album #38

before today (ariel pink's haunted graffiti)

This is an example of an album where I just never think of the title; I've always thought of the band's name as the album name. It's a shady album, it googles and buzzes. The electric sound almost sounds like a kazoo. It's a fun, fuzzy foggy retro album, with two superstar tracks: the undercard "Fright Night," glowing melodic synths dramatically landing across the purple nightscape song; and "Round And Round," Pitchfork's best song of 2010, an honor my roommates and I initially met with derision- but upon inspection, I personally came around to it in a big way. It still sounds like that particular December to me, and even more specifically it's the night I first came back from LGA. A lovely anthem, instrumental choices that stretch across the best of the '80s, a final fadeout I've made a habit of singing along with.

After those two songs, in the context of the whole album, I realize how the rest of the record just can't compete with those stars. Good songs all, but those two are in their own stratosphere. Altogether, a fun record, and I'm more likely than not to stick with a track when it comes up on shuffle. I like this guy- even though he oozes LA premeditated weirdcool, he's put together some pretty acceptable, weirdcool tracks.