Mature Themes

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Mature Themes

Latest album of lo-fi idiosyncratic pop from Los Angeles-born singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist Ariel Rosenberg

ADM rating[?]

6.8

Label
4AD
UK Release date
20/08/2012
US Release date
21/08/2012
  1. 9.1 |   A.V. Club

    Mature Themes is Pink’s best album to date, and sets an invigorating, expansive tone for his work to come
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  2. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Characteristically as confusing as it is comforting, Mature Themes is nonetheless a triumph. With its arrival, the argument about which is the best Ariel Pink album just got a little bit more interesting
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  3. 9.0 |   The Fly

    A perfectly-crafted album rich in just about everything
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  4. 8.5 |   Pitchfork

    Mature Themes is as vital as anything he's ever recorded
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  5. 8.5 |   Tone Deaf

    A stellar record
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  6. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    In using a giddy spectrum of classic ingredients to carve out his distinctive niche, Ariel Pink has become the acceptable face of retro. Long may he continue to confound expectations
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  7. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Poses questions of the listener: is this pop? Is this for real? Is he taking the mick? It will likely infuriate as many as it delights, but no one could dispute the singularity of Pink's vision
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  8. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    Ariel Pink lays on the humor thick enough that his sheer songwriting ability is at times almost overshadowed
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  9. 8.0 |   DIY

    Even if at times the album can be quite esoteric despite its pop veneer, there is a purity of expression that is addictive. This is dream pop, as it was intended
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  10. 8.0 |   All Music

    With this album, he's mastered being more superficially accessible yet ultimately more cryptic
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  11. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Mature Themes is more detailed, more developed, more everything than its predecessor. It’s nauseating and beautiful, troubling and hilarious. Be warned
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  12. 8.0 |   The Scotsman

    Features his usual surfeit of sonic ideas lashed together like a fever dream with an extra dash of weird
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  13. 7.2 |   Paste Magazine

    Another satisfying step in Ariel Pink’s evolution—an album as melodically, hypnotically addictive and surprisingly danceable as it is arcane
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  14. 7.1 |   Beats Per Minute

    A schizophrenic and sporadic record, both lyrically and musically
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  15. 7.0 |   NME

    The work of a unique mind
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  16. 7.0 |   Uncut

    He's a loose cannon, but he sure brightens the place up
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  17. 7.0 |   Clash

    A bit of editing and self-control, and this could have been one of the albums of the year
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  18. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    A somewhat challenging record, one that makes every effort to repel and entrance listeners in equal measure
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  19. 7.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Unabashed weirdness
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  20. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    What he loses in stoner burble, he gains in high-def Sixties flashback triggers
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  21. 6.7 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Ariel Pink may just never grow up and get serious. Given the worst of Mature Themes, that’s a pity. Given its best, that’s a relief
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  22. 6.0 |   Mojo

    LA psych-pop wonder cleans up his sound but not his mind. Print edition only

  23. 6.0 |   The Observer

    For every beautifully realised moment there's something as tediously throwaway as Schnitzel Boogie. Ultimately it just makes for frustrating listening
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  24. 6.0 |   Q

    The mainstream looks a long way off again from here. Print edition only

  25. 6.0 |   Prefix

    Despite the underground beginnings and cult following, it turns out the band is just a damn fine pop group, one with too many hooks to hide away
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  26. 6.0 |   The Skinny

    Indie success hasn't done anything to sway Ariel Rosenberg's unyielding dedication to kitschy, sex-obsessed synth-pop
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  27. 6.0 |   State

    With his taciturn, indie response to a modicum of success, Mature Themes could be considered as Ariel Pink’s escape hatch to oblivion
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  28. 5.0 |   Bowlegs

    Pink lets his maverick artistic temperament skew this new record to the point where it’s pretty hard to listen, let alone like
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  29. 4.0 |   The Independent

    His band make half-hearted stabs at an authentic psychrock swirl, but lack the gutsy conviction to create compelling garage-rock
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  30. 4.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Mature Themes might have been interesting as a first album. Instead, it's another tiring exercise from an artist who may never tire of releasing such proudly hideous messes
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  31. 4.0 |   The Quietus

    It's worth speculating as to what this record will sound like to those uninterested in the kinds of cultural theorising which have accompanied – or, more aptly, acted as the necessary complement to – previous releases
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  32. 2.0 |   musicOMH

    Mature Themes is simple self-indulgence and that's rarely worth listening to. 4AD needs to stick a quality control clause in his contract and fast
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Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: Mature Themes

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Kinski Assassin £0.89
  • 2. Is This The Best Spot? £0.89
  • 3. Mature Themes £0.89
  • 4. Only In My Dreams £0.89
  • 5. Driftwood £0.89
  • 6. Early Birds of Babylon £0.89
  • 7. Schnitzel Boogie £0.89
  • 8. Symphony of the Nymph £0.89
  • 9. Pink Slime £0.89
  • 10. Farewell American Primitive £0.89
  • 11. Live It Up £0.89
  • 12. Nostradamus & Me £0.89
  • 13. Baby (feat. DamFunk) £0.89
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