Oaklandazulasylum

Another baffler from the Anticon collective, Why?'s Oaklandazulasylum has more to do with awkward oddball folk than underground hip-hop, despite the presence of pungent beats on a handful of tracks. If you can get past the clothespin-on-nose delivery -- a cross between Big Bird and the wiry one from They Might Be Giants -- and the constant up-and-down swoops and dives in which it's delivered, the album has a certain sense of awkward, ramshackle charm that's frequently unhinged and claustrophobic at once. Anticon followers will lap all of this up, for sure. Others will know to steer clear from it. Incidentally, the album gets the Sentridoh Tortoise Award for Horrifically Scrawled "Ha Ha We Don't Care" Graphic Design. ~ Andy Kellman