Normally I wouldn't bother to review a single, but when it comes to Ariel Pink I believe there's cause to declare credit where credit's due.
Pink (along with his Haunted Graffiti cohorts) is literally the godfather of a lo-fi industry, pushing out his crazed fractured and shimmered constructions on anyone keen to listen to them from as far back as 1996. Maligned in some of the more prissy corners of the indie world for his avant garde idiosyncrasies, Ariel Pink has been popping up in and around masterpieces from more understanding disciples of his craft for years - from Gary War's NewRaytheonport to John Maus' Songs, he's assisted the formation of a technically and mentally challenging form of pop music that's far outweighed the chart-topping luminaries of artists with more production and PR dollars that he's ever even imagined.
But now Ariel Pink's got backing. From the forthcoming full length Before Today due on June 7 on 4AD, Round and Round is a glorious mark of man who has finally made it into an actual recording studio. Gone is the tape hiss calamity of many of the releases of Haunted Graffiti's historiography and Pink's overwhelming cassette-tone past - despite the importance of House Arrest (2002) and the Doldrums (2004), Before Today will mark an evolution to wider acceptance of the genius that Pink and co. have to pass onto others. Round and Round - and the b-side Mistaken Wedding - are the appropriate 1980s-style psych pop jams that will forever mark Pink's place in the annuls of manyaudiophiles cataloged collections.
Having previously courted favour with the likes of Animal Collective (and having been signed to their label Paw Tracks for his efforts), there's little excuse for Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti to be left languishing in a state where indie kids are too pretentious to have a bit of fun. Before Today is released in around a week's time, and with the scene set by the single Round and Round and the previously released album track Can't Hear My Eyes then there's more than enough evidence with which anyone can take a punt.
