Ariel Pink’s ”Haunting” Sound In The Music Industry
February 20, 2020
Ariel’s Biography:
From the early 2000s to the 2010s, Los Angeles based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist artist Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, aka Ariel Pink, flourished with his neo-psychedelia, hypnagogic-pop and chillwave (lo-fi) music.
In his career, Ariel has been credited for pioneering the 2000’s hypnagogic pop style as well as inspiring the chillwave genre.
According to Pitchfork, Ariel is frequently cited as the “Godfather” of the two style genres.
His music is best known for its home-recorded albums and lo-fi sounds which draw heavily on the influence of 1970s-80s pop radio and cassette culture.
Ariel’s Career:
As Ariel’s unique sound of music flowed into the early 2000s, it prompted the music world to re-analyze the “hauntological phenomena,” for which Ariel’s sound was reinstating.
The hauntological phenomena in music is a genre or loose category of music that evokes cultural memory and the aesthetics of the past, which is a hallmark of Ariel’s music.
Ariel’s recognition would begin when he signed to Animal Collective Paw Tracks label in 2003, and until 2014 Ariel’s music was usually credited under the project band label “Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti.”
Several of Ariel’s limited-edition home recorded albums were marketed from Animal Collective Paw Tracks label.
In his discography career, Ariel would create 12 albums total from 1999 2017.
The majority of Ariel’s albums were self-released but some of the albums were studio produced.
- Underground (1999) (self-released)
- The Doldrums (2000) (self-released; officially issued in 2004)
- Scared Famous (2001) (self-released)
- Fast Forward (2001) (self-released)
- House Arrest (2002) (self-released; officially issued in 2006)
- Lover Boy (2002) (self-released; officially issued in 2006)
- Worn Copy (2003)
- Before Today (2010)
- Ku Klux Glam (2012) (with R. Stevie Moore)
- Mature Themes (2012)
- Pom Pom (2014)
- Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (2017)
Ariel’s Impact:
Despite Ariels audacious and (according to Pitchfork’s Nick Sylvester) “burgeoning cult of personality,” Ariel would inspire many, many great artists in the similar field and work with many others as well.
Notably in psychedelic-rock artist Tame Impala’s album Currents, Ariel’s sound is prevalent all throughout.
Ariel’s sound is also prevalent in indie-rock artist Mac DeMarcos hit “Chamber of Reflection.”
Despite the high in his career ending in 2010, Ariel believes his reach in new listeners is what counts most.
In a 2014 interview with GAFFA (a Swedish music magazine), Ariel stated: “I’m much more satisfied with having my name entering the lives of new fans rather than making all the old fans happy.”
Ariel continues, “I’m much more interested in the 99.9999% of the population that have never heard of me.”
Ariel Pink’s music is a unique homage to the past, present and future that should never be passed over nor forgotten, but seeing as his sound is still prevalent in 2018 (In accordance with Tame Impala), I do not believe Ariel´s sound will ever fade.
