James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual

James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual 12" (Hippos In Tanks, October 25 2011)

Side A:

1. Linden Dollars

2. Global Lunch

3. Dubai Dream Tone

4. Sim

5. Bags

6. PIXARnia And The Future Of Norman Rockwell

7. Palm Trees, Wi-Fi and Dream Sushi

8. Fro Yo And Cellular Bits

9. Google Poeises

Side B:

10. Starbucks, Dr. Seussism, And While your Mac Is Sleeping

11. Adventures In Green Foot Printing

12. Dream On

13. Earth Minutes

14. Tomorrow's Baby Of The Year

15. Condo Pets

16. Solar Panel Smile

"James Ferraro paints a 21st century still life on his debut album for Hippos In Tanks.

The record is called Far Side Virtual. Each song, a melodious reflection of the moment NOW, comes shrink-wrapped in HD fidelity as glossy as a 2012 Toyota Prius.

Ferraro’s muse is some enigmatic modern metropolis, where the streets are as slick as i-Pads, and where the symphonies ring with Macbook message alerts. Through the steam rising from our latte mocha chinos, he invites us to gaze out at the dreamy disorientation of our digital lives.

Imagine a Darius Milhuad-guided tour of 5th Avenue. Imagine a Whole Foods bakery that sells only cakes emblazoned with frosting replicas of Camille Pissarro's “Haying at Eragny.” These are the surreal utopias Ferraro brings to life with sixteen swirly-pop concoctions sure to sell out at the candy stores. So slip in your ear buds, and welcome to Far Side Virtual.

- words by Kate Linthicum

Far Side Virtual has been mastered at the legendary Dubplates & Mastering in Germany, and has been imprinted onto 180 gram all transparent vinyl. Limited release of 1,000 copies."

YES!

And in continuing the wtf-ness of James Ferraro's gone-hi-definition made-for-tv-movie-soundtrack aesthetic, here's "Starbucks, Dr. Seussism, And While your Mac Is Sleeping" from the LP.

i can only imagine how much iain c is ing right now

the art is pretty lol

I really like the new EP based on first impressions. James mis-stepped for me a bit in the past year - On Air was alright, Night Dolls was a stinker, and the show he played in Bethnal Green back in February was embarrassingly bad.

But this seems to be a step back in the right direction - aside from the hi-fi production and short tracks, the style reminds me of the fun CDRs like Edward Flex and Marble Surf he was putting out a few years ago. Obviously, it's pretty different - but I think the same sense of melody and musicality is there and it's great to hear that pushed to the forefront. I'm optimistic about the new LP!

And what about these internet rumours that he's producing the new Ariel Pink album? Lol.

  On 9/14/2011 at 1:45 AM, ieafs said:

i actually kind of think this is a genius aesthetic...

i agree.

When will he get back to doing stuff in The Skaters?

I want him to do some fancy cd reissues on some big indie label. His stuff is hard to find. except for free on the internet.

For what it's worth, I have On Air, Feed Me and Pixarni on cd if you (or anybody else) are interested in purchasing—I've decided to stick with vinyl from here on out.

"Clark and Ferraro have plans to reunite in Portland to complete their 'power center' album, Beavis and Ferrarihead." This is from Yeti magazine's interview with Spencer Clark—we'll see what happens. Still waiting on the alternate soundtrack to Avatar.

Just got my pre-order in for Far Side Virtual. The official release date is the day after my birthday, so hopefully it'll come in a little early and I'll be able to enjoy an exciting day with it.

It'd be nice to see Clark and Ferraro recording together again, but in truth I've always preferred their solo efforts to the Skaters stuff. Brilliant live, though - last time I saw them play together was at Cafe OTO last year and my brain felt like it was dripping out of my nose.

Any chance of scanning that interview KY?

The 12" came in the post at the weekend, but I still haven't had the chance to listen to it yet. But I notice dear Jimmy has posted the whole thing to Youtube - quite fitting given the subject matter of the LP. Anyone heard this?

  On 10/17/2011 at 12:14 PM, Iain C said:

Just got my pre-order in for Far Side Virtual. The official release date is the day after my birthday, so hopefully it'll come in a little early and I'll be able to enjoy an exciting day with it.

 

It'd be nice to see Clark and Ferraro recording together again, but in truth I've always preferred their solo efforts to the Skaters stuff. Brilliant live, though - last time I saw them play together was at Cafe OTO last year and my brain felt like it was dripping out of my nose.

 

Any chance of scanning that interview KY?

Agreed in regards to a preference for their respective solo material. I'll see what I do about a scan/transcript of the interview—it's quite good. But haven't yet had a chance to hear the full-length in its entirety, as I'm trying to hold out for the physical copy.

pop neo-cultural ethnic music

Got around to listening to FSV the other night. Classy record. I'm going to do a proper write-up of it soon, but I wasn't disappointed.

Necrobump. This is actually one of the vaporwave albums I most enjoy.

  On 10/19/2020 at 9:01 PM, splesh said:

Necrobump. This is actually one of the vaporwave albums I most enjoy.

I think pigeon-holing it as vaporwave is kinda dumb. I was never a big fan of this record in particular, but I've been getting more and more into it recently. Particularly the track "bags" which I think is splendid. I like listening to this and r+7 back to back. Can't get enough of these albums sound pallets. Nothing really like them outside some old ass albums from forever ago either.