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Artist......: Why?
Album.......: Moh Lhean
Label.......: Joyful Noise Recordings
Genre.......: Indie
Catnr.......: JNR222
Source......: CD
Rip.date....: 2020-08-05
Str.date....: 2017-03-03
Quality.....: 852 kbps avg / 44.1kHz / 2 channels
Url.........: http://whywithaquestionmark.com
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\ / # title time \ /
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1. This Ole King 4:38
2. Proactive Evolution 4:37
3. Easy 3:09
4. January February March 0:40
5. One Mississippi 4:38
6. The Longing Is All 1:09
7. George Washington 3:09
8. The Water 3:22
9. Consequence Of Nonaction 3:21
10. The Barely Blur 4:57
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\ / ________ Runtime 33:40
,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 217.26______
:\/ ', \ / , \ /
' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /.
: Release Notes: \/ , \/ ,
' '
,: The final words sung on the sixth album by WHY? are an apt place :,
: to begin: "Hold on, what's going on?" Because while there's much :
:' familiar about the oddly named Moh Lheanùmastermind Yoni Wolf's ':
,: sour-sweet croon, his deadpan poet's drawl and ear for :,
: stunningly fluid psych-pop-folk-whatever arrangementùa great :
:' deal has changed in the four years that've passed since 2012's ':
,: Mumps, Etc., an LP that honed the band's orchestral precision :,
: and self-deprecating swagger to a fine point. It's significant :
:' that this is the first fully home-recorded WHY? album since the ':
,: project's 2003 debut. Made mostly in Wolf's studio and :,
: co-produced by his brother Josiah, the result is obsessive, of :
:' course, but also intimate, and flush with warmth and looseness. ':
,: But the biggest transformation is a bit subtler. After years of :,
: eying his world, in part, with a cynical squint, Wolf here :
:' learns a new mode. While Moh Lhean never stoops to outright ':
,: optimism, it chronicles our hero finding peace in the unknowing, :,
: trading the wry smirk for a holy shrug, and looking past :
:' corporeal pain for something more cosmic and, rest assured, ':
,: equally weird. :,
: :
:' A low tone opens the album on "This Ole King" as acoustic pluck ':
,: and upright bass form a Western bedrock beneath Wolf's fragile :,
: voice. But as the song pushes on, the playing gets brighter and :
:' the vocal becomes a mantra-like hum inspired by Ali Farka ':
,: TourΘ's blues, before rolling into a second part rich with :,
: chiming keys and twisting harmonyùBrian Wilson's kaleidoscopic :
:' vision of pop. If there's new litheness here, it's probably ':
,: because Wolf spent much of the time between albums :,
: collaboratingùwith ex/muse Anna Stewart as the fuzz-pop duo :
:' Divorcee, and MC Serengeti as the puckishly depressive Yoni & ':
,: Geti. And if there's a lithe newness, it may be that Wolf :,
: excised some nostalgia via his 2014 solo tapesùone re-recording :
:' choice raps from his own catalog, and another covering cuts by ':
,: artists like Bob Dylan and Pavement. It's no wonder, then, that :,
: "The Water" handily morphs a moody folk tune into some strange :
:' new form of full-band dub. Or that "One Mississippi" bounces ':
,: along happily over a flurry of bizarre percussion, whistled :,
: melodies, and trippy synthesizer blips. Perhaps most impressive :
:' is "Consequence of Nonaction," which vacillates between a quiet ':
,: meditation for guitar/voice/clarinet, and wild, sax-strewn :,
: astral art-funk. :
:' ':
,: Movement is a key theme of Moh Lhean. It's a breakup album :,
: without a romantic interestùcoded within the lyrics is a tale :
:' about fleeing the seductions of a wintry figure for something ':
,: synonymous with spring. "Easy" plays like a ward against the old :,
: ghost who haunts "January February March," while "George :
:' Washington" places our host in a tiny watercraft, "paddling for ':
,: land/hand on heart and heart in hand" as that faceless :,
: malevolent force stays ashore. While writing these songs, Wolf :
:' suffered a severe health scare far from home. Rather than drive ':
,: him to depression, his brush with mortality imparted an :,
: incongruous impression of peace and connection to the living. At :
:' the end of "Proactive Evolution," wherein WHY? enlists ':
,: mewithoutYou's Aaron Weiss to celebrate the stubborn persistence :,
: of humankind, Wolf samples not only thinkers like Sharon :
:' Salzberg and Ram Dass, but his actual doctorsùthe voices that ':
,: helped shape his new outlook. Sure, Wolf poses as many questions :,
: as ever. Moh Lhean's gorgeously psychedelic closer, "The Barely :
:' Blur" with Son Lux, puzzles over the nature of existence. But ':
,: rather than leave us with the macabre chill of death, as many a :,
: WHY? LP has, the song dissolves into the infiniteùthe sound of :
:' the Big Bang. ':
,: :,
: Don't bother asking Wolf what "Moh Lhean" means. He won't tell :
:' you. It's the name of his home studio, where friends and ':
,: familyùWHY? regulars Josiah, Matt Meldon, Doug McDiarmid, Liz :,
: Wolf, and Ben Sloan, plus a handful of Ohioansùgathered to :
:' record this (and also at Josiah's studio, dubbed El Armando). ':
,: And like the titles of Alopecia and Mumps, Etc., it references a :,
: concrete thing that Wolf experienced. Most likely it's something :
:' to do with letting go, rebirth, coming home to a familiar ':
,: feeling, or venturing out to discover a new one. Or maybe it's :,
: just a yoga pose. But there's something in Moh Lhean, even with :
:' all its mysteries and all its differences, that's both ':
,: ephemeral and distinctive, like something the Wolf Brothers :,
: might've heard on a praise album in their father's synagogue as :
:' kids, or on some '60s hippie LP they thrifted in their teens, ':
,: or, perhaps, on the other side of the records they've been :,
: making their entire adult lives. Thus, it seems appropriate to :
:' conclude with some words sung on the very first song of WHY?'s ':
,: sixth album, Moh Lhean: "One thing, there is no other. Only :,
: this, there is no other.... Just layers of this one thing." :
:' ':
: '
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\ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ /
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\ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ /
\ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ /
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\ / H O U N D \ /
\/ 2 0 2 0 \/