Ariel Pink Confounds, Covers The Smiths
Speaking Of Moz, Ariel Pink's "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" can be heard here. If anyone can figure out Tech-recipe's Hack To Download Any Song On MySpace send the MP3 our way. (Thanks Eric! Scroll to bottom for MP3.)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is the most frustrating great music I discovered last year. Mr. Pink (né Ariel Rosenberg), the man behind the Graffiti, has an amazing pop sensibility, and can tackle any genre, but his insistence on sounding as lo-fi as possible drives me nuts. I'm fine with the eccentricities, the silly lyrics, the ADD-song-structures ... but the production dramatically reduces Haunted Graffiti's appeal. Ariel blames it on his 8-track, but you know it's intentional. Every song dares the listener to like him.
"People boo me everywhere. They don't even hide their contempt," he told LA Weekly last month. "I think people have a hard time understanding what role I play on the records. They think I'm sampling or pressing play on something. ... The fact is — my music is firmly anti-sample. It's really rock & roll at its core. I'm playing everything. The drumming is all mouth drumming, beat-boxing. It sounds like clicking, but put it into a mike and it sounds like Steely Dan."
I discovered AP when he was anointed the first Paw-Tracker who wasn't part of Animal Collective. The label reissued Doldrums in late '04 and I was intrigued by Aquarius' write-up:
Few records in recent memory have provoked such a breach of unanimity here at Aquarius. Some of us (Andee, Cup, Byram) are the naysayers who feel that the artist's eccentricities ring rather hollow -- i.e, fucking around rather than genuinely fucked up. Meanwhile Jim and Allan lean towards the positive on this one. ... If you come into the store and ask somebody here about this record, you'll surely get an impassioned opinion, but who knows on what side it will be.A year ago, I visited Aquarius for the first time and asked the dude behind the counter for an opinion. It was impassioned as promised. He hated Ariel Pink. I bought Doldrums anyway, but barely listened to that or his Worn Copy reissued last May.
House Arrest, out 1/26, is another collection of five-year-old bedroom recordings, but this time I'm paying attention ... and starting to forgive the production. Moments of brilliance abound.
Sixties throwback "Every Night I Die At Miyagis" plays with a catchy chugging guitar riff and "Alisa" is like a fucked-up outer space, underwater toast to Rod Stewart's "You're in My Heart." The artist's at his most accessible on "Interesting Results," a joyful clap-your-hands sing-along about writing a cool pop tune. It folds into "West Coast Calamities"' found audio ("I'm Davey Jones, enjoy the music!") and an instantly recognizable lick from "Turn! Turn! Turn!" Weird, not cleared, and I sorta respect that.
Ariel's got so much potential. Is he the next Beck, or just a too trippy Russian Futurist? He needs Mike Elizondo to take him from the bedroom to the studio.
Until then, Haunted Graffiti is anything goes. There's even a "Write Your Own Ariel Pink Song" contest.
Send us your lyrics by the end of January. Ariel will pick his favorite and write a song around it. That simple! (Paw Tracks, P.O. Box 42374, Washington, D.C. 20015)Here are some MP3s. What do you guys think of this weirdo?
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "For Kate I Wait" (MP3)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Jules Lost His Jewels" (MP3)
Only one song per post displays in our MP3 Feed/Podcast thing. Jim's still making improvements to the back-end, and how the tags display, so hold tight.
UPDATE: MP3s from the "new" album at Aziz's site.
UPDATE 2: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" (MP3 Link Expired)
Posted at 3:30 PM in MP3
Tags: Ariel Pink
Very remiscent of Frank Zappa/MOI circa "Freak Out" and "Only In It For the Money", but without the, you know, smarts.
I dig him the most. The video for "For Kate I Wait" is creepy-cool.
That was a looooong post, too!
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I posted some mp3s from the new album over here:
http://www.azizisbored.com/2005_12_25_azizisbored_archive.html#113566361179011216
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yeah that lo-fi thing is kinda annoying, but i like the high energy.
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for me, the lofi contrast to how catchy the songs are is part of the appeal. super clean production.....im not sure if that would work. i think hes a mini genius.
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to be honest, these days i associate that "lo-fi" sound that artists have been doing [on purpose] with trying a wee bit too hard to appeal to the underground crowd. could they possibly think we're really that naive?
maybe it's just me, but i believe the music would be thoroughly enjoyable if i could just make it out a little more clearly!
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yeah, that tech-recipes method no longer works (neither of them). it appears myspace is onto this hole and has managed to patch it up rather quickly. there will likely be another method posted in a few days, but it will surely be patched soon after as well... shrugg. back to oink :)
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A lot of people just like the sound of 4 track recordings. I know I do.
I love Ariel Pink. One of the few new artists of recent times that I really really dig.
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I know Ariel a little bit-- we have some mutual friends. I can tell you that he is a really sweet guy, humble and very genuine. There's nothing pretentious or phony about him. He's a true freak, and I mean that in the kindest way.
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I have nothing against the guy, and haven't checked out his recordings, but his show supporting Animal Collective was the among the worst I've ever seen. However, this is most likely just a case of it being 'not my thing.'
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"for kate i wait" is the best no matter what the production is like... my only critique is that it should end after 2 minutes. it goes on waaay too long
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I didnt rate Ariel Pink when i first heard him in 2004 but i keep coming back to the doldrums
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It only seems lo-fi because most bands these days can afford a computer.
I like Ariel Pink, the recordings remind me of Joe Meek productions.
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I commented yesterday about him before the story was up, thats strange? But I love Jules Lost his Jewels. I played it to death last year. Worn Copy had several moments of brilliance, whereas this newer one "House Arrest" is dreadful. Maybe I need a few more listens, but the songs are even more ludicrous than his earlier stuff. I know it actually is his older stuff released later, but I think these recordings sound like scrapped material thrown together. He's worth checking out if you are looking for something differnent, just get Doldrums or Worn Copy instead.
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Meh.
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i like him, but i find it annoying when people called him "weirdo" like scott, or "freak" like above poster...
it's not really that fringe people
that said, his live show does suck pretty hard
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ariel pink is a genius flambe. i was hooked on doldrums, and am currently blasting house arrest.
he has a duet record "holy shit" out as well, recently. interesting results when you mix highpro indy sensibilities with his lo-fi everything.,
and his lo-fi everything is the perfection of all albums. pan does not need to be taken seriously. or you'll get fish danced slapped, foo's. i pity all foos.
arte is shite.
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This shit is genius. i listened to ariel pink for the first time over a year ago and i cant stop. it has changed my views on music forever. but...i can deff understand why some people arent into it. different stroked for different folks.
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OK, i am so tired of hearing complaints about ariel pink's low-fi ways. listen, kids; production RUINS EVERYTHING. if you don't believe that, then you are just not on the same page as ariel pink. it reminds me of am radio, but more than that, he has some kind of vision, outlook, and personality that seems to transcend. i am annoyed by remarks that he is "not really a freak, just trying really hard to be one." that probably comes from a bunch of guy crappy hack musicians that are just jealous.
ariel pink's music is heavily steeped in brian wilson, syd barrett, and many other 60's type influences; but he isn't copying...he is a neo-hippie at the grandest level. but the best thing is that he is an amazing songwriter, his voice has so much passion...i love when he sings in falsetto (most of the time) and screams. usually i will scream along with him. he has so many songs that i find my new favorite song every other week. when i discovered his music, i got sooo freakin happy that there was one other person out there, that in some weird obscure but ultimately human and compassionate way, had convinced me in a matter of minutes that there are still people (or artists) who DO understand me to a great extent, and i find so much solace in ariel pin's songs.
people have a tendency to consider ariel pink as just another ween; goofy, stupid, and silly, with tongue firmly implanted in their cheek; but ariel pink is something different. i have heard that he is big on a new movement in pop music called "The New Sentamentalism", and i read that loud and clear. oh and he is so ridiculously hot i almost can't stand it!
if you really want to know what ariel pink sounds like, think brian wilson and syd barrett playing with a lo-fi stripped down, old school rock feel, yet he has made up his own genre of music. because he plays all the instruments, sings, writes and plays drums solely with gis mouth. (damn, i gotta learn to do that!)
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