Going into how Anticon has shifted its focus over time and worked to encompass an ever broader sound that suits not just the new tastes of its performers but that of listeners in the market place isn’t going to produce any new conclusions. It should be said, though, that with the lessening of Sole’s involvement in the daily operations of the imprint, that aural shift has ever quickened. So while the former (?) label honcho is trekking through some dessert with his SW band mates, the folks that stuck around the Bay Area have sought out (accidentally come upon?) some new sounds.

As the discography of Why? continues to grow, the group and it’s figurehead, Yoni Wolf, more and more seem to embrace pop tropes. It isn’t exactly a verse-chorus-verse kinda thing, but there’s not really a hint of boom bap on Eskimo Snow, the group’s fourth long player. Set to tape during the same February 2007 sessions in Minneapolis that yielded the previous Alopecia, this new disc doesn’t possess the same sort of blatant production flourishes that ever so slightly tied its forbearer back to an Anticon aesthetic – whatever that is nowadays. But maybe that’s the point. There aren’t any longer boundaries being self imposed upon Wolf or his band. For that very reason he figures, "This record is really the least hip-hop out of anything I've ever been involved with."

He’s right.

Eskimo Snow isn’t gonna hit airwaves, but it probably could. “Even The Good Wood Gone” comes off, at points like a Beatles track. The keyboard line sounds sweet enough to have teenage girls hum it as they chew gum while walking down the hall to Chemistry. Again, that probably won’t happen, but that might only be due to the marketing of the album – there’s still mention of Why? on various hip hop related sites, which begs the question, why?

The production – not here but assumed in the future – is always going to have roots back in Scribble Jam, circa nineteen ninety-something. But regardless of where it all comes from, the Ohio bred vocalist still seems focused on some occasionally obtuse lyricism as found on “One Rose,” which might actually count as the most laid back track on Eskimo Snow.

More interestingly is the utilization of what sounds like a xylophone that pervades a great many tracks here. It announces “Berkeley By Hearseback” and subtly accents the melody throughout the rest of the track. It’s an overtly literate track replete with all kinds of haunting imagery that could be figured for bible references even if Wolf’s pop wasn’t a rabbi.

If generally inclined to dismiss the rock stuffs that come outta the Anticon stable, this disc is surprisingly appealing. And at this point no one can tell if his/her own tastes are changing at a similar clip as those folks behind the label or we’ve all just decided to accept it. Disregarding the answer to that, Wolf’s vocals – that at times echo Beck, circa ’94 – are enticing enough for any musical backing to make sense.