from the CD House Arrest, Ball Bearings Piñatas Records, 2002“It's the audio experience that matters…it's what I experienced underneath my headphones, twelve at night, after being with my friends smoking a joint…that's when I was loving the art form…” So speaks one Ariel Rosenberg (a.k.a. Ariel Pink), from a 2006 interview with nerve.com, and I couldn’t do a better job of summarizing the aesthetic his otherworldly music aims for. Virtually any musician with a 4 or 8-track recorder who releases their own tunes is dubbed “lo-fi”, but that mantle is in no way big enough for all the ideas Ariel Pink comes to the table with; his songs weave familiar pop melodies into dark perverted forests, constructing misshapen and deformed odes to all that’s come before him. The comparisons to R. Stevie Moore, another artist who has always managed to avoid pigeonholing by music critics, are both valid and confirmed (from the same interview as above “…I'm dedicating my career to him… he happens to be one of the best songwriters that ever was… it feels like a conspiracy, why he isn't better known…”), and the two men are actually friends. Strictly musically speaking, he wears his obsessions on his sleeve: The Cure, Bowie, Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Prince, and, in childlike spirit at least, early Ween recordings. Crackling to life like some second-rate French disco record that was very cheaply produced, this song is one of my favorites of his, not of least of which because of his warbled and fervently heartfelt vocal delivery---he sings all the parts here, in addition to handling guitars, bass, keyboards, and some “cymbals” which he beat-boxes himself, to superb effect. It all mixes together nicely, sounding very convincingly like it had been recorded 20 years before; the minimal beats and polysynths make it sound almost like Level 42, only they just did a bunch of nitrous. The chorus is so dramatic, full of dead-on ‘80s style allure, “Alisa, you’re in my heart, you’re in my dreams, you’re in my soul…” As twisted and amateur as much of his music may sound on the surface, repeated listenings will uncover a depth and skill at songcraft which seems undeniable to me; however, the numerous puzzled looks I’ve received from many of the people that I’ve tried to turn on to his music tell me that it’s an acquired taste, at the least. There is something so adventurous and carefree about his vibe, flamboyant and self-serving though it may be, you can tell his musical endeavors keep alight in him the radiance and naïve confidence of youth. Even with all the effects, what you see is what you get with Mr. Pink; he’s not being ironic, he’s just having fun. Again, the essence of this is best communicated through his own words (Discorder interview, 2005) “I like to do stuff, to create; but even if I didn't want to do that, if I wanted to sit and watch TV all day, it would just be because I want to be happy…”
