Ariel Pink: "Black Ballerina"

The decision to release “Black Ballerina” following Ariel Pink‘s latest internet-bating comments almost makes it look like he’s in the middle of a brilliantly executed PR campaign—albeit one that’s entirely self-sabotaging. It’s twisted around moments of scatalogical humor, a skit where a grandfather takes his grandson to a strip club, and Pink repeatedly asks someone to “take your bra and panties off.” It’s like watching a private joke unfold that the outside world can only partially understand—if it’s understandable at all—while the music is in the bracket of Pink songs that fall between queasy goodness, low-key funk, and vomit-rock.

His cues here all appear to be taken from a particular brand of 80s weirdness, with the part-spoken vocal lines and spacey atmosphere recalling absurdist moments of pop’s past, such as Will Powers’ “Kissing with Confidence” or Max Headroom fronting the Art of Noise. As an introduction to Pink’s forthcoming pom pom, it’s not exactly emblematic, but it seems to indicate the record won’t be as straightforward as the prior “Put Your Number In My Phone”. What it’s all about is anyone’s guess—”elevators, manufacturers,” he repeatedly barks at one point—but it’s equal parts witty, strange, and catchy, just like all his best work.

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