Ariel Pink

The bit where Ricky Ross sings "`Cause I look In the mirror" etc etc leading up to the question "can this white man sing the blues"

Is the tell-tale heart buried beneath the surface of "Round and Round"

I think Fright Night is the best song on the album. I would be interested to hear the Before Today demos if there are any. I thought the prereleased "Can't Hear My Eyes" was better than the version that made it onto the album. There are also a couple songs here that were on Oddities and Sodomies in a rougher, more Ariel Pink form.

Damn, that Jamie Lee was a looker in the day!

it's hard to watch that clip and not do the dance moves in your seat. very well-timed.

Is it just me or has the music been slowed down a bit?

Great job on the video BTW.

Yeah I like the 80s new wavey sound of Fright Night. I like "Menopause Man" as well, even if the lyrics are a little disconcerting!

Is it just me or has the music been slowed down a bit?

I don't think so, but if so it was not intentional. Thanks for the kind words!

is perfect as awesome as it looks?

Everyone in the 80s was just way too enthusiastically cheesy and embarrassing.

"Perfect" is incredibly dull for long stretches, but has some good moments.

Everyone in the 80s was just way too enthusiastically cheesy and embarrassing.

The clothes and hairstyles have changed, but everything still is.

it looks kindof woozy and dreamy

I will join the others in proclaiming my love for your video. Very nice!

hes kinda weird live. funny, but sort of like he was just fucking around for a good portion of it. also it seemed like 75% of the show was just one hard rocker after another, not much of the 'life in la' sort of stuff. he seemed to get a bit more serious when he did one song which i dunno, sounded like the doors or something, so for the 3 or so songs after that, it got a little more earnest, but then it ended (he did a few encores though). not sure if it was the scala or what, but i thought someone like him would have better sound, or try to go for a more distinct live setup. seemed a bit muddy overall.

also he didnt do credit, which he could easily have done instead of yet another affectionately piss takey scuzzy rocker, so he loses points.

He was absolutely brilliant in Glasgow. Set did tend to lean towards the faster, power-poppy stuff - Getting High In the Morning was awesome - but we did get For Kate I Wait. Hardcore Pops and Flashback for the encore: totally rockin' and hella catchy. He really seemed to be enjoying himself, but he definitely wasn't fucking around. A great frontman, with a great band. And no issues with the sound at all. It was really sharp and defined.

it could just be me being grumpy of course. anyway by fucking around i just mean he was kinda goofing around a bit. but i suppose thats just him.

Pink IS goofy. Listen to his songs, the silly voices, the high pitched parts, etc.!

Only time I ever saw him he did half his set with a local band (everywhere he went he met up with a local band who learned 3 or 4 tracks that day) and then half playing his 4-track and mixing the tracks live and singing along karaoke style to it. If the same band that's playing on the album is playing these shows I'd imagine it should be pretty rockin'!

This is the first Ariel Pink record I have listened to more than about 3 times, and the first I've actually bought. Listening tonight on a proper stereo it sounds wonderful. I like karl's thoughts above.

To join in - "Round and Round" reminds me immediately of blue eyed soul era Wet Wet Wet. Sweet little mystery indeed.

this album is my favourite album this year, along with janelle monaes.
so many highpoints.

so my first bit of investigation into his back catalogue led me to the My Molly EP in which he does a really spot on Morrissey impression on "This Night Has Opened My Eyes", pretty funny. i don't think i'll be returning to the EP much, though the songs are good; the extremely lo-fi recording quality just pricks my ears in a very unpleasant way.

i find it hard to listen to the old stuff now ive heard the new album.

saw Real Estate cover My Molly when I saw em live, highlight of the set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIwuyUTs9LI

was watching lilys vids on youtube and saw this

cccccccccrrrrrrrrrrreDIT.

you guys are making this sound awesome. i need to pick it up

it is kind of awesome, actually.

has this been talked about on the thread?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLYq0tHAPk

yeah it has, i had no idea it was a cover either until someone upthread mentioned it.

Ariel Pink played with the Lilys. Huh!

wow i didnt know it was a cover either. pinks version of it reminds me of dinosaur jnr.

As predicted, MGMT's oddball album isn't exactly tearing up the charts-- it currently sits at number 166 on Billboard's Top 200, three spots behind Ariel Pink's Before Today. Weird times.

listened to the new one driving around today. its fucking tremendous.

Picked up the vinyl yesterday, sounds and looks great.

Butthouse Blondies and Little Wig finally made an impression. They work well together as one big epic imo.

ARIEL PINK WITH ADDED PIZZAZZ (mp3 of first song on there)
http://www.freedopeandfuckinginthestreets.com/add.html

As predicted, MGMT's oddball album isn't exactly tearing up the charts-- it currently sits at number 166 on Billboard's Top 200, three spots behind Ariel Pink's Before Today. Weird times.

Yeah, but it was released two months ago. It debuted at #2.

'fright night' is my fave so far

are his old albums getting reissued on vinyl by paw tracks? anyone know?

listened to the new one driving around today. its fucking tremendous.

this

also, why arent his albums available on cassette? i think that would be perfect.

I was in the process of taking music off my hard-drive today because I'm formatting it and I just discovered Ariel Pink with 'Worn Copy'. I like what I hear so far

I think this is one of his weakest albums and it will undoubtedly be the one for which he's most renowned.

Round and round sounds like it was probably awesome when he made it on his tape deck. Then he went in the studio and had to really deliberately do all the non-sequiteur production as though it was spontaneous.

I admired Ariel Pink precisely because he DIDN'T re-record his ideas. I hope the rest of the originals make their way onto subsequent cdrs l. Compare the old 'beverly kills' to this one and you'll hear why.

I think I'm inclined to agree with Public Radio. I think a lot of the appeal behind Ariel was his highly idiosyncratic spontenaity (jesus how do I spell that again?), which you really can't quite replicate in a studio with a full band. Still, it's a nice collection of songs and I'm glad people like it.

I definitely agree with PublicRadio. "Worn Copy" is way much better, funny and exciting.

ive only heard 'the doldrums' before and despite the odd gem ('strange fires'), i found the constant murkiness a bit trying. i enjoy this one a lot more tbh.

i dig what he was trying to do on that record but found myself trying to like it more than i actually did.

yeah, i'm with michael b. i dig the worn (but perversely spontaneous) quality of the older recordings, but I LOVE finally hearing the songs set free of those constraints. cuz they're really, really good songs, and they reward the care & attention.

totally agree w/that-- i love 'the doldrums' and don't mind its murky sonics and appreciate the tossed-off accidental magic of much of it, but he's too talented of a songwriter to have all of his musical ideas forever submerged in the lofi. he's got so many songs such "as every night i die at miyagis" or "alisa" that are just pure pop brilliance (the genuine article; i'm not just idly spitting cliche here) such that they deserve to see the light of day with fuller production, arrangements, etc.