Maus Space

Hey everyone,
Sorry in advance for the long post... I’m a new fan of Ariel’s and I just joined this board because I needed a place to gush about my newfound love for his music.

Some background — I actually listened to Pom Pom around the time it came out, and a few other tracks like Round and Round, Baby, etc. I liked a lot of what I heard, and I was already a fan of weird/experimental pop (for reference my favorite band is Animal Collective), but something was holding me back from totally loving it. I think it was the aspect of Ariel’s music where it sounds funny, especially the way he uses all these affected and goofy voices, it made me feel like the music was a joke (tho I realize now that this is a misguided assessment of the music). I also tried listening to House Arrest at some point and I did NOT like it at all, just couldn’t get past the lofi amateurishness of it

Just recently I decided to revisit his music for some reason. I listened to House Arrest again and somehow, something clicked with that album… I just couldn’t stop listening to it and thinking about it all the time. It felt like it came out of nowhere for me, all of a sudden it was my favorite album. Then I listened to Worn Copy, and I think by the end of Trepanated Earth (incredible song) I was like holy fuck, I can’t believe I’ve never listened to more Ariel Pink!!

The last couple weeks I’ve been on a complete binge, basically listening to Ariel almost exclusively. I don’t think I can even explain what it is about his music that I love so much, it just makes me feel different than any other music does and it makes me want to listen over and over. What’s weird is that his music is still funny to me like it was before, obviously it’s hilarious how many different voices and genres he switches between, but the music doesn’t feel like a joke or anything like that. It feels very real and sincere, but mixed with a sense of humor and playfulness that is so infectious.

It’s insane to me the way that he combines so many different styles of music so seamlessly, 60s psych folk, rock, funk, post punk, krautrock, metal, electro pop, etc. as well as basically every conceivable genre of radio pop from the 60s-80s. But he embodies all these styles so enthusiastically that it all comes across so real, and it all sounds like him. There are times when it feels like such a jumbled mess lol, but it somehow still makes sense. And even though his music can get so off kilter and messy, it’s somehow always grounded by this strong sense of rhythm and groove. It often feels like the basslines kinda hold everything together. It really just feels like his music is a journey into his twisted mind, I mean that in the best way possible lol.

I’m also totally on board with the lofi recording style of his early albums now, though it took a bit to get used to it. I’m not a purist when it comes to music and I don’t think either lofi or hifi is inherently better, they’re just different approaches, but I think with Ariel it often enhances the music. Because he’s copying all these classic pop tropes, it has this effect where it’s like you’re listening to an old cassette of lost obscure pop music…it’s sort of like vaporwave or something with the way it plays with context and memory (I know ppl have said he's like the godfather of vaporwave or whatever). But I also just like the way the music sounds visually obscured, it’s like the distortion sort of smears everything together in this really psychedelic way (btw Ariel is the fucking BEST music to listen to while stoned, wow)

Anyway I could probably keep typing forever lol... I'm sure nothing I'm saying here is very original or new, but I just can't stop thinking about his music and had to share my thoughts. I haven’t felt this strong of a connection with an artist’s music since I first got into Animal Collective, and it’s an amazing feeling. I’ve heard these albums so far:
Pom Pom (masterpiece)
DTBJ (fucking awesome)
House Arrest (prob my favorite, never gets old)
Worn Copy (unreal album, so intense and anxious)
The Doldrums (Very moving and emotional)
Lover Boy (Unbelievable melodies, every track gets stuck in my head)
FF >> (took a bit longer to click but this one is so fun and strange)
I actually still haven’t listened to Before Today or Mature Themes but I kinda want to finish going through all his early stuff first. I can’t believe I’ve slept on his music for so long, I’m so happy that it finally clicked for me

Welcome! My introduction to his music was somewhat similar to yours. I listened to some songs from pom pom and immediately got into his work, but the smattering of early stuff that I heard was hit or miss. Now I’ve listened to most of his known stuff and adore nearly all of it, and I’m always eager for more.

As far as your exploration is concerned, be forewarned, his early catalogue is quite extensive and significantly comprised of obscure releases. What are some of your favorite songs?

Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds a lot like my own story, though there wasn’t really any period of time when I didn’t like his music; although on my first listen to Before Today (my intro), I wasn’t really paying attention and it took over 2 weeks for me to revisit it, at which point I then turned into the drooling obsessed Ariel monster I am today. That was nearly 7 years ago, and he’s still my favorite artist.

That's actually one reason I came here to mausspace, his early discog is hard to figure out so I was hoping some seasoned fans can help me sort through it. Is there anybody on this forum who has compiled a comprehensive list of all of his releases that are actually available in some form?

Like for example, his discography article on Wikipedia lists a handful of underground releases from 96-98 that I can't find anywhere so I assume those are all lost and unavailable. I don't mind if something is only available as low bitrate MP3s, or if it's missing tracks, or if it's horribly disorganized or whatever. I'm on a mission to listen to as much of his music as possible, in any form!!
Hard to pick cuz he has so many great ones!! And my favorites seem to change from day to day, but off the top of my head right now:
Hardcore Pops Are Fun
Helen
Immune to Emotion
Artifact
Life in LA
For Kate I Wait
Haunted Graffiti
Are You Gonna Look After My Boys?
Howling at the Moon
The List (My Favorite Song)
A Tomb All Your Own
Want Me
Let's Get Married Tonite
Four Shadows
Negativ Ed
Black Ballerina
Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
I Wanna Be Young
May the Music Never Die Again

Not a bad selection there. Plenty of people on here have compiled pretty much all of his stuff, and considering I’m a beneficiary of their charitable efforts as well, I’ll let them share it with you. While I can’t give you a perfect starting point, the “must listens” as far as the rare releases are concerned include Yas Dudette, which was sold on Ariel’s old website as well as at concerts. There are two versions of this, I believe. Then there’s Odditties Sodomies, which had an “official” limited vinyl release as well as a tour-only one, with mostly different songs. Finally there’s DUH, which is a collection that someone found on soulseek. Most of these have songs that cannot be found on his “official” releases, although there is some overlap in addition to different versions of the same song (Howling at the Moon appears as a slowed-down version on DUH, for example.)

Additionally, there are the various versions of Scared Famous (originally released with FF>>, which have songs that can’t be found anywhere else (except perhaps on other, more obscure releases). You will notice that some of Ariel’s songs are re-recorded versions of older ones, the originals of which appear on these collections. You’ll find this out one way or another depending on whether or not you decide to listen to Before Today and Mature Themes first. I’ve barely scratched the surface with all of that, so feel free to ask more specific questions, haha

Cool, thanks for the info! I downloaded Oddities Sodomies already (I use soulseek too, its the best) and I will have to get those other releases. And yeah, I've started to notice the way he recycles old material, I looked up the old version of I Wanna Be Young after hearing the DTBJ version and even though the old version sounds like shit, the song itself was pretty much already fully formed, which is amazing to me

I just found this thread from last year where Viewbob explained which old releases are actually out there so that's helpful. I think I'm gonna listen to as much old stuff as possible, then eventually I'll check out Before Today and Mature Themes. I'm just so fascinated by all his early stuff right now, I'm sure those two albums are great as well but I think I'd rather save them for later when I'm in the right mood. Maybe once I need a contrast from the distorted lofi sound I will queue up Before Today

Appreciate the tips and I will def be asking more questions in the future when I think of them!!

being obsessed myself, i feel as if i would be doing you a disservice if i were to lay out the entire discography at your feet. the digging and searching adds to the mythical nature of his music. but i will give you this extremely factual opinion:

gox2 is the most underrated ariel pink track. there. i said it.

Yeah I get what you're saying. When I first got into Animal Collective that was part of the fun too, digging for obscure b-sides and finding the best bootlegs and stuff. And even after seeing a list of all of Ariel's releases, it's still confusing since some releases have multiple versions with different tracklists and stuff, so it will definitely still take some digging to make sense of it. I'm really excited to comb through it all. I'll make sure to check out gox2!

When I first hit my initial obsession phase, I found a bunch of stray tracks that are probably part of those early self- releases but I still haven’t sorted them out- they’re all still “Misc”. I should probably catalogue them someday and compile them into the titles/track orders Ariel intended, but I’m in no hurry. The confusing nature of it all kind of enhances the buzz, if you know what I mean. The day I “de-mystify” those old recordings is the day some of the magic therein will be lost, I fear.

I think the best entrypoint is Untitled Papermasche Tape 1. But seriously, if you want the rarer side of Ariel's discog, I have a drive folder put together here!
Hope you have a good time here!!

Just listened to this one for the first time, it's fucking amazing

you're clippin' my wings

I don't care, walk all over me, till I'm black and blue

As the title says...the laptop seems to me to be hot and the fan doesnt seem to be running. Thanks in advance