Ariel Pink - Pom Pom Part 2

Pom Pom was finally released this week. I got it at the record shop. As I said in my original review Pink Raincoats, which I didn't like at the start, has become one of my favourite tunes. This is the tune that reminded me of They Might Be Giants. When I mentioned They Might Be Giants, King Missile, Ween, Nudge Squidfish and Regurgitator it wasn't a sledge against those bands as I'm quite fond of many of their recordings. Hey I own(ed) They Might Be Giants, Ween & Nudge Squdfish records. I was referring to the comic elements in those pop groups. I never had a King Missile or Regurgitator record but I didn't hate hearing them on the radio.

*When I wrote 'Goth Bomb is grunge meets goth meets metal meets space rock meets scuzz.' I had in mind for metal Black Sabbath, for space rock Hawkwind and for scuzz read Royal Trux. That kind of cancels out the other 2 genres doesn't it.

There's also a kind of English homage going throughout the whole record. Many a Brit accent is to be heard throughout Pom Pom. Oh...its just twigged its called Pom Pom which could be a reference to all you Prisoners Of her Majesty. I think he mentions Portobello Road in the first track. There's a sonic reference to the end section of A Day In The Life on Exile On Frog Street. The name of that tune obviously invoking The Rolling Stones. Alice In Wonderland gets mentioned along the way. He'd definitely be a fan of Swell Maps, The Homosexuals et al. I tried not to mention Pink Floyd, glam, Mr Bowie at his most overwrought and thespian & Mr Ronson in the original article. Did someone say side 2 of Diamond Dogs?

No matter how much he may be influenced by things from the UK, America and the rest of the world (read NZ ie. the great Axemen) there is always something so intrinsically LA about his whole vibe. It's in his blood. Having Kim Fowley and ex-Germs drummer Don Bolles on board doesn't hurt either.

*Cleaners From Venus.
I think Ariel Pink may have been instrumental in the reappraisal of this classic 80s under underground band from England. I have a vague recollection of someone (maybe a member of Ducktails or Emeralds) saying Ariel Pink introduced them to Cleaners from Venus via a mixtape and this was way before the reissue program of their oeuvre started. 

*Writers Block.
There are at least three songs with references to writing or writer's block on Pom Pom. I know he had a bad case of it for a while there maybe between Worn Copy and the first 4AD record in 2010. Many believed Before Today (2010) was mainly old songs from his vast archive. Indeed his first LP on 4AD included Beverly Kills which had already appeared on FFWD, L'estat was from Odditties Sodomies Vol 1, Hot Body Rub was on the Added Pizazz EP and Little Wig which had already been on a cdr sold at concerts in 2005 apparently. Before being remodelled for Pom Pom an early no-fi acoustic version of Dayzed Inn Daydreams (really just containing the chorus) was on Oddities Sodomies Vol 1. under the title Before Today/Dazed In Dreams. So he's still dipping into his backlog of tunes to this day. He's also turned writing about writer's block into unblocking writer's block thus creating a paradox.

*Goth.
Pom Pom has me wanting to dig out Cure, Bauhaus and Killing Joke albums. Strangely it had me wanting to listen to bands I never got into and in The Sisters Of Mercy's case, actively hated. Its got me thinking 'Were Fields Of Nephilim or Christian Death any good? Did I miss out on others as well?'

*The Bewlay Brothers is the final track on David Bowie's Hunky Dory. Gouge Away concludes Doolittle by the Pixies. This is a great topic actually - Best final tracks of albums. One has already been mentioned above ie. The Beatles A Day In The Life. I've got a list somewhere I should post it. Suggestions are also most welcome.

*'So that's 9 in a row then.'
9 Ariel Pink classics in a row. That row is very wayward and I doubt anyone got them in the order that they should have been in. Anyway what I mean is from Haunted Graffiti 2: The Doldrums onwards, which includes Sacred Famous, FFWD, House Arrest, Lover Boy & Worn Copy. Then his 4AD Years Before Today, Mature Themes and now Pom Pom.

*Haunted Graffiti 1: Underground
I've listened to this 1998(?) album (although I've never seen a physical copy) and it was ok but no classic. The quantum leap from Underground to The Doldrums was astounding, like he had signed a pact with the devil Robert Johnson stylee. I hope so. That'd be so LA.

This is strange don't you think? Are they all meant to be Ariel?
Only the yellow one has any resemblance. 

Scott Walker & Sun O))) - Soused

When??????

It's there in my files awaiting listening and it's been there for a while. I know I will end up buying it just like you used to in the olden days when Tilt was originally released in 1995. You know, where in exchange for some money you get a physical item containing sound. I'm at some weird crossroads though and I haven't got the nerve to put it on. Scott Walker has recorded 3 of my favourite LPs of the last 20 years, Tilt, The Drift and Bish Bosch. I have actually listened to these 3 albums a lot and his brand of obtuse existentialism, strange beauty and sense of the absurd usually doesn't disturb me. In fact I relish it (I'm about to listen to the 4 tracks by Mars on No New York for gods sake!). What's going on in my brain preventing me from clicking on Soused in my 2014 playlist? Don't worry 4AD you'll get your money, eventually. What am I afraid he might unleash? Maybe I'm worried it won't be any good due to his collaborators but as I've previously stated I don't hate them. Perhaps I think they're unsuited or too suited. Is it too soon? I mean Bish Bosch was only released in 2012! Should I look at it more as a side project?.... not the true follow up to Bish Bosch? Has the mystique dried up? It's called Soused! Will it be like a Cosmic Psychos album? I noticed a review at The Quietus and thought that might gently lead me into the album. I couldn't finish the article as it was the worst pile o shite I ever started reading in my life. I'm still none the wiser about anything! Stay tuned to see what my brain does next. Will I listen to it before it's time for the end of year polls? When will I shell out the cash? Will I even write a follow up post?

A comedy album?

Shoegazers II - The Pale Saints

When I said in that shoegaze post that the Pale Saints had their moments that seemed a bit dismissive. I meant they had some superlative moments. The Pale Saints energy and dynamics were harvested to great affect on their recordings. Something about them was different from the Thames Valley bands. There was more to them than floppy fringes and stripe-y T-Shirts. They seemed just as informed by MOR and Wire as they were by My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus & Mary Chain. They had a vibe that was effortless and assured. Maybe they were just more talented than the rest and you felt like they could be stars because they were like real artists.

Hair Shoes with it's startling intensity, still sounds astonishing to this day. This is from their second album In Ribbons.

Children Of The Sun

Heard this in a restaurant the other day and thought it was like 60s Scott Walker doing a lost Doors track. It took me a while to find what it was but here it is!

Don't forget this bewdy from the 80s.

And this one! Wow.

What's Goin On?

These are the main reasons I've not been posting much this year. I have a computer that's busted. I have 2 cd players that aren't working and a turntable that needs a new stylus. I can play tapes and my i-pod through the stereo but that's about it. I'm not in the zone for writing about music and culture. It doesn't feel right doing it on another computer where all my files aren't. I have the new Umberto album but I can't find it so no comment there. I've been listening to Trick Or Treat, the LP Ariel Pink did with VDO (some Mutant Sounds folk) under the name Shits & Giggles pre 4AD signing. Also just discovered Marcus's 1978 LP From The House Of Trax. Another new discovery is Nuts & Co's Kangouruo LP from like 1984. I have to thank the awesome Mutant Sounds once again for alerting me to these last 2. They do have their problems over there though with Rapidshare and stuff which I hope gets all sorted. I tried to download 6 things but I only got 2. They're still the best! I even started reading David Toop's Ocean Of Sound which has been on my shelf for years and I've never been in the mood to read it!  Hopefully Cardrossmaniac2 (ab)normality will be resumed soon.

Mature Themes Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

So I think they have or are going to release Baby as the first single. Disappointingly it's not Tina Turner on backing vocal but an impersonator. I liked not knowing and having that fantasy of Tina and Ariel gettin down and dirty in some seedy studio in LA.  Baby is a fuckn great song and may even get airplay. It's a cover apparently. Anyway I was listening to the album again and thought 'What else could be a single?' Only In My Dreams has already been a free download. The catchiest song on the record and really should be the next single in the perfect world would be Symphony of The Nymph. That is a classic pop song but I just can't see it gettin commercial airplay with mentions of lesbians, nymphomaniacs, colonoscopies  and Ariel referring to himself as a lesbian, a MILF or a Nymph or whatever...... We live in a sad world if this cannot be a hit! But you never know Lou's Walk On The Wild Side was a hit. Katy Perry can kiss a girl and we liked it. Fingers crossed!

Just another normal night in with Ariel