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The alternative pop-rock and lo-fi recordings of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are full of intrigue, and full of contradictions. Pink, a male singer, composer, musician and producer who is based in Los Angeles, provides songs that are melodic, catchy and familiar; songs that, in their own unorthodox way, recall the most immediate, accessible, straight-forward FM pop-rock of the '70s and '80s. But Pink's work also comes across as bizarre, trippy, skewed and twisted; and a lot of that strangeness comes from his production style. As a songwriter, Pink has a real sense of pop-rock craftsmanship, but his very muddy way of producing and his oddball, kooky sound effects make the late '90s and early 2000s recordings of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (which is really the name of a project, not an actual group) sound highly eccentric. At times, Pink (who plays guitar, bass and keyboards) sounds like he is singing into a mono cassette recorder in a basement or a garage back in 1977; he really goes out of his way to sound as underproduced and demo-like as possible. But once you get past his production style, it becomes apparent that Pink has strong pop-rock instincts (sometimes adding a touch of blue-eyed soul). The Southern Californian brings a long list of influences to the table: influences ranging from David Bowie, John Lennon, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates and the Raspberries to Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Roxy Music and late '70s/early '80s new wave. Some of Pink's melodies wouldn't have been out of place on Bowie's Station to Station album in 1976; some of them would have worked well for A Flock of Seagulls, Men at Work or the Talking Heads in the early '80s. But because Pink's production style is so quirky and off-center, those comparisons may not come as easily to listeners who don't have a taste for the bizarre; and depending on who you talk to, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti is either mindlessly self-indulgent studio masturbation or the work of an insane musical genius. There are some listeners who just plain don't comprehend what he is doing, but the small cult following Pink acquired in the late '90s and early 2000s tends to be highly enthusiastic; Pink's admirers really swear by him and insist that there is a method to his madness. Pink recorded his first Haunted Graffiti project, The Doldrums, in 1999 and 2000; that disc was followed by Vital Pink a few years later. At first, The Doldrums and Vital Pink were only CD-Rs that Pink burned on his home computer and circulated himself, but in 2004, Pink landed a record deal with the independent Paw Tracks label (which seemed to admire his do-it-yourself work ethic and made him the first Paw Tracks artist who wasn't a part of the Animal Collective). In October 2004, The Doldrums was reissued by Paw Tracks and enjoyed much better distribution; Paw Tracks' version of The Doldrums spans 1999-2003 and also contains the material from Vital Pink.

Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Dagens låt: For Kate I wait (Ariel Pink´s Haunted Grafitti)


- och hela resten av The  Doldrums/Vital Pink-skivan (och House Arrest), jag är fullkomligt kär i det här, i precis allt, jag lyssnar och lyssnar (i två månaders tid nu) och blir om och om igen lika glad, överraskad, allt faller på plats, uppfinningsrikedomen, galenskapen, motsägelsefullheten; en sån förväntan, hoppfullhet i mig, vet inte vad det är, nån slags kärlek, absolut. Att jag sen såg honom live på Debaser och inte fattade nånting, då, för mig var konserten mest kaos, ljud/oljud, fick inget grepp om det alls, förstod inte vad det var jag hörde, men det var innan jag ens lyssnat på det. Och nu efteråt när jag äntligen, sent omsider, lyssnat - efter att under ett års tid ha hört talas om hur bra det skulle vara - var det bara en sån fantastisk upplevelse. Jag vill se honom live igen!

Det jag ska göra härnäst är annars att kolla upp Woven Hand (16 Horsepower-sidoprojekt) som jag hörde igår, på en för övrigt supertrevlig fest, A & M, ni är underbara - och era vänner med (särskilt mycket kärlek till E & F, ni är så fina!) Jag vill gå på alla era fester från och med nu, lova att ha fest ofta! Och A: det är så härligt att du delar samma passion för Ariel Pink som jag; och jag vill också ha den där Mare Kandre-skivan, avundsjuk!


Dagens lästips: Deliria av Mare Kandre



Och mer kärlek: fredagskvällen på Ugglan, och alla jag träffade där, vänner, tidskriftskollegor m fl, särskilt biljarden efter kl ett på natten med M & K, var länge sen jag hade så roligt! Ser fram emot att börja arbeta tillsammans!