Scared Famous/FF>>

Description

Scared Famous/FF is a key installment in the Ariel Archives series, the reissue project documenting Ariel Pink's original album series as Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. The album is often a fan favorite, the kind of definitive artistic statement that rewards repeated listening while continuing to surprise. Twenty years later, as the album returns in an expanded and carefully remastered form (its first release in true stereo), it still feels as fresh, disturbing, and energizing. After The Doldrums, Ariel Pink's double album that followed in August 2001, Scared Famous/FF ushered in a mature style, a radical compression of heterogeneous pop into a singular and poignant sound. It features iconic tracks like "Beverly Kills," "22 Eyes" (if Kurt Cobain replaced Danzig in a Misfits reunion), and the beautifully saturated "May the Music Never Die." The album notably embraces prog rock influences. Early YouTube users may remember discovering raw music videos of Ariel Pink for songs from Scared Famous/FF such as "Are You Gonna Look After My Boys?" and "Politely Declined" in the mid-2000s. Like many of his generation, Ariel Pink grew up with MTV, and the music video was an obvious way to indulge in the fantasy of pop stardom. At that time, Animal Collective began releasing Ariel Pink's self-produced works on their Paw Tracks label, bringing him to a wider audience. He also toured with the band in 2004-05, attempting to recreate the dense layers of his recordings on stage, with varying degrees of success, but Ariel Pink's strange music had already begun to spread.