The Doldrums (album)

Last updated
The Doldrums
Thedoldrums.jpg
Studio album by
Released2000 (self-released)
October 11, 2004 (Paw Tracks)
RecordedSeptember 1999 – April 2000
Genre
Length62:10
Label Paw Tracks
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti chronology
Underground
(1999)
The Doldrums
(2000)
Scared Famous
(2002)

The Doldrums is the second album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, self-released in 2000. It is the second album credited to his solo music project, "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti", and the second installment in his Haunted Graffiti series. On October 11, 2004, the album was released on the independent label Paw Tracks, owned by the music group Animal Collective. It received critical praise and has since been recognized for its influence on subsequent lo-fi acts. [5] In 2020, a remastered edition of the album was released by Mexican Summer. [6]

Contents

Background

According to LA Weekly , The Doldrums was recorded during Pink's final semester at CalArts, in which time he was "in the throes of a drug binge". [7] "I'm sure those were my words," he later said. "I don’t know. It was fine. I had a typical art school experience, I suppose, if you consider getting drunk at openings, partying with your 'teachers,' and shrugging off scholastic duties as often as possible as something typical of college experience." [8] For final examinations, he submitted a "kiosk where I was selling The Doldrums on CD. That was my art piece." [9]

The album was originally issued in 2000 in CD-R format, copies of which were handmade by Pink himself. [10] One such copy was passed on by Pink to the band Animal Collective, who found the copy on their tour van floor and, impressed by its music, later contacted Pink and offered to re-issue it on their own Paw Tracks label. [10] [11] The Doldrums was subsequently re-issued on October 11, 2004, by Paw Tracks as the first of a series of re-issues of Haunted Graffiti albums by the label. [12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Fact 5/5 [14]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Pitchfork 5.0/10 [16]
Spin A [1]
Stylus Magazine B+ [17]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [11]

An uncredited writer for Spin called the album "a lo-fi masterpiece." [1] AllMusic reviewer Joshua Glazer called it "one of the most wonderfully skewed takes on classic pop you're likely to hear," noting that "its hazy production obscures inklings of '70s AM radio-styled songwriting, and Pink's gift for melody is almost as strong as his tendency towards weirdness." [13] David Stubbs from Uncut wrote that the songs' "range, volatility and Simultaneist overload sounds like The Beatles circa 1967, The Human League, FM radio's Hall Of Fame, Phil Spector, Tiny Tim and the great R. Stevie Moore all frolicking at once in an acid bath in his own head." [11] Stylus ' Mike Powell credited the album with accomplishing "the difficult task of drawing something genuine out of music and affects that seem deliberately and relentlessly depth-less." [17]

Less favorably, Pitchfork 's Nick Sylvester opined: "The songs are secondary to Pink's bourgeoning cult of personality-- the album turns its imperfections into selling points, its pigheadedness into firm resolve. ... we understand the supposed appeal of The Doldrums: These are normal songs, except a 'crazy' guy is singing them, and he has 'crazy' lo-fi production." [16]

Among retrospective assessments, in 2011, Fact 's Tom Lea called it "Pink's masterpiece." [18] In 2013, critic Simon Reynolds named the album among his favorite records of the 2000s, [19] suggesting that its "reverb haze could be a semi-conscious attempt to recreate the blissfully indiscriminate way that children listen to pop music, before they learn what's cool or uncool." [20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ariel Pink

The Doldrums
No.TitleLength
1."Good Kids Make Bad Grown Ups"4:39
2."Strange Fires"4:06
3."Among Dreams"4:19
4."For Kate I Wait"4:19
5."Haunted Graffiti"3:50
6."Gray Sunset"3:38
7."The Doldrums"4:02
8."Envelopes Another Day"5:08
9."The Ballad of Bobby Pyn"10:58
Vital Pink – 2004 bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Don't Think Twice (Love)"2:06
11."Until the Night Dies"3:41
12."Crying"2:16
13."Theme From Unreleased "Claris Gardens""2:54
14."Let's Build a Campfire There"4:13
15."Young Pilot Astray"2:28
Total length:62:10

Related Research Articles

<i>Ege Bamyasi</i> 1972 studio album by Can

Ege Bamyası is the third studio album by German krautrock band Can, released on 29 November 1972 by United Artists Records. The album contains the single "Spoon", which charted in the Top 10 in Germany after being used as the theme song to the German television mini-series Das Messer. The success of the single allowed Can to establish their own studio, Inner Space, in Weilerswist, North Rhine-Westphalia, where they recorded the rest of the album.

<i>Sung Tongs</i> 2004 studio album by Animal Collective

Sung Tongs is the fifth studio album by American experimental pop band Animal Collective, released on May 3, 2004 by FatCat Records. The album, newly exploring freak folk, received high critical reception upon its release and was featured in best-of lists at the end of 2004 and the decade of the 2000s. Only two of the band's four members play on the album, Avey Tare and Panda Bear, a first since Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (2000), which was originally credited to the duo and only later retroactively classified as part of the band's discography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lo-fi music</span> Music aesthetic

Lo-fi is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The standards of sound quality (fidelity) and music production have evolved over the decades, meaning that some older examples of lo-fi may not have been originally recognized as such. Lo-fi began to be recognized as a style of popular music in the 1990s, when it became alternately referred to as DIY music. Some subsets of lo-fi music have become popular for their perceived nostalgic and/or relaxing qualities, which originate from the imperfections that define the genre.

Paw Tracks was an independent record label based in Washington, D.C.

<i>House Arrest</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

House Arrest is the fifth studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, under Pink's "Haunted Graffiti" musical project. It is the fifth album in the eponymous series of albums, as subtitled. It was self-released in September 2002 under the imprint, Demonstration Bootleg, as a double CD set with his follow-up album, Lover Boy.

<i>Worn Copy</i> 2003 studio album by Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

Worn Copy is the seventh studio album by the American recording artist Ariel Pink, under his "Haunted Graffiti" musical project. It is the eighth release in the eponymous series of works and was released on the label, Rhystop, in 2003. It was reissued by Paw Tracks in 2005 with the bonus video, "For Kate I Wait."

<i> Scared Famous</i> and <i>Fast Forward</i> 2001 studio albums by Ariel Pink

Scared Famous and Fast Forward are the third and fourth albums by American recording artist Ariel Pink. They were originally released on cassette as a double album by Ariel in 2001. A compilation album of the material from both albums was subsequently released by Human Ear Music in 2007. It consisted of only 17 tracks selected from the original cassettes.

<i>Young Prayer</i> 2004 studio album by Panda Bear

Young Prayer is the second solo album by American experimental pop musician Panda Bear, released on September 28, 2004. It follows his debut solo album Panda Bear (1999). It is his first since co-founding Animal Collective.

<i>Berserker</i> (Jane album) 2005 studio album by Jane

Berserker is the third album released by Jane, composed of Animal Collective member Panda Bear and Scott Mou. Berserker is Jane's first release on Paw Tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Maus</span> American musician

John Maus is an American musician, composer, singer, and songwriter known for his baritone singing style and his use of vintage synthesizer sounds and Medieval church modes, a combination that often draws comparisons to 1980s goth-pop. His early lo-fi recordings anticipated and inspired the late 2000s hypnagogic pop movement. On stage, he is characterized for his intense displays of emotion while performing. He is also a former teacher of philosophy at the University of Hawaii, where he later earned his PhD in political science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Pink discography</span>

Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles–based indie artist and musician. He boasts a cult following and endorsements from more widely known artists such as fellow founding Paw Tracks group Animal Collective.

Chillwave is a music microgenre that emerged in the late 2000s. It is characterized by evoking the popular music of the late 1970s and early 1980s while engaging with notions of memory and nostalgia. Common features include a faded or dreamy retro pop sound, escapist lyrics, psychedelic or lo-fi aesthetics, mellow vocals, slow-to-moderate tempos, effects processing, and vintage synthesizers.

<i>Before Today</i> 2010 studio album by Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

Before Today is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, credited to "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti", and released on June 8, 2010. The album marked Pink's debut on the record label 4AD. It was his first official LP of new recordings since 2003's Worn Copy and his first written and recorded with a supporting band, referred to in the liner notes as "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Pink</span> American musician, singer, and songwriter (born 1978)

Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded albums proved influential to many indie musicians starting in the late 2000s. He is frequently cited as "godfather" of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements, and he is credited with galvanizing a larger trend involving the evocation of the media, sounds, and outmoded technologies of prior decades, as well as an equal appreciation between high and low art in independent music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Round and Round (Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti song)</span> 2010 single by Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

"Round and Round" is a song written and performed by the American hypnagogic pop band Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. It was released as a double A-side on April 26, 2010 and appeared as the fifth track on Before Today, the band's debut album on 4AD.

<i>Mature Themes</i> 2012 studio album by Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

Mature Themes is the ninth studio album by the American recording artist Ariel Pink. It was released on August 20, 2012 through 4AD, and is the second album recorded with Pink's band. It is the final album released under Pink's musical project "Haunted Graffiti," as he would subsequently release material under his name starting with his follow-up album, pom pom (2014).

<i>Pom Pom</i> (album) 2014 studio album by Ariel Pink

Pom Pom is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, released on November 17, 2014 through 4AD. It was his first release credited solely to himself, and his last on 4AD. Several of its songs were co-written with the ailing Kim Fowley, who died the following January. Critics generally gave the album positive reviews. Only one single was issued from the album: "Put Your Number in My Phone".

<i>Early Live Recordings</i> Compilation live album by Ariel Pink

Early Live Recordings is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter and musician Ariel Pink. It was released on December 17, 2013, through Human Ear Music record label. The album features Pink's early live recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s under the aliases "Gorilla" and "Appleasians".

Hypnagogic pop is pop or psychedelic music that evokes cultural memory and nostalgia for the popular entertainment of the past. It emerged in the mid to late 2000s as American lo-fi and noise musicians began adopting retro aesthetics remembered from their childhood, such as radio rock, new wave pop, light rock, video game music, synth-pop, and R&B. Recordings circulated on cassette or Internet blogs and were typically marked by the use of outmoded analog equipment and DIY experimentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hauntology (music)</span> Musical genre

Hauntology is a music genre or a loosely defined stylistic feature that evokes cultural memory and aesthetics of the past. It developed in the 2000s primarily among British electronic musicians, and typically draws on British cultural sources from the 1940s to the 1970s, including library music, film and TV soundtracks, psychedelia, and public information films, often through the use of sampling.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Breakdown". Spin . 20 (12): 124. December 2004. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  2. "Paw Tracks Readies Vinyl Reissues Of Two Rare Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Records, 'The Doldrums' And 'House Arrest'". Self-Titled Mag. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  3. Reynolds, Simon (December 29, 2005). "A Year". Blissblog. Blogger . Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  4. Bevan, David. "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti". Spin.
  5. Richardson, Mark (June 7, 2010). "Before Today". Pitchfork .
  6. Roberts, Christopher (February 18, 2020). "Ariel Pink Announces Second Wave of "Ariel Archives" Reissues, Shares Video for "Cry Baby"". Under the Radar Mag. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  7. Hoinski, Michael (April 14, 2005). "The Weirdo". LA Weekly . Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  8. Simonini, Ross (January 13, 2006). "Interview with Ariel Pink – Identity Theory". Identity Theory. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  9. Raffeiner, Arno (September 14, 2017). "Interview: Ariel Pink". Red Bull Music Academy.
  10. 1 2 Beta, Andy (September 13, 2012). "Ariel Pink". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Stubbs, David (December 2004). "Past perfect pop". Uncut (91).
  12. "Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti "The Doldrums" press page". www.paw-tracks.com.
  13. 1 2 Glazer, Joshua. "The Doldrums – Ariel Pink / Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti". AllMusic . Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  14. Lea, Tom (March 4, 2011). "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: The Doldrums". Fact . Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  15. "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: The Doldrums". Mojo : 99. [They] combine lo-fi sunshine songs with smeared undersea electronics...
  16. 1 2 Sylvester, Nick (October 25, 2004). "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: The Doldrums". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Powell, Mike (December 10, 2004). "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti – The Doldrums – Review". Stylus Magazine . Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  18. Lea, Tom (March 4, 2011). "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: The Doldrums". Fact . Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  19. Reynolds, Simon (March 5, 2013). "Faves Of The 2000s aka the NOUGHTIES". Blogger . Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  20. Reynolds, Simon (2011). Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past. Macmillan.