TSJKYA #2: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti -- Life In L.A.

This is my favorite song of Right Now. The mild buzz surrounding the new single from Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, "Round and Round," inspired me to dig into his back catalog, a series of albums released in the mid-2000s indulging in some kind of obscure, experimental precursor to chillwave. It's filled with all sorts of rubbery analog muck and puzzling vocal samples -- are they ironic or for real? -- and is totally sweet.

This edition's This Song Just Kicked Your Ass feature, "Life In L.A.", recollects the kind of psych-pastiche Beck fans used to scream for and turn-of-the-70s AM Gold. It's smooth and groovy and makes me think of driving around town with the windows rolled down on a cool summer saturday evening. "It can be so lonely/Life in LA is so lonely" goes the refrain: indeed, it's a song of solitude, a testimony on the occasional estrangement of city life. It's crowded, full of life, and bustling with energy -- but Lord knows that sometimes the big city can be the loneliest place in the world.

I had to post two versions of this -- why not -- the album version and a surprisingly high-quality video of a live performance of the song (and the most recent documented proof that the kazoo is still in use as an instrument).





Oh, and the live clip above isn't enough to convince you how, um, out there Ariel Pink is, check out some of his drawings: Here