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Album reviews Music

Ariel Pink


On these tracks performed live in the late 1990s and early 2000s before Ariel Pink’s well-known Haunted Graffiti series, the listener gets a compelling look inside the artist’s wonderfully weird brain. From the 36 songs, recovered from burnt CD-Rs and old 8-track cassettes, we can try to determine how the L.A. avant-garde artist went from obscurity to Animal Collective golden boy to the fully formed singer/songwriter behind 2012’s fantastically obscure pop album Mature Themes.

Plenty of the tunes feature the noisy rapture associated with Pink’s early stuff, but there are also glimpses of his pop sensibilities, especially on the heartbreakingly saccharine Crusades, which showcases his softer, less abrasive side.

Although disjointed and lacking structure – which is the beauty/burden of comps – it’s a pleasant enough listen that’ll keep appetites whetted until Pink releases another full-length.

Top track: Crusades samantha edwards

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