If there is one thing you wouldn't call James Ferraro it'd be a slouch. Not only does this guy have well over 40 albums since 2007, they span multiple different genres and styles ranging from drone and hypnagogic pop to even R&B. But I think it's safe to say he's most notably been referred to as one of the progenitors of the genre "vaporwave" (or as this particular style would eventually be known as Utopian Virtual for the pedantic genre nerds) - with the record
Far Side Virtual and its bizarre kitschy sound that magnifies the late 90s/early 00s corporate soullessness. But there was something about that record and a good number of Ferraro's records that really scratched the nostalgic itch for me. The sound has a way of immediately bringing me back to when I was very young, when the dot com bubble was just in its infancy and the prospect of going to my dad's office downtown felt like some grand adventure as I annoyed his coworkers. Ferraro's work has always felt unsettling and empty, from his droney days of
Jarvid to his even more popular forays into an R&B type of sound on
Skid Row. His output has always to me been mesmerizing and nowhere else is that more apparent I find than on
Neurogeist here, the third album released as part of the Four Pieces for Mirai series.
This is a record that I don't think everyone is going to immediately get, but I think if given the chance it deserves, it provides a profound and rewarding experience in our current time period. The record has a brilliant way of weaving through various musical ideas, moods and repetitions that conjure up images of literally transcending yourself, where the reality your experiencing is being manipulated by some malignant force. With its synthetic choir pads and consistent arpeggios throughout, I feel hypnotized and lost in thought at the ideas of Beaudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation and of our collective conscious living in a hyperreality. But I'm getting ahead of myself, this album is absolutely brilliant at creating an immensely sparse and yet comforting atmosphere. These synth chords and arpeggios seem to linger in a lush empty landscape with plenty of room to breathe.
One of the best examples being on the tracks III and IV where it does feel virtually transcendent and these calming ambient synthesizer phrases bounce around the mix with a lot of space and room to just float around. It feels symphonic and angelic most of the time with how many different ideas seem to form around the minimalistic arpeggios that stretch across these tracks. It provides a guiding vision for the record and an diverse array of sound dynamics. My favorite track by far is the second one. The synths in the beginning are very quiet and it just builds up to this gorgeous main line that makes everything else revolve around it and drives the whole track. The production for the style its going for on here is insanely well done and has very unique and creative songwriting.
All of the main ideas Ferraro's had over the years from retrofuturism, hyperreality, our over reliance on technology, the apocalypse, what can only be adequately explained as esotericism, seem to culminate perfectly on this deeply unsettling yet calming masterpiece of a record. I get this sense of being alone on here and that's very hard to replicate musically - and while Oneohtrix Point Never comes close - here I think is where that sound is perfected. This is honestly not only one of the best progressive electronic albums but one of the best electronic albums of all time. It's a mystifying homage to not only the past but a startling look and glimpse at the present and future. It paints a strange world where all time seems to stop and you're left contemplating all that has happened, and all thats left to come.
