Ariel Pink
Haunted Graffiti 5: House Arrest

I imagined Ariel as a sort of isolated pop genius of the new millennium, or rather, given the common geographical origins, as a visionary Brian Wilson from the post "Pet Sounds" paranoid period. Joking aside, Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, known as Ariel Pink, has become quite the name on everyone's lips. If not everyone, at least those who lend an ear to indie rock matters. Ariel lives in Beverly Hills, is the son of a wealthy dentist, and has a passion for pop music. He grew up at home, in a sort of voluntary (musical) isolation, recording his tracks on an 8-track Yamaha recorder. One day, one of his tapes reaches the folks at Paw Tracks (Animal Collective), who are quite familiar with oddities, and they decide to start releasing material. And that's what we're here to talk about, "House Arrest" is the fifth collection of his home demos, recorded in 2001/2002.

It's not easy to describe Ariel's music, he plays everything by himself, with some occasional help, with a homemade and low-fidelity approach. His pieces are more like collages of various influences, everything spinning in his head gets modified, glued, and colored, with a great melodic sense. His music somehow manages to stay abstract, a colorful cloud that flows from my stereo speakers and hovers in mid-air, still changing form and consistency. A mutable sound, capable of unfolding and offering pearls to those who know how to find them. Inside there are sixties pop remnants "Every Night I Die At Miyagis", a splash of vintage electronics "Alisa" and some almost garage-type guitars "Interesting Results". There's also an undisguised passion for past TV theme tunes, folk and assorted psychedelic oddities, including those each of you will discover when you taste this sugary marvel. The beauty of these songs is something elusive, it hints at something from our childhood (happy), a pop purity that's very hard to find, the same one you experience when listening to sixties gems like "Pet Sounds". Wondering what will become of him, or rather how his music will evolve, there's nothing left to do but enjoy what is available now, which could burst like a bubblegum bubble at any moment.