Sit n' Spin

Description

Sit n' Spin is a special release from the Ariel Archives series focusing on singles, EPs, and unreleased sessions recorded by Ariel Pink over the past few decades. Around 2008, Ariel Pink found a group of musicians who brought his self-produced music to life in a live setting: drummer Jimi Hey, keyboardist Kenny Keys, bassist Tim Koh, guitarist Cole M. Greif-Neil, and later, multi-instrumentalist Jorge Elbrecht and drummer Aaron Sperske. The concerts at the beginning of this new phase delivered exciting performances and a particularly striking cover of The Dover's "She's Gone." It was during this period that the new band, touring as Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, began recording new tracks. After five years of hiatus, these sessions would become the artist's first recordings since the album Worn Copy in 2003. Sit n' Spin looks back at this transitional chapter, which would lead to the groundbreaking Before Today (4AD, 2010), his first album recorded in a proper studio, offering a striking contrast to previous DIY releases. Sit n' Spin begins with "Evolution's a Lie," which revealed Ariel's stylistic range once he was freed from the constraints of the Yamaha-MT8X, his old musical companion. "Can't Hear My Eyes" tackles 80s pop music with synthesizers, saxophones, melodic bass patterns, and cheesy lyrics. In addition to the AOR influences sampled throughout Sit n' Spin, Ariel Pink's new band also spreads its wings through krautrock, prog, glam, and even a taste of L.A. Hair Metal on "We're Not Gonna Take it Anymore." Growing up in Beverly Hills, in a quiet suburb called Beverly Glen, young Ariel felt sequestered and longed to escape through music. Sit n' Spin ends on an emotional note with the familial scene of "Phantasthma," which synthesizes all the expressiveness and emotional saturation of The Cure. Ariel's new band certainly spoke his musical language, and Sit n' Spin returns to this period of re-emergence with a collection of exuberant and illustrative evidence that the conversation had only just begun.