ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI

Underground/loverboy/ Odditties Sodomies Vol 2

MEXICAN SUMMER 8/10, 6/10, 8/10

Motley reissues from the shapeshifting lo-fi pop experimentalist: completists rejoice

These three LPS kick off a comprehensive reissue campaign from the dazzlingly prolific Ariel Pink:

Underground is the first album Pink released under the name Haunted Graffiti and was limited to 500 copies, making it difficult to track down. This reissue expands the 12-song record to 22 tracks from the period, including a few more clear-cut rock songs than is customary for the master of refraction and warp. A hissing cover of “I Love Her Still, I Always Will” by Outsiders is a welcome addition among the lineup of self-recorded avant-pop that’s at least partially indebted to Jonathan Richman. For the deepest of spelunkers, Odditties Sodomies Vol 2 is a treat. The compilation picks up where

Vol 1 left off 11 years ago, excavating rarities from Pink’s softer modes throughout the course of his career, a sound that culminated in his 2012 cover of Joe and Donnie Emerson’s “Baby,” which became something of a hit. Pink’s cover of “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” by The Smiths, included here, was previously only available on Youtube, mysteriously stitched with footage of the 1986 film Der Rosenkönig (a mashup that has Pink collaborator John Maus’s fingerprints all over it).

Loverboy, from 2002, is also being released, but in the same form as a 2009 reissue, making this trio two-thirds essential.

Extras: None.