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Born: 1978 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Sounds like: R. Stevie Moore, Animal Collective, Hall & Oates hits sung in a karaoke booth underwater.
For fans of: Anything that's been dubbed "chillwave" or "glo-fi" by Pitchfork in the last year.
Latest release: 2010's 4AD debut, Before Today.
Why you care: Though Ariel Pink considers Before Today his "first" album, the Los Angeles outsider has actually recorded something like 500 CD-Rs and cassette tapes since he started making music 14 years ago. Pink is one of the stranger figures to emerge from SoCal since Brian Wilson went nuts working on Smile, and it's hard to know hvow to separate fact from fiction in his life saga. This much we do know: Though Pink's dropped roughly eight albums since buddies Animal Collective released 2004's The Doldrums on its Paw Tracks label, Before Today is actually the first new music he's recorded since the early aughts. He's also the stoned godfather of chillwave, as his hazy, amorphous, lo-fi songs set the template for artists like Washed Out and Toro y Moi. After years of working alone in his bedroom (including using things like his armpits for percussion) Pink finally landed a real record contract and hit the studio with a group of schooled musicians, including bassist Tim Koh and drummer Aaron Sperske, who's played with Beachwood Sparks and the Lilys. Most importantly, Pink's new songs—especially the spiraling, infinitely catchy summer jam "Round and Round"—push him out of the world of could-be Guided by Voices impersonators and onto the playlists of people who actually still pay for music.
SEE IT: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti plays Monday, July 12, at Doug Fir, with Magic Kids and Puro Instinct. 9 pm. $12. 21+.
WWeek 2015