Ariel Pink

It is not Trout Mask. Let's not exaggerate.
It does somewhat return to his lo fi roots with the main difference that he is much more confident and less humble (and that's a disadvantage imo)

http://i.imgur.com/E4GyEbj.jpg

those covers are amazing.

pom pom is hi-fi according to that chart

or higher-fi anyway

that chart is bullshit

maybe it's a "beginner's guide" in the sense that an aspiring professional guide maker made it

pom pom sounds like it was recorded not too differently to the previous one, just mixed to sound like a 5th generation cassette

Not saying it is Trout Mask Replica, but it is [his Trout Mask Replica. The epic culmination of AP in his Todd Rundgren 'Wizard, True Star' phase, going all out, not caring about reputation. This is that album. It's certainly not flawless, far from it, but he certainly seems to have followed his gut instinct, instead of easily going with the band and current success. He didn't choose the easy way out, and instead did what he wants to do. I applaud that.

So many sound effects and hidden treasures. "Not Enough Violence" is an incredible, incredible song.

"Dayzed Inn Daydreams" made me choke up earlier....

I think comparing it to "A Wizard, a True Star" is more apt than "Trout Mask Replica".

just noticed the reference "A Day in the Life" in "Exile on Frog Street"

"Picture Me Gone" reminds me of Magnetic Fields

also, was he married to porn star Alisa Daniels?

In that New Yorker blurb-file he says he is dating a porn star who used to be on Charlie Sheen's bench.

He was definitely married to an Alisa though, per his classic song - "Alisa"

I understand the arguments and disappointment from people who crave the "mystery insane dude cranking out lo-fi tapes of 60s/70s/80s pop ghosts," but I'd rather have both because I think AP is a brilliant songwriter. The aesthetics and the recording quality can't mask a shit song.

In that New Yorker blurb-file he says he is dating a porn star who used to be on Charlie Sheen's bench.

hope someone washed that bench before sitting on it iirc

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/533-who-said-it-ariel-pink-and-glenn-beck-face-off-out-of-context/

this the guy anointed by sizable portions of the hipsterati as the new frank zappa huh, tf did zappa do to deserve that

Also lol at Ariel Pink being on the same planet as Zappa as a musician, composer, and arranger. I say that as a lukewarm Zappa fan at best.

it seems to alternate between FZ and basically any psychedelia merchant of yesteryear

i don't quite get the zappa comparison

zappa was an intellectual and a muso who seemed intent on proving that, ariel pink seems more of a self-conscious primitive (which zappa tried to be on some occasions)

i guess the connection is that both do "pastiche," and have a number of musical personalities. and that's true, but in very different ways.

can't wait for the Twitter police to get really tiffed over that article.

"wow people like this ariel pink person? why i never!!!!"

ariel has more of a pop heart than zappa. i think a better comparison would be Pollard. class melodicism put together in shambles

Sounds like the Tubes to me. Or Bobby Conn.

yeah i think pollard is a much closer comparison

bobby conn--ouch. i never got that guy's appeal. and he was everywhere in chicago ca. late 1990s.

he seemed like the archetypical hipster musical poseur to me.

uh i mean archetypal

man let it never be said that this dude doesn't have a deeeedicated fanbase who will bend over backwards to find bonafides for him

all for the man who wrote schnitzel boogie

yeah i like much of his music but some of the fawning on here seems over the top

I gave that record a listen and it's as good as most Zappa I've heard, I get the fawning praise. Luckily Zappa's the worst, so

Not down with people saying how great it sounds. The sound quality on this is poor compared with whoever people are comparing it too upthread - Rundgren, Zappa, Tubes, whatever. Listened to it last night really loud on a fantastic system and it sounded like flat, bombastic computer music. He's transitioned from one form of shitty sound quality to a different, more subtle form of shitty sound quality.

bobby conn is cool

those covers are amazing.

― Raccoon Tanuki, Tuesday, October 28, 2014 6:13 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Lover_Boy.jpg

yea that chart was dumb as fuck, about as dumb as the term "hypnogogic pop" and other bullshit wire-isms, but yea the covers are pretty amazing

I guess I can see where people get the Zappa thing from - there are elements that make them sound like certain Zappa songs. Haven't listened enough to really identify too many specific examples but eg. Negativ Ed has the tubular bells, tempo, descending bass riffs and challenging vocals as Teenage Prostitute.

yea that chart was dumb as fuck, about as dumb as the term "hypnogogic pop" and other bullshit wire-isms

hahah otm

Ariel Pink always made me think of Skafish. I love Ariel Pink and the first Skafish record is a masterpiece but Frank Zappa is just vile, I kind of like some of his records though

Bobby Conn rules and his band is awesome and AP is still a long way from anything as good as "The Golden Age".

I agree with that. But I also love Zappa.

people do love this guy, me included. he'll forever be divisive in music circles but i really hadn't heard anything quite like those first albums when they first entered my world.

hipster bullshit, the son of a millionaire gastroenterologist slumming it in outsider clothes, a gadfly seeking attention etc

whatever you think of him he just is

The "Mom and dad are normal" section of Jell-O has a real strong '67-'68 Mothers of Invention vibe.

Big differences is Zappa felt like he really sneered at his targets and held authority in general in contempt. AP doesn't seem that much into anything.

amoral white sociopaths rarely are

He looks pretty into My Little Pony from what I can see.

The Zappa comparisons have nothing to do with AP's songwriting, just his style.

I feel the style thing to a degree but Zappa's vibe is so different, his sort of "I'm smarter than you" sarcasm and mocking thing, plus he was sort of hyper professional as a band leader, very savvy businessman etc, whereas Ariel's whole vibe is more erratic, fragile

Also tbh a lot of Ariel's supposed "enigmatic" behavior etc sometimes seems a lot like a dude that is on drugs than anything

there was a written testimony from the Flaming Lips sound man awhile ago warning festival organizers that Ariel and his band were pretty heavy heroin users. i can't seem to find it anymore though