things an organic weight and density hinted at by Wolf’s less direct work in the megahyped, sadly-defunct cLOUDDEAD.
Draft 2 -- Why? used to be a rapper who never really rapped, and busted a capella lines like “I’m not gay, I just like to know who’s at the park throwing Frisbee with their shirts off.” Now Why? is a folk-singer who sounds like Daniel Johnston if he had an enormous budget and b-boy aspirations – but still never left his bedroom. Why? somehow elevates his wafer-thin voice into a malleable musical instrument that steers his songs through the flubs incumbent in spontaneous home recording. It’s a voice that suggests Ad Rock’s shy younger brother with an encyclopedic knowledge of Elephant 6 vocal tics. Running the anything-goes eclecticism of his 2003 solo album Oaklandazulasylum through a filter of Malkmus-sized melancholia and shiny guitars, Elephant Eyelashes is among the first releases on anticon records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship, and the fact that it’s far more than a curio is a tribute to Wolf’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter, and the flat-out talent of his new backing band, who take Why?’s work from the musings of a bedroom impresario (imagine the Sebadoh hunkering down to record a batch of EPMD covers) to a full-on, geeked out rock band. Get ready for a room full of ex-high school spazzes when Why? plays with…
Editor’s response to my comments on her edits -- i'll make the changes tomorrow at work. but i gotta say, that's kinda what you get when you write so damn unclearly. if you read your first draft, and read this one, and think it's not an improvement, we'll have to agree to disagree. that i misrepresented your claims only smacks of your claims were damn near buried in your original draft. you've got 150 words to make a point. you didn't do that, so i had to. which is probably why it sounds like "someone who never listened to why?".
What went to print -- Why? used to be a rapper who never really fit in; he made choruses out of lines such as “I’m not gay/But I do like to know just who’s at the park throwing frisbee with their shirts off.” After getting his start when he found his first four-track in the basement of his father’s synagogue, Why? transitioned from rapper to folk singer with sounds like Daniel Johnson’s—minus the enormous budget and B-boy aspirations. This is a man who knows how to push pleasure centers: His new album, Elephant Eyelashes, is the first release on Anticon Records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship. This new release is a tribute to Why?’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter, and the talent of his new ensemble, which takes the songs past the musings of a bedroom impresario to those of a full-on, geeked-out rock band.
That’s right. “With sounds like Daniel Johnson’s." BIG FUCKING SIC. Top 5 alt-weekly, my eye. I'm going to grad school.
Draft 1 -- Quick, name the best electro-folk anthem by a mustachioed rapper since “Hey Ya.” My money’s on “Rubber Traits” by emcee-cum-rock band frontman Yoni Wolf, aka Why? Well, Why? is sort of Wolf’s pseudonym, but the name has gone from his alias as a really weird rapper, to designating his middle period as a lo-fi impresario in the style of the Sebadoh doing EPMD covers, to the name of a full on rock band. Running the anything-goes eclecticism of his 2003 solo album Oaklandazulasylum through a filter of Malkmus-sized melancholia and shiny guitars, Elephant Eyelashes is among the first releases on anticon records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship, and the fact that it’s far more than a curio is a tribute to Wolf’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter. Wolf has the ability to make slice of life near-nonsense take on anthemic profundity; you know he’s a songsmith when you find yourself hollering along to lines like, “All the people who taught me card tricks are dying.” Wolf’s voice suggests Ad Rock’s shy younger brother with an encyclopedic knowledge of Elephant 6 vocal tics, and his new backing band gives things an organic weight and density hinted at by Wolf’s less direct work in the megahyped, sadly-defunct cLOUDDEAD.
Draft 2 -- Why? used to be a rapper who never really rapped, and busted a capella lines like “I’m not gay, I just like to know who’s at the park throwing Frisbee with their shirts off.” Now Why? is a folk-singer who sounds like Daniel Johnston if he had an enormous budget and b-boy aspirations – but still never left his bedroom. Why? somehow elevates his wafer-thin voice into a malleable musical instrument that steers his songs through the flubs incumbent in spontaneous home recording. It’s a voice that suggests Ad Rock’s shy younger brother with an encyclopedic knowledge of Elephant 6 vocal tics. Running the anything-goes eclecticism of his 2003 solo album Oaklandazulasylum through a filter of Malkmus-sized melancholia and shiny guitars, Elephant Eyelashes is among the first releases on anticon records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship, and the fact that it’s far more than a curio is a tribute to Wolf’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter, and the flat-out talent of his new backing band, who take Why?’s work from the musings of a bedroom impresario (imagine the Sebadoh hunkering down to record a batch of EPMD covers) to a full-on, geeked out rock band. Get ready for a room full of ex-high school spazzes when Why? plays with…
Editor’s response to my comments on her edits -- i'll make the changes tomorrow at work. but i gotta say, that's kinda what you get when you write so damn unclearly. if you read your first draft, and read this one, and think it's not an improvement, we'll have to agree to disagree. that i misrepresented your claims only smacks of your claims were damn near buried in your original draft. you've got 150 words to make a point. you didn't do that, so i had to. which is probably why it sounds like "someone who never listened to why?".
What went to print -- Why? used to be a rapper who never really fit in; he made choruses out of lines such as “I’m not gay/But I do like to know just who’s at the park throwing frisbee with their shirts off.” After getting his start when he found his first four-track in the basement of his father’s synagogue, Why? transitioned from rapper to folk singer with sounds like Daniel Johnson’s—minus the enormous budget and B-boy aspirations. This is a man who knows how to push pleasure centers: His new album, Elephant Eyelashes, is the first release on Anticon Records to evoke Pavement more than the Freestyle Fellowship. This new release is a tribute to Why?’s skill and vulnerability as a songwriter, and the talent of his new ensemble, which takes the songs past the musings of a bedroom impresario to those of a full-on, geeked-out rock band.
That’s right. “With sounds like Daniel Johnson’s." BIG FUCKING SIC. Top 5 alt-weekly, my eye. I'm going to grad school.
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