Ariel Pink

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If there's been a discussion about this guy somewhere else, forgive me. I got "The Doldrums" in the mail a couple days ago and it strikes me as hopelessly absorbing: super lo-fi, warped in places, pop played by one dude who maybe didn't think anybody was ever going to listen to him go on about meeting up with a girl named Kate or how much growing up sucks in double-tracked style, sometimes achingly falsetto.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Reminds me of very early Ween if they really inhaled the Scotchgard and recorded on speech casettes.

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

It's funny -- everything that people say about this guy, including the shit that's meant to be negative -- just makes me think I would love it! Still yet to hear any. "The Doldrums" is the one on Paw Tracks, right? I should order that. Incidentally, the other discussions about him are on one of the Animal Collective threads.
Does anyone know about the double disc set he put out?

― Softly Weeping at the Oki Dog (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

The double disc "House Arrest/Lover Boy" is beyond damaged, genuis stuff. Way more problems than B Wilson.
Can be hard to find through normal channels, but you can get his stuff through www.cdbaby.com

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, listening again, I can definitely hear some Ween in there, in the best way possible. For some reason this has me thinking of a dude holing up in a bomb shelter with a tape player and some instruments and a 50-pack of blank cassettes right before a nuclear war, and recording these freaked-out songs as some sort of comfort to himself that despite the madness going on right outside, one day he’ll be able to safely re-enter the world.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

otm, except that the bomb has already exploded and he's still trying to record another baroque pop masterpiece while bricks fly everywhere.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

and succeeding. plus this isn't far off from the truth really, culturally speaking at least. he does live in hollywood, right?

― duke canyon, Thursday, 2 September 2004 17:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

AND SUCCEEDS!

― duke fann, Thursday, 2 September 2004 17:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

to me it just sounds like the best he could do with what he had. otherwise it's just pop.
i like it but i don't think there's any armageddon sirens going on anywhere.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Thursday, 2 September 2004 18:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

wait til you hear the ten minute "Trepanated Earth" off "Worn Copy" where he proclaims "Mankind is a Nazi" and the "Earth is a pile of dog shit". He's "immune to emotion" living "life on credit".

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 2 September 2004 18:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

i've heard a similar approach used when discussing david berman too. like a "post-apocalyptic haze" thing

― duke haze, Thursday, 2 September 2004 18:43 (8 years ago) Permalink

and as with him and his work, there is some staggering kaleidoscopic talent lurking beneath the temporal hipster trappings IMHO

― duke due, Thursday, 2 September 2004 18:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

excepter loves them some ariel pink?

― jean jeudi, Thursday, 2 September 2004 20:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

*awwwww*

― duke indeed, Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

hey could someone send me a song via gmail? all i have is an old version of "want me".

― seahorse genius (seahorse genius), Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

You can listen to tons of tracks at CDBaby.com it turns out. Are the CDs as lo-fi as those clips? Songs sound awesome, anyways...

― Softly Weeping at the Oki Dog (Ben Boyer), Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

All I've heard is 'jules lost his jewels' (or at least I think that's what it's called), and that is a fantastically nice little song. I'm looking forward to the full-length. I also find it somehow terribly moving that A. Pink's website seems to have been a birthday present from his family, and there's still no real information on it yet.

― Kevin H (Kevin H), Friday, 3 September 2004 03:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

And by 'full-length', I mean 'Paw Tracks debut'.

― Kevin H (Kevin H), Friday, 3 September 2004 03:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

Everything on Paw Tracks is extremely lo-fi.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 3 September 2004 12:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

i wouldn't consider Here comes the indian to be *that lo-fi...

― BbetaA, Friday, 3 September 2004 22:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

This is 8-track, not 4-track, dog.

― sexyDancer, Friday, 3 September 2004 23:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sorry I meant everything on the Ariel Pink Paw Tracks release, not Paw Tracks as a whole.

― Mark (MarkR), Saturday, 4 September 2004 01:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

gotta revive for the upcoming Worn Copy release. anyone else feeling dis?

i fucking love it

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Thursday, 17 March 2005 22:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

everybody's going crazzzzzzzy fr this!

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 28 March 2005 11:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

reynolds, woebot, geeta... I'm down too!

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 28 March 2005 11:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

I think you'd like this, toby!

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 28 March 2005 11:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

I thought the Doldrums was way better. Worn Copy's really good but....too long and too scattered, or something. I'm still figuring out my feelings here.

― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 28 March 2005 12:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

shuffle function serves Mr. Pink well.

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Monday, 28 March 2005 12:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

very, very, very good. very good. this is what i always wanted Gary Wilson to sound like. Search "Life in L.A."

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Monday, 28 March 2005 12:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ariel Pink for president! Just think of the ecology! The electricity savings! The thrift!

― Momus (Momus), Monday, 28 March 2005 19:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

Revive to profess my undying love for Worn Copy. Even though this was apparently released on a CD-R at one point, will this still count as a 2005 release?

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Thursday, 7 April 2005 07:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

REISSUE

― jack cole (jackcole), Thursday, 7 April 2005 09:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

"House Arrest" is still by far his catchiest and most consistent album. I can't really get into worn copy much past the point where he declares that "mankind is a nazi"

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Thursday, 7 April 2005 17:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

Apparently, the person who originally realeased House Arrest is not allowing Paw Tracks to reissue it.

― mitch dub (ano ano), Thursday, 7 April 2005 17:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

That blows. Between "Alisa", "West Coast Calamities", "Gettin' High in the Morning", and "Interesting Results" it's probably the best bedroom pop album this decade will see.

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Thursday, 7 April 2005 17:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

word

― noizem duke (noize duke), Thursday, 7 April 2005 17:59 (8 years ago) Permalink

xypost: But that's just after the first few minutes!!!

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Thursday, 7 April 2005 18:21 (8 years ago) Permalink

I know. hopefully the rest of the album will grow on me at some point, but after listening to worn copy 6 or 7 times, the second half of trepanated earth is the only thing on it that i really like.

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Thursday, 7 April 2005 18:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

"CREDIT"?

― noizem duke (noize duke), Thursday, 7 April 2005 18:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

The free track on the paw tracks website isn't a patch on anything on Doldrums

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Thursday, 7 April 2005 20:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

down at the creepshow...

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Thursday, 7 April 2005 20:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

This is an incredible bit of music. Absolutely baffling but all the more wonderful.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 5 May 2005 11:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

It's like the music you hear in your head just as you're drifting out of consciousness with classic rock radio on.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 5 May 2005 12:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

So... classic rock through a drainpipe, then, and then irritation that it's not LETTING you drift out of consciousness, and then silence?

I've still not heard 'Ariel Pink'.

The fact that 'lo-fi' has been used NINE ZILLION TIMES in this thread with barely any answers...

... doesn't appeal.

But perhaps I am KNEE JERKING?!

― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 5 May 2005 12:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

When I think of low-fi, I always think of stuff done on cheap instruments and played very badly on purpose. This is stuff played on good equipment, written and played beautifully and then recorded on the cheapest equipment possible.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 5 May 2005 12:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

Yes but what are his INFLUENZAS!

― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 5 May 2005 12:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

70s and 80s rock/pop. Lots of Roxy Music, Lennon, Bowie, Talking Heads, New Wave etc.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

and R. Stevie Moore

― naturemorte, Thursday, 5 May 2005 14:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

Guided by Voices if they grew up listening to '80s pop radio instead of 60s and 70s classic rock. Plus he actually finishes the songs he writes.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 5 May 2005 14:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Cure are his biggest influence

i like The Doldrums A LOT, Worn Copy though, i don't know. It's not as catchy maybe, except for ' Jules Lost His Jewels'

― rizzx (rizzx), Thursday, 5 May 2005 14:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 818 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Worn Copy gets to oppressive, House Arrest is good pop fun but spotty sometimes

― Raymond Cummings, Thursday, 27 September 2012 22:38 (8 months ago) Permalink

scared famous 4 me

― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 28 September 2012 00:32 (8 months ago) Permalink

IM NOT REAL AND I WON'T CALL YOU

― Raymond Cummings, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 22:02 (8 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

call me stupid (and sorry for coming late to the discussion) but why is talking about going on the prowl misogynist?

eg. man says 'i wanna chase some tail'. does that demean women or does that just make the man a bit shallow (in this instance....maybe a month ago he was in a serious and challenging relationship with an equal)?

was it the use of the words 'rape' and 'prey'? it might have been a brutal analogy but i get the idea ariel likes being grotesque. i don't think referring to women as 'prey' necessarily denies their agency. the women 'hunted down' could just as easily talk abt going out on the prowl and hunting down men on that same night.

tho wasnt ariel's whole pt that he DOESNT chase down/'rape', he charms. in which case, isnt HE decrying the 'chase'/'rape' scenario??

>>>"The "beta males" line didn't read to me as "let's get revenge on the alphas by slyly seducing girls with our intellect" thing but a "fuck alpha males, let me deploy the word 'prey' to compare them to predators"

― whiter than... this? (Ówen P.)

^maybe it's a bit of both? 'i am an intellectual charmer, he is a predatory rapist'!

likewise, why is the discussion of hetero male sexual power struggles misogynist? it might not be about women's agency but does that matter? don't women compete for men too? it's just another pt of view

genuinely confused.

― no fear, Saturday, 17 November 2012 04:21 (7 months ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

is he really as influential as everyone says he is? i think we live in a post animal collective indie world, not ap. way more people heard feels, strawb jam, mpp than anything ap did.

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 17:50 (1 month ago) Permalink

keep in mind i love mature themes more than certain friends

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 17:51 (1 month ago) Permalink

Not a week goes by that i don't read a variation on the phrase 'faded VHS memories' or see a music video that makes liberal use of FCP's "Bad TV" filter. I'm blaming that all on him just for the hell of it.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 25 April 2013 17:54 (1 month ago) Permalink

there are so many bands/solo artists, whatever over the past few years that sound like second rate Ariel knockoffs to me. ariel himself is part of the "post AC" world though too isn't he? he's like the alice cooper to AC's Zappa.

I sort of feel like AC took what they did as far as it can go and can't really see them inspiring any worthy imitators. The fact that Ariel's early stuff was deceivingly rough or under-realized I think probably led more people to want to do what he did but different or better.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:02 (1 month ago) Permalink

also solo artists are where it's at now.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:04 (1 month ago) Permalink

chillwave/hauntology didnt become a thing til 2010 right? when before today came out, but before its release?

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:13 (1 month ago) Permalink

ac will/have already become the grateful dead of our generation

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:14 (1 month ago) Permalink

AP's been a going concern since before today. that was his first album to be annointed by Pitchfork, but his earlier albums were pretty big in the indie set iirc

― Spectrum, Thursday, 25 April 2013 18:17 (1 month ago) Permalink

yeah, 2004 paw tracks release of doldrums is what put him on the map and then the whole group of imitators started popping up around 2010, just in time for him to release BT and get even bigger.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 19:45 (1 month ago) Permalink

but why him, and why the delayed response?

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 19:59 (1 month ago) Permalink

I thought the whole Chillwave boom was in 2009 right after Merriweather Post Pavillion came out.

― MarkoP, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:08 (1 month ago) Permalink

why him what? why are musicians inspired by a guy who is an incredible songwriter? delayed response - maybe because it's harder to copy what he did than it seems?

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:15 (1 month ago) Permalink

so if ac is the beatles, ap is the velvet underground?

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:17 (1 month ago) Permalink

yeah, I guess '09 was the year of washed out, neon indian, carles chillwave article, etc. I don't think it's likely that those things were influenced by MPP that came out just a few months earlier.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:20 (1 month ago) Permalink

AP is the bob dylan of his generation. other chillwave bands are the byrds, sonny & cher, etc. that emerged 3 or 4 years after dylan's debut.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:21 (1 month ago) Permalink

ariel pink is the tiny tim of his generation

― brony orlando (crüt), Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:23 (1 month ago) Permalink

i remember in that article he (and lots of others like james murphy) was seeing his influence on a lot of artists
http://www.spin.com/articles/ariel-pink-in-praise-of-guilty-genius/
"Every time I hear her," he says of Grimes, "I hear a little of myself. It's obvious, but it's cool: You can see the potential for something."
i think "obvious" is pushing it a bit on that one...

― Sébastien, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:31 (1 month ago) Permalink

i think he's calling grimes' music "obvious" in the same sense that his own is - not that she's taking obvious inspiration from him

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:38 (1 month ago) Permalink

Pink isn't even a fraction of the singer or performer that Tiny Tim was. he obviously wins on the songwriting front though.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:40 (1 month ago) Permalink

The tiny tim of today is like pomplamoose or something. pains me to say that because I love tiny tim, but in terms of gimmicky performer that got famous doing covers it fits.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:41 (1 month ago) Permalink

yeah, 2004 paw tracks release of doldrums is what put him on the map and then the whole group of imitators started popping up around 2010, just in time for him to release BT and get even bigger.

― wk, Thursday, April 25, 2013 12:45 PM (52 minutes ago)

the first round of obvious ariel pink imitators i remember showed up in 2008 or so, e.g. gary war's new ratheonport. at the same time, american indie garage bands were going nuts for super-shitty fidelity (in the wake of AP and times new viking, coming from very different directions) and massive amounts of reverb (a la oh sees & ty segall). 2009 saw a shift towards hazy/fuzzy nostalgia vibe surfing from folks like real estate and kurt vile.

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:54 (1 month ago) Permalink

blank dogs also figure in there somewhere, drew a lot of attention in 2007 w ap-style take on uk post punk

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 20:56 (1 month ago) Permalink

yeah, definitely gary war. garage has always been shitty sounding though. since the original back from the grave bands, through to the mummies, etc. shitty sounding pop music with synths was something kind of new and different though.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 21:06 (1 month ago) Permalink

I don't know, to me it's all about the songwriting. I think people underestimate that. it's not like pink invented vhs nostalgia or anything.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 21:07 (1 month ago) Permalink

no doubt, but there was a brief mid-to late 00s fascination with super shitty, teengenerate/early hellacopters-style recordings of indieish music: tnv, blank dogs, eat skull, psychedelic horseshit, the wavves, etc. we can't so soon have forgot those heady shitgaze nights?

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 21:10 (1 month ago) Permalink

i don't see all that as ap-influenced by any means (i'd say blank dogs and gary war were), but with those ap reissues, the lo-fi boom helped clear room for more commercially viable versions of vaguely similar stuff a couple/few years later

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 21:13 (1 month ago) Permalink

"See, I can hear my influence in this music," Pink shouts from the passenger seat, ignoring Emily as Coldplay's "Paradise" comes on the radio. "That over-melodiousness, that whole keyboard bit. That was all me. Seriously. They don't even realize."
^^^ there are bits like that a few places in the interview, made me think the guy is a little paranoid.

― Sébastien, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:27 (1 month ago) Permalink

boards of canada seems relevant too. I think they were one of the first to popularize the idea of not just generic distorted lo-fi sound, but specifically evoking the sound of a bad classroom filmstrip or stretched out warbling tape. I don't know any of those bands you mentioned except for wavves who to me seem more generally punk rock. to me there's a distinct difference between a making a lo-fi recording because it's the punk rock thing to do and making a lo-fi recording of a type of music that's not typically meant to sound lo-fi.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:27 (1 month ago) Permalink

made me think the guy is a little paranoid.

getting high in the morning will do that to you

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:28 (1 month ago) Permalink

after reading that article i thought starting a thread called "artists that ariel pink could think were influenced by him weren't" , or something like that.

Broadcast comes to mind.

― Sébastien, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

"but weren't" damn where is the edit button.

― Sébastien, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

xp yeah, i agree that the boc-like "bad filmstrip" aesthetic isn't present in, say, times new viking and their offsprings. they reach back more to gbv & sebadoh-style 90s lo-fi and decades of shitty garage/punk sonics. but it is there, at least in received and reinterpreted form, in blank dogs and gary war. also present in a less direct way in folks like matt mondanile (real estate/ducktails) jocking old vhs as the referent for an interst in fuzz, hiss, reverb and "hazy" nostalgia.

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:35 (1 month ago) Permalink

not sure why i'm arguing for this, tbh, just the way i remember it

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:36 (1 month ago) Permalink

gary war, blank dogs, & ducktails are all Post-Pink though. Hey, Post Pink would have been a better genre name than chillwave.

― wk, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:41 (1 month ago) Permalink

gary war, blank dogs, & ducktails are all Post-Pink

oh yeah shit yeah. was just trying to locate postpink ground zero in 2008/2009. fuzz-splitting.

― contenderizer, Thursday, 25 April 2013 22:57 (1 month ago) Permalink

i remember thinking Before Today got a rave rating on Pitchfork because he had attained this status as an indie demi-god around that time, and Pitchfork wanted to keep up with the times. background being they had shat all over his entire discography years before.

― Spectrum, Thursday, 25 April 2013 23:02 (1 month ago) Permalink

lol, I just revisited some of the earlier parts of this thread and saw that dumb pitchfork doldrums review and googled nick sylvester since he sounded familiar and I thought he used to post here. I guess that idiot got his comeuppance.

― wk, Friday, 26 April 2013 00:30 (1 month ago) Permalink

are you gonna look after my boys???????

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Friday, 26 April 2013 18:43 (1 month ago) Permalink

I never realized that the videos for AYGLAMB, kate, and politely declined were all directed by the same guy who did those gi joe psa videos!

― wk, Friday, 26 April 2013 18:57 (1 month ago) Permalink

what's his name? cos he's probably more influential than AP

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 26 April 2013 19:16 (1 month ago) Permalink

haha. eric fensler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fensler_Films

― wk, Friday, 26 April 2013 19:18 (1 month ago) Permalink

apparently he's a writer for Tim & Eric

― wk, Friday, 26 April 2013 19:41 (1 month ago) Permalink

Two children are in a kitchen. In fairly unintelligibly slurred speech, the first boy says "You're not cooking.", the second boy responds "Yeah I do". The curtains in front of the stove catch on fire and the boy operating the stove tries to say the word "fire" but only stutters it instead, saying something along the lines of, "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-baa-baaa-baaah." Blowtorch runs in, shouting "Porkchop Sandwiches!" This line is one of the most frequently quoted by fans, and Fensler has until recently sold T-shirts sporting the phrase. He arrives at the kitchen door and in a panic-ridden voice orders the children: "Oh shit, get the fuck out of here! What are you doing? Go, get the fuck out of here, you stupid idiots! Fuck, we're all dead! Get the fuck out!" His panicked tone of voice contrasts oddly with his calm body language. Outside, he tells them, "My God, did that smell good!" prompting a stream of gibberish from one of the boys. One of the boys says something along the lines of, "Detective, I did no going and then you tell me do things, I done runnin'..." This is met with Blowtorch's staring toward the camera, followed by a closeup of that same stare.[12]

― Stupor Fly, Friday, 26 April 2013 20:34 (1 month ago) Permalink

til it was "yeah i do" not "yeah dude"

― Sébastien, Friday, 26 April 2013 20:58 (1 month ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

i'd really like to hear more anecdotal stories about ariel's meth use. ever since i read this thread, and that christopher owens interview where he says "we're on different drugs. i'm a junkie, ariel's up all the time bouncing off the walls," his whole cultivated aura of mystery and weirdness seems a lot less contrived. certainly explains the shit live shows and the sheer volume of his recorded work....i don't know

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Thursday, 16 May 2013 17:58 (1 month ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

yep he was amazing 2nite

― i also enjoy in line skateing (spazzmatazz), Wednesday, 12 June 2013 05:42 (1 week ago) Permalink

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