Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

The alternative pop/rock and lo-fi recordings of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are full of intrigue -- and full of contradictions. Pink, a male singer, composer, musician, and producer who is based in Los Angeles, provides songs that are melodic, catchy, and familiar -- songs that, in their own unorthodox way, recall the most immediate, accessible, straightforward FM pop/rock of the '70s and '80s. But Pink's work also comes across as bizarre, trippy, skewed, and twisted -- and a lot of that strangeness comes from his production style. As a songwriter, Pink has a real sense of pop/rock craftsmanship, but his very muddy way of producing and his oddball, kooky sound effects make the late-'90s and early-2000s recordings of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (which is really the name of a project, not an actual group) sound highly eccentric. At times, Pink (who plays guitar, bass, and keyboards) sounds like he is singing into a mono cassette recorder in a basement or a garage back in 1977 -- he really goes out of his way to sound as under-produced and demo-like as possible. But once you get past his production style, it becomes apparent that Pink has strong pop/rock instincts (sometimes adding a touch of blue-eyed soul). The southern Californian brings a long list of influences to the table -- influences ranging from David Bowie, John Lennon, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, and the Raspberries to Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and late-'70s/early-'80s new wave. Some of Pink's melodies wouldn't have been out of place on Bowie's Station to Station album in 1976; some of them would have worked well for A Flock of Seagulls, Men at Work, or Talking Heads in the early '80s. But because Pink's production style is so quirky and off-center, those comparisons may not come as easily to...