On Haunted Cassettes

Pitchfork reports that for his upcoming tour, Ariel Pink will be selecting a different local band each night to be his back up band. These bands won't know his songs or have ever played with him before. He is playing in Durham at the Duke Coffeehouse on February 27th with BoyzoneThe Clang Quartet. Boyzone are the Nightlight's house band--and by band I mean pile of writhing bodies--and the Clang Quartet are God's favorite one man percussion/destruction artist. It should be an intense show.

I am really looking forward to the release/re-release of House Arrest, the new/old AP album. I really loved Doldrums (I haven't heard Worn Copy, but have it on good authority that it is good). "For Kate I Wait" is a brilliant song--the type of song that I can listen to over and over without getting tired of it--and has a brilliant--and discomforting--video as well. "For Kate I Wait" is a 70's soft rock ode to love filtered through 30 years of rotting speakers, disintegrating magnetic tape and drug nightmares. There is nothing that sounds like Ariel Pink. Doldrums isn't perfect--each song is about 2 minutes longer than it needs to be and the album just goes and goes--but perfection isn't the point. Ariel Pink creates his own world and lives in it as its king and only subject.

Ariel Pink returns some of the strangeness and weirdness to underground music that has disappeared since the rise of the internet. Now, bands are easily found, their songs are readily available. You can see their webpage, their blog, their myspace. Everyone has pictures of themselves. Anyone can make a nice looking site, record on their computer, put their songs online. The challenge to the music consumer is removed. This is good, but sometimes I miss the mystery. I am reminded of the early days of =seBADoh= obsession--hunting far and wide for all those cassette and vinyl only releases. Ariel Pink gets back to some of that. He has dozens of cassette only releases, he records alone, the songs are woozy and unstable. I think it is great that he is having bands that haven't played with him before and don't know his songs play as his band. Too long we have traded in creativity for quality.

Boyzone and the Clang Quartet have no problem with either and should be seen to be believed. February 27th looks to be a Fucked Up Night.