Synthetic Ambiguity and Silica Gel

~A Treatise on James Ferraro’s “Far Side Virtual”~

Consider the following scenario: You, the reader, humbly using your optic senses to read this digital document through your phone or computer screen. Consider the decades of civilization that have converged unto this fateful moment. Your ancestors, coexisting in violent hunter-gatherer tribes, eventually building aqueducts and coliseums, highways and manhole covers, refrigerators and automatic transmissions. Perhaps after reading this you will go to consume another piece of media, albeit made by someone across the world, about some subject that may or may not have bearing on your existence. Elsewhere, children play computer games with people they will never meet, eyes glued to the screen with no intention to leave, or post a picture of a shoddily-prepared food item prepared in the sanctity of their home. Studies have been done to show that social media and its affect on society have brought about a full realization of the Hedgehog’s Dilemma. Similar to the inability of spiny creatures to get too close to their families, humans have distanced themselves over the past century through the advent of technology. This is futurism at play, and from here on out it will only spread. Yet whether we see futurism in a post-Internet age as some sort of specter, haunting the 21st century globe similar to communism in 19th century Europe, there is plenty of good to be extracted from this recent movement.

In the music industry, having something new to say, either through lyrics or relevant sonics, is what brings greenhorn musicians into the public sphere. A recent trend starting in the 2010’s, however, focused on nostalgia, using older music sources as a baseline for calling back to the simpler times of the 1980’s and its culture. This genre exists under many names, but one often takes precedence over others: Vaporwave. Slowed-down samples of synth funk amid VHS footage of The Weather Channel; early CGI student projects put through a haze of digital vomit; and more aesthetic anomalies have popped up on the Internet as a means of commodifying the way we see the past as a Golden Age for technology and its advancements. The catalysts for this music boom are twofold. Vektroid, also known as Ramona Andra Xavier, a transgender Portland native whose album Floral Shoppe has been touted as the best – and conversely, worst – vaporwave release of all time, slowed down and added reverb to Diana Ross recordings and music from the Nintendo 64 game Turok, among other nostalgic endeavors. Daniel Lopatin, usually going by the handle Oneohtrix Point Never, released Eccojams, Vol. 1 under the name Chuck Person, where he employed similar techniques to Vektroid, this time repeating individual segments of old top 40 songs for several minutes before abruptly cutting to another forgotten hook from some song you and I both swear we heard one time driving through the city, or did we? These two artists are most important to vaporwave and modern post-industrial music’s rise in popularity, but there is a third figure, often undermined for his inconsistent actions and esoteric musical styles, who stands atop vaporwave as not only its true founder, but as a true musical icon.

James Ferraro is an experimental musician from Rochester, New York who previously was known for his work with Spencer Clark in The Skaters, a drone band from Los Angeles. They made eerie, brooding drone pieces that, although unique for their strange sound and interesting album concepts, did not serve much purpose sonically. Their sound continued to grow until the two went separate ways – Ferraro more into development and Clark more suited to ambiance - and put the project on an indefinite hiatus. Listening to the two’s output, there is a distinct similarity: Ferraro’s early discography was very reserved and difficult to discern even with repeated listens, which was a hallmark of the sludgy production The Skaters employed. The two also often found themselves using a host of weird and inventive stage names, from Vodka Soap and Egyptian Sports Network, to Lamborghini Crystal, Bebetune$, and – yes, this is the whole name - Composition of the Sensibilities of Melted Knowledge. The two were very prolific, but James Ferraro’s views on LA and technology gave him a burning desire to put some works that the term avant-garde fails to do justice to.

Looking across the 14 years of work Ferraro’s discography spans, we can see a very specific sound that few other artists like him have. The Skaters’ work has already been mentioned, but it is worth noting that, from 2007 to 2010, all of James Ferraro’s albums were recorded with the same lo-fi 8-track cassette sound he had grown so attached to. Thus, when trying to dissect something like iAsia or Marble Surf, the listener, before even speaking of the actual content of these albums, has to overcome a hurdle: For lack of a better term, these early albums sound like complete garbage. Abrupt cuts between songs that lack any metadata, indecipherable vocals and voice clips, and moments where too many sounds converge and turn a piece into a flurry of complete nonsense. Rumors have been spread on online forums about Ferraro’s friend leaking these early works online without his permission, but they do little to explain the terrible recording quality. I have already listened extensively to all of Ferraro’s work up until the publishing of this essay, and I can say without a doubt that I hear something new each subsequent listen.

There exist about six different ‘eras’ to Ferraro’s music, punctuated by severe shifts in tone and compositional style up until 2011, where all Hell broke loose. 2004 to 2008 saw him focusing on ambient, psychedelic pieces that would go on for 40 minutes or longer at a time. I like to consider this the “Haze Age.” Highlights from this period are Clear, Marble Surf, and the Alternative Soundtrack series. In 2009, while the recording quality was still just as bad, Ferraro caught public attention with his “Summer Headrush 2009” series of releases. This second era is an interstitial period where he more succinctly realized the concepts for his albums, exploring Southeast Asia’s reaction the Industrial Revolution in iAsia, calling back to Berlin’s progressive electronic scene in Hacker Track, and Wild World, an ironic hard rock suite cut off every now and then by snippets from tabloid television shows discussing plastic surgery and celebrities.

Where James Ferraro really took off, however, was in 2010, where he signed to the label Olde English Spelling Bee, known for housing other lo-fi indie contemporaries Ducktails and Rangers, and put out a trilogy of works that seemed to fully realize James’ views on life and America up to this point. I will bring up a term that will sneak its way into the essay many times now: Trash Culture. Pornography, self-indulgence, excessive makeup, and aviators are just a few things Ferraro liked to refer to in this trilogy of albums, using his time in the dredges of California as inspiration. Feed Me weaves tales of haunted funhouses and sentient pinball machine erotica into an album that recalls the grindhouse body horror of Cronenberg and others. On Air is an hour-long glimpse into an alternate universe where AM radio stations were hosted by alien rock bands from outer space, complete with laser gun sound effects and spaceship noises. Night Dolls with Hairspray, though, is by far the magnum opus from this era of Ferraro, for the warm embrace it provides to the most disgusting aspects of late ‘80s culture. In the song “Killer Nerd,” based on the Troma Studios movie of the same name, the murderous rampage of a stuttering geek is juxtaposed by soaring choruses and groovy rhythms. “Leather High School” is equally disturbing, where our adolescent protagonist is forced to be flogged in front of his class in some perverted BDSM ritual by his dominatrix teacher. The fact that James Ferraro made his voice sound like Bart Simpson here does not help one bit, either. From a review on a music website I frequent, “This album makes me feel like I'm listening to something I shouldn't.”

After being signed to Hippos In Tanks in 2011, Ferraro changed everything completely, starting vaporwave, ditching his lo-fi past, and beginning his musical career anew. I will discuss this period, along with the album this essay is titled for, in extensive detail below. For now, understand that this is where the real fun starts. The past six years of James Ferraro have been a crazy ride for his fanbase, primarily due to his constant shift in style that precedes the rest of his career. Everything from hip-hop to RnB to industrial to modern classical has been covered, with the future holding plenty of room for more development in Ferraro’s sound. Fans have been up in arms lately at his decision to stick mostly to modern classical music, such as in Human Story 3 and Anthrospray, but this choice represents a maturation in his compositions and an urge to continually innovate. With Far Side Virtual out, I can excuse anything Ferraro does now.

What is Far Side Virtual? Is it satire? Is it some brilliantly woven piece of social commentary put in a 45-minute package meant for easy consumption? Is it even art? Is it an inventive album, or a suite made by a talentless hack who ran out of ideas? Is it the real world? Are we living in Far Side Virtual? Is it happy for us? Does it feel bad for you? What kind of sushi do I want? What film should I watch today? Where did my iPhone go? Did the business meeting go well? Is this man in my computer an extension of myself? Am I in a dream?

Far Side Virtual is an experimental album released on October 25, 2011 by James Ferraro on Hippos in Tanks. Covering 16 tracks of varying styles and sincerities, James seeks to use dated instrumentation and simple pop songs to illustrate the delicately-woven, fragile nature of our advanced modern society. Prior to its release, he expressed desire to make his new music in the form of, of all things, downloadable ringtones. Though Far Side Virtual and its sister EP Condo Pets ditched this novel idea, two other releases by Ferraro managed to pull this concept off fairly well, albeit well into the future. FUKU-TONE and the Eco-Savage suite are hodgepodges of random tones, synthesized voices, and New Age imagery. Though clocking in at only around ten minutes between the two of them, these two pieces serve as great examples of what Ferraro possibly intended Far Side Virtual to be like, so they have their rightful place in his discography alongside his best work. I also mentioned Condo Pets, a short EP released a month prior to Far Side Virtual. Though it is barren in design, the track titles and album cover really show how committed James Ferraro was to this new worldview. James’ gaze meets the viewer through the screen of an iPad in an apartment loft, with an oversized iMessage text bubble with the EP’s name on the bottom portion of the sleeve. If you need a concise idea of what Ferraro wanted to do with his music now, and what he had to say, look at the titles here. “Smoothies, Foodies, Flat Screens and Virtuality” and “Find Out What's on Carrie Bradshaw's iPod” are just a sample of the topics Far Side Virtual would eventually tackle.

Central to Far Side Virtual is the usage of the app GarageBand. While the instruments in the app are analogous to their real-life counterparts, one can easily tell the difference between a digital trumpet and an actual tangible one playing the same note. James did not care about this discrepancy. In fact, I would offer the argument that he fully embraced it, accepting these fake instruments for their flaws and giving them their chance to shine. With that in mind, know right now that, with the exception of a few select moments on the album, Far Side Virtual is entirely digital in composition, produced through this GarageBand app. This would not be such a bad thing were it not for the fact that every instrument here is meant to be heard in real life. Why have a MIDI piano soundfont be the actual thing people hear in your finished product, when you could just as easily hire any player off the street? Why use a bunch of dated drum machines for orchestral instrumentation, when the local Guitar Center has a drumset you could play right on the spot? Remember how I mentioned trash culture and plastics as it related to Ferraro’s worldview? He hated LA, saw it as a disgusting, rancid bed of human degeneracy, yet it pulled him in, wrapped itself around him like an anaconda squeezing the life out of a frightened mouse. This worldview affected Ferraro’s music, and he saw no better way to comment on the world around him in urban landscapes then to use the equally fake instruments some toy lent to him in the Apple Store. For that reason alone, Far Side Virtual sounds unlike any album ever made before it, and as we will see, it would not have nearly the same impact were it not for this symphony of false woodwinds and synthesize strings.

For it experimentation, Ferraro stays true to pop sensibilities on Far Side Virtual, dividing the pieces her into three separate categories, which I will refer to as “Corporate,” “Ironic,” and “Progressive,” respectively. The first is self-explanatory, referring to common chord progressions, canned sound effects, familiar tech jingles, and more in the context of a catchy, albeit sterile, pop song. These are most common on the album, blending with the others in an attempt to obfuscate the darker themes that come in from time to time. The second category is called “Ironic” because the songs belonging to it sound deliberately sarcastic, with their barebones composition and laughable titles. By pulling back the humorous mask these tracks wear, we can establish a clearer view of the narrative James Ferraro presents on the album, while still having some fun. The “Ironic” tracks are also particularly special for having their own exclusive moments of clarity, where it almost feels as though Ferraro is speaking directly to the listener. The final category, “Progressive” is the most interesting, because while they only make up a quarter of the album’s runtime, they contain some of the most beautiful sounds and textures imaginable. This is where Ferraro’s prowess from his lo-fi days is able to shine. These tracks are very freeform, making them harder to digest than the rest, but this should not be seen as an obstacle. The lack of noticeable in the “Progressive” tracks, to me, make Far Side Virtual one of the best post-modern albums of all time, for reasons I will explain in detail later.

At this point it is suitable to begin a track-by-track analysis of each song on the album in chronological order. I will provide an objective description of the sonic qualities of each piece, giving a rudimentary theoretical analysis; then, I will step back from pure objective content and dissect the human and non-human elements, commenting on unique moments and details; finally, I will attempt to assign a narrative to each piece, combining titles, motifs, and some of my imagination into a tangible story that each of these pastiches yield. Hopefully, by the end, the reader will ascertain a clear overview of Far Side Virtual, even without having ever heard it.

1) Linden Dollars [Corporate // 1m57s]

Description: Our key is G# Major, with a brisk tempo. A bubbly synth riff is played over a continuous piano line. After being established the piano is joined by several syncopated rimshots, stacking their timbres on top of one another. The track takes little time to reach full volume, where the piano line, a percussion section consisting of finger snaps, rimshots, a distorted kick drum, and a rapid tambourine rhythm, as well as synth chorus all play counter to the piano. Many times, the instruments cut off save for the rimshot to allow the piano to resolve itself before repeating the same line over and over. Each time it starts back up, small embellishments are added, such an occasional dissonant chord on the piano or variation in the percussion. As the track reaches a close, a string section gradually gains prominence until it closes off the track, followed by a silence that is broken by a robotic singing voice, ending on a deceptive 5th cadence.

Observations: A common theme among the more upbeat tracks on Far Side Virtual is locomotion. Once these tracks start, they do not stop for quite a while, and several elements remain constant until a tonal shift occurs, or the track completes. Because of this repetitive atmosphere, the “Corporate” tracks have an ‘uncanny valley’ feel. Consider this as being true for most melodic lines across the whole album. As for the song itself, there are some things to consider. First is the clipping; because of the poor mixing and overdriven kick drum, this is easily one of the loudest tracks on the album. Also, of note is the tambourine and snaps, which I am convinced are being played in real-time by Ferraro. The tambourine deserves comment because of how often it gets off the beat and overlaps itself from the rest of the instruments. Due to being played at such a rapid pace for the whole runtime, one can notice around [0:42] that James seems to have trouble keeping up with his own creation, and it’s only the first track! Most disturbing is the 18-second silence previously mentioned. I got goosebumps from the robotic singing at the end after thinking the track was just over early, which I imagine was James’ intention.

Narrative: “Linden Dollars” refers to the currency used in the online Massively Multiplayer Online simulation game Second Life, where adults create avatars and buy clothes, build families, and live another version of themselves out in virtual space. Documentaries and horror stories alike have been made detailing the inner workings of Second Life, making its currency an ample topic for discussion. In this opener I see two people, living different existences yet belonging to the same soul. Refer to the album cover: A man in a business suit with an iPad for a head. The themes of disassociation are apparent immediately, yet they’re done in a tongue-in-cheek manner. Most of the melodic lines in this track are variations of a startup jingle one would hear when turning on the computer or watching the beginning of a commercial and are matched by the loud and proud wall of sound that follows suit. Second Life is chosen as a theme because the happy joyful melodies we are hearing are not being experienced by us directly in this case, but our digital avatar. Inflation, exchange rates, and several laws exist in the economy of Second Life, but the lack of any government, risk, or marginal cost to the situations permits virtual business owners and homeowners to live carefree with their spouse overseas, eyes becoming bloodshot in the wake of their computer screen. The robotic voice at the end’s purpose to me is the actual voice of the computer user in this case, logging off of his account and sleeping, having done nothing all day but browse online marketplaces and disconnect themselves further from reality. At least they’re happy.

2) Global Lunch [Ironic // 2m14s]

Description: Vintage drum machines pound away while a delayed guitar line descends into a text-to-speech woman’s voice, asking the listener if they would like to read the news on their “iTablet.” All instruments – triangle, drums, cowbell, synthesized chorus, strings, and guitar - serve as interstitial accompaniment once an ascending piano arpeggio introduces a call-and-response between sitar melody and a sampled tribal voice. The melody repeats over the sound of what appears to be a digitized bird call before the voice cuts and two more elements replace it under all the chaos: a brass section and a soaring oboe solo. Once the oboe resolves and all instruments cut out, the startup sound from the Skype app plays, leading into the next track.

Observations: I am convinced that we are hearing James at [1:05] and beyond chanting “du-du-dududu” off of the sitar, it sounds too much like him. Outside of that, this is a very sterile song, buttressed by the introduction of text-to-speech software when the formless woman asks us about reading the Washington Post. If one was not convinced these instruments are fake, “Global Lunch” makes this fact quite clear. I mentioned that there is an alluring moment of clarity in each of the “Ironic” tracks, and within this one, it should be obvious. At [1:40], the oboe solo is fantastic, dancing and bouncing off every other instrument as though it were not being played but existed as its own separate entity. For being digital, James must have put in a ton of work to get that passage to sound as clear and emotional as it did.

Narrative: As the first “Ironic” track, this one is a loose fit, because it still maintains beauty in composition, choosing to just double down on the kitsch. ‘Global’ likely refers to the newspaper we are given, and “Lunch” makes sense when we hear the Skype noise, as though we are sitting down with our paper and robot servant to enjoy a nice meal and join a conference call on our laptop later. Note that, whenever we hear the synthesize voices speaking, they are always speaking to us. The example is tame here, but they get fairly ridiculous as time goes on. Whereas “Linden Dollars” was a happy interpretation of a grim reality, “Global Lunch” just asks the listener to say how they would feel around so much technology. I can get the morning paper, can’t I? I don’t need a robot to tell me what I want!

3) Dubai Dream Tone [Corporate // 1m50s]

Description: The same rising guitars from last track speak out from a playful, short line of mostly synthetic instruments punctuated by a viola melody. A slight tonal shift occurs around the one-minute mark, introducing a warped bass and round synth above syncopated strings. The track cuts out without resolving, serving mostly as an interlude.

Observations: Not much to say here, which is alarming. This is essentially the most sterile song here, with no real qualities that make it stand out. Nothing sounds real, and while the tonal shift halfway through is a nice change of pace, it does little to say anything. I will make one note, at [0:53], there is a dissonant note in the string melody that seems completely unintended, and I will assume that it was not intentional and just kept in. There is a situation where this occurs again later in the second half of the album, but it has a much stronger impact than here.

Narrative: If we look at this piece in context, however, it makes perfect sense. “Tone” indicates that we’re maybe on the phone, holding for someone and listening to some nice music in the meantime. Consider that we heard the Skype sound last song, and this interlude represents us connecting to our partner before a lengthy phone call about business, or whatever it is. This is also the first of three tracks with “Dream” in the title, cementing the disconnected feel more.

4) Sim [Corporate // 2m54s]

Description: The first song with a clear story. Light piano chords; a sitar that plays mostly a D and nothing else; a bassline on the piano will occasionally come in to lead to the next segment. After a minute, a saxophone and angelic voices call out while another digital voice tells us about himself. “Hello, my name is Ted. There is a whole city filled with people just like me: SimCity. Will you join us?” From here the beat picks up momentum as saxophone and horn and a synth with flanger ride the piece out. Note that throughout all of this, the sitar and piano line from before rarely stop. “S-I-M-C-I-T-Y Baby. Uh, get with it!” Tim states, getting down to the kicking grooves and boogieing with his bad self.

Observations: I’ll get this out of the way to start: The saxophone sounds awful. It perfectly encapsulates the dialogue of our SimCity resident Tim as he talks about hairdressers and piloting planes. Sonically, this song can get very annoying, but because there is someone talking to us and telling us about himself, I always feel an inclination to listen to the whole thing. Probably one of the hardest pieces to get through just because of how childish the melody and its accompaniments are, but also very endearing.

Narrative: Tim, from SimCity. There is a double effect going on here. Tim speaks to us in his virtual town as a resident, an AI preprogrammed to live exactly as dictated by lines of code. But then he asks us to join him, which breaks the immersion and pulls back the curtains. As all of these fake instruments continue to dance, seeming even more uncanny than before, Tim is there, content with himself, drawing hopeless parallels between his utopian landscape and ours. “People just like me,” he says, implying the lack of identity or innovation as roads are planted and apartments are built around him in his computer Hell. Tim is an ant, a slave to a system which he did not want to live in but was forced to anyways because someone decided to play SimCity again. This whole song plays out like a commercial selling the fun parts of the game and showing how much capabilities the program had for self-expression, at the cost of having a society of expressionless drones.

5) Bags [Progressive // 3m25s]

Description: A low chorus of bass voices leads into a short noir image of hooded figures in an alleyway. From here, a soundscape of various shiny synths, and light percussion arrives as the main aesthetic. At [0:52], another oboe solo begins anew, this time much more violent and freely improvised. The solo jumps in and out through the rest of the song as the soundscapes lead into a lazy horn line as two text-to-speech voices argue about Disney. At the end, Ferraro’s voice is heard, exclaiming a simple “Yeah!”

Observations: This is one of my absolute favorites. Being the first progressive tune that steps away from being all satirical and sounding like Ferraro’s older works, “Bags” represents the point where Far Side Virtual starts to take itself more seriously. The various sharp synths meant to evoke images of jewels and chromatic aberration fits perfectly with the oboe improvisations, however it is important to bring up yet again that the oboe is not a recording, but a sequenced series of notes. This is unfortunate, because the audio file the soundfont uses in GarageBand does not allow for such quick progression of notes, forcing the solo’s craziest moments to sound castrated. If it seems awful quiet at certain sections of the solo, that’s because James’ program doesn’t allow him to ‘make’ the oboe play that fast. However, he stands at the end of the track with that joyful “Yeah!” we are reassured that all is well, and he has this world he has made thus far under complete control.

Narrative: “Bags” is likely a soundscape evoking excess and consumerism. I would wager it being the most esoteric of all the songs here, mostly serving as an opportunity to show off some interesting synths James made in GarageBand. Once the beat comes in at the end, it’s clear we have reached the end of this dreamlike state, and it all came a bit too early, especially considering the abominations that follow.

6) PIXARnia and the Future of Norman Rockwell [Ironic // 1m44s]

Description: An orchestra tuning exercise played by a group of middle school students. The strings play a scale, followed by a measure of a piano riff with some drums. This continues with the same melody just with different preceding scales. Some odd sounds peek in, including water being poured into a glass, cellphones ringing, and a delayed, truncated version of previous scales. The song ends on a portamento synth line before the ringing cellphones take over.

Observations: It’s bad. Comically bad, because it is so basic in its composition. Not much else to comment on, unfortunately. Probably the worst song on here sonically.

Narrative: Ignoring sonics, though, there is still much to talk about. Rockwell was a painter during the 20th century dismissed for his paintings which showed typical American life, none else. There is, thus, a dichotomy in the title of this track, between idealized fairy tales in Pixar’s movies, Normal Rockwell’s lukewarm portrayals of the civilization we belong to. I think Ferraro is trying to tell us something to the degree of “I understand this sounds terrible, but would you rather have me turn the irony switch all the way up and make songs that sound like this, or give you room to enjoy something once in a while?” The reason this song sounds so bad in my opinion is because it has a disgusting amount of safeness, bothering only with scales for its melody and allowing the briefest hint of expression just as it reaches its ending. As we move closer to a society where everybody wants to star in their own movie and live real fairy tales, we need to remind ourselves of the importance of realists like Rockwell.

7) Palm Trees, Wi-Fi, and Dream Sushi [Ironic // 2m39s]

Description: A female Japanese voice greets us from a hazy field of guitars. The rest of the song is a synthetic rock interlude with a host of text to speech voices speaking to the listener, talking about California rolls, Gordon Ramsey, and Richard Branson. To simulate the effect of using a menu on a touch-screen tablet, small electronic beeps are spliced in, followed by more speech. “Another look at the menu, sir?” After a long period of voices, the track kicks up, with a hard rock beat that ends with a light chiptune melody.

Observations: Ted appears again, and he now has a job! He is our touch-screen waiter, whatever that means. The app we use is iCuisine, something so dumb that it could theoretically exist. The imagery is strong here, as I can easily imagine scrolling through a menu of processed sushi items while a 3d model of a chef gives me his opinion on the soup of the day.

Narrative: While “PIXARnia” chooses to take the piss in a rather crude way, this track is much more humorous with its methodology. The use of buzzwords affiliated with technology and the modern era is telling enough even without listening, and the track itself is little more than a medium for the robotic dialogue to be relayed to the audience. In this sense, this track is a fuller realization of “Global Lunch” and its iTablet. Maybe I am on my iTablet right now, browsing for the best restaurants in New York while Tim from SimCity and Gordon Ramsey prepare my food. Is it starting to make sense how ridiculous this all is?

8) Fro Yo And Cellular Bits [Ironic // 2m20s]

Description: On the vinyl release, this track is marked as the end of Side A. The built-in drums on a Casio keyboard play a very simple rhythm consisting of singular tambourine, conga, and snare hits for the duration of this track. A sweeping pad invites in a louder, better quality snare as a synthesized and heavily filtered voice sings in “Ee” and “Yah” syllables. The oboe comes in yet again, playing a motif similar to the voice. A very evident pop chord progression is evident, even once marimba, strings, and sitar add to the chaos. The song ends on a unclimactic note, cutting out like several before it.

Observations: Yet again the oboe sounds the most human here. Something about its quality in GarageBand must have caught Ferraro’s ear. I am particularly drawn to this track because of the opening. When I was younger I had an old Casio, and would spend more time messing around with the percussion than making real music, so the intro resonates with me. The synth voice is very interesting this time, because it almost sounds like a vocoder was placed on a singer who then vocalized over the rest of the instruments.

Narrative: Up until now, most of these tracks have had very heavy hitting themes, but “Fro Yo” is a relaxing way to close the first side of the album out, relying on repetition and kitsch yet again but this time not having much to say. Similar to a date with friends at a frozen yogurt shop, spending time on our phones and eating sugary sweets, this track is probably the most harmless, which allows it to stand out among the overbearing cynicism on display especially in the remaining tracks.

9) Google Poeises [Progressive // 3m52s]

Description: Another synthesize voice rolls into a series of pads that rise and fall in prominence under strings and another woodwind improvisation. At several points the effect of a record player skipping forward quickly can be heard over all else. After a sitar riff and a quick recapitulation of the beginning line, the original melody begins distorted and replaced by a different one played by the same instrument, albeit more consistent and with a rigid sax section backing it with powerful chords. The falling voice from the opening come back in greater number under this melody, ending the track the same as it began.

Observations: Here the listener is at odds between some very uncanny instruments – i.e. the saxophones – and the realistic oboe, English horn, or whatever is being played in the beginning with all the pads. The problem arises when the human performance gets all these effects layered on top of it, hiding any and all humanity even in one of the progressive tunes.

Narrative: The record skip sounds tell the listener that something is not correct in the world that has thus been established in Far Side Virtual, signifying that side B of the album is going to be much different in how it approaches composition and such. At its core, this track is about immortality. “Poeises” is not a real word, but a butchered form of the Greek word “Poiesis,” the act of bringing something into existence which did not exist before. By immortality, I do not mean the idea of literally living forever, so much as a permanence of the spirit. How does this relate to Google? In the same way heroes who do good deeds retain their fame even after death, Google has created an empire so large and recognizable that they cannot be stopped, and, for all intents and purposes, are immortal in the same way as a human. We as humanity are reaching a converging point where technology and biology exist in the same place and occupy the same location. It is at this point an important question be asked by James Ferraro to us: “If I showed you the worst parts of futurism in action and then said it could be worse, would you believe me?” “Google Poeises” is a slang way of saying “Google is Forever,” because it’s an indisputable fact that they control a significant portion of the populace, helping however they can but still looming over society with computers and tablets and cloud servers, omnipotent.

10) Starbucks, Dr Seussism, and While your Mac is Sleeping [Ironic // 2m26s]

Description: Arpeggiated chords from a host of instruments occupy a relatively empty space where elements clash and pop in at inopportune times. Samples of orchestra stings fade in and out, seemingly sounding like they came from children’s show as evident in the sound of laughter before the samples cut out entirely. Horns and strings battle to attain their rightful spot on top in a race to the end until a canned horn stab sound effect blares incessantly over everything until the track crumbles and falls flat on its face.

Observations: While not as annoying as “PIXARnia,” this track seems to have been deliberately made to have nothing in it work. All the instruments are at odds, the samples make no sense, and when the percussion comes in at the end, all hope is lost for any reasonable progression to take place. One of the more confusing tracks for how it is purposefully directionless.

Narrative: Using more buzzwords to jam his points down the listener’s throat, this track feels like the last dose of cynicism in the album before things take a turn. I am referring specifically to trash culture, though not the gross LA landscape Ferraro’s older material satirized. Instead, the yuppie stereotype and Hipster communities he was exposed to in New York come into play here. Pitiful attempts to mix electronic with hip-hop, classical with commercial, result in this disaster of a track, more or less insulting the melting pot of cultures NYC claims to support. The first and last words in the title’s meanings are clear, but “Dr. Seussism” is a new one. We refer to -isms from people to talk about quotes or catchphrases they use, but in this context it seems like some kind of life philosophy. “I meant what I said. And I said what I meant… An elephant’s faithful. One hundred per cent!” (Horton Hatches the Egg) and other quotes lose their meaning when applied to our warped world today. Perhaps what James sees here is an inversion of the surrealism found in Seuss’ works and applied to the world we live in today. Clown World. There are so many weird, crazy things we can do thanks to technology now that even Seuss himself would have scoffed and scolded us for being too outlandish. Yet, at the same time, so much of life for hipsters and millennials was spent in Starbucks, getting a shot of caffeine diluted through unhealthy drinks before the morning commute. When one looks at the situation of consumerism in modern America, it is hard not to immediately wince at how far we have fallen to degeneracy and stagnation. At the same time, we can easily get back up.

11) Adventures in Green Foot Printing [Corporate // 3m28s]

Description: Filtered synthetic voices under a piano line that never stops. Same as many others like it, only with a jazz flare and added embellishment. Sometimes a horn stab on the last note, sometimes a countermelody with a sitar, sometimes a whistle! Halfway through the motif in the piano changes to a fast 16th-note rhythm under more horns and saxes as the track rises in volume to a close.

Observations: Beautiful, and undeniable proof that there is optimism in this field of technological perversion. As per Spotify’s play hits, this is the most popular song on the album and for good reason: It’s catchy! The music video is especially good, blending trippy visuals with footage of scientists scanning and 3D printing body parts. There’s just one thing: Why the missed note? At [0:53], the third note of this piano line hits a dissonant note. I am to assume this was all recorded in real-time, so why did Ferraro not bother to bump this one missed note up a half-step? Equally as weird is his decision, to keep in his screw-ups in the second half, playing an admittedly difficult rhythm. It is peculiar because of how easy of a fix it would be, yet he chooses not to worry with it. Also of note is this strange static sound that pops up in the last minute and does not go away. My assumption is that, somewhere in this mess of instruments, there is something real lurking in the shadows. As we will find out in two tracks, this is just the case!

Narrative: At this point Far Side Virtual lets up the act for a three-song period and just has fun. You can feel the energy in Ferraro’s performance as he bangs away at his keyboard and evokes images of college graduates in ill-fitting lab coats running from laboratory to laboratory, searching for that new breakthrough. “Green Foot Printing” is just such a funny title, because there is no deeper meaning! It is tacky, and the music lends itself to this feeling. The fact that the performance is again laden with emotion gives credence to the perspective that, again, Ferraro is not trying to say that technology’s rampant rise in the country is bad at all. This song deserves to be the most well-known entry in the runtime.

12) Dream On [Corporate // 3m7s]

Description: A short, peppy number put through a lo-fi filter (!), having a real progression (!!) and featuring lyrics (!!!) from James himself. Tambourine, hand claps, and horn chords accompany a soaring synth and soprano voice “Oohs” that evolve into a human voice speaking the title and other motivational platitudes under a thick layer of milky effects. The song falls off unceremoniously, but until then enjoys a ‘dreamy’ three minutes of contemplative energy.

Observations: Yet again there are some missed notes in the instrumentation, a trend I’m sure is Ferraro’s doing. I will comment on the lo-fi aspect below, because it is not just an aesthetic choice. Even though the sounds here are arguably more synthetic than before, the performance feels lively and real, due to the presence of a real voice.

Narrative: Recall that Ferraro ditched his lo-fi heyday the moment this album came out, and never went back. “Dream On” is put near the end as a swan song for greats like Night Dolls and Clear, as well as The Skaters’ backlog. That being said, this is a very personal song for Ferraro to make, and even if he is still afraid to make his voice be heard above a whisper under all the other instruments, he is allowing himself to come up from the formless mush of strict time signatures, blue collars, and company meetings and offer a delightful glimpse into what it is like to embrace technology as an extension of the self. “Dream On” feels like the most human song in an inhuman album not because of anything pertaining to its sonic quality, but because its creator made a conscious effort to step away from his silly post-modern narrative and make some good music like he used to.

13) Earth Minutes [Progressive // 4m17s]

Description: The longest, most sprawling song on the album, consisting of three of four separate movements. A stacking chorus with a composition similar to counterpoint drives forward under a barren percussion line, replaced by strings playing quarter notes while a GPS system leads the listener into an endless loop in a roundabout. After several abrupt stops, the track finally explodes with another woodwind solo, which gives way to a bitcrushed hip hop melody before allowing the original woodwind instrument to come back, loud enough to clip the audio of the track and stand triumphant.

Observations: My favorite track on here not just because it sounds amazing, but because of all the little details. The gentle hum of the GPS system before being turned on; The various synthetic instruments we have until now not heard before; The continuous stops at the end of the phrase, the last of which contains an eerily realistic euphonium recording with clipping audio before the climax of the piece. It’s an experience to say the least.

Narrative: What Ferraro does here is put us in a car and put us in a loop as the world around us evolves and changes, the GPS yelling at us to turn left for God knows how long before we turn it off and drive around on our own. The realistic euphonium and wind soloes at the middle and end, respectively, show a damaged, but still tangible fragment of reality still exists in this virtual world. As for the title “Earth Minutes” is likely referring to how we perceive time on our planet relative to others. Maybe if there were life in another galaxy, their rate of productivity would be far less than us, based on what their planet’s ‘minutes’ were. Humans are productive creatures by nature, and we can thank everyone before us for all our modern innovations, even that annoying GPS in the car.

14) Tomorrow’s Baby of the Year [Corporate // 1m50s]

Description: Almost exactly similar to “Linden Dollars” albeit with a different melody and more of a march style. Emphasis on low horns and bass piano notes. Resolves on the I and ends proper, unlike most songs in the runtime.

Observations: Another corporate interlude, and since I’ve said enough about this kind of track in my observations of “Linden Dollars” it can be applied here, as well.

Narrative: Of note is that the whole Second Life narrative stays true here, but more optimistic. Perhaps the similar composition and sound is meant to put is in the position of a reborn child who used to be exposed to plenty of technology and has either fully embraced it or distanced themselves from it. Either way, the optimistic nature of the track signifies contentment.

15) Condo Pets [Ironic // 3m31s]

Description: The supposed title track from the eponymous EP released prior to Far Side Virtual. Barren and atonal design. Heavily filtered, pitch-shifted percussion in a sea of pads, distorted arpeggios. Switches to a hazy hip-hop beat with turntable and voice in the last minute.

Observations: A unique way to discard everything before the closer and try for straight experimentation. The track is very slow and has a clear intent to sound subversive and even slightly menacing. As far as I can tell there is no key even in the closing segment due to not discernable melody. This is a song where the mixing prevents any one part from becoming too important.

Narrative: As I mentioned, Condo Pets was meant to be less of a sonic interpretation of Ferraro’s views in Far Side Virtual, and more of an aesthetic example in terms of marketing and branding. The cut here seems to take from that release just to give closure to the EP, and by relation the album.

16) Solar Panel Smile [Progressive // 4m8s]

Description: A two-movement piece. The first is an ambient assortment, the second a gallant march towards the Sun. Piano arrangements of the Windows XP shutdown noise are played at varying tempos under a clipping recording of the Nintendo Wii’s main menu music. A faint pad wavers in and out without disrupting the tech samples. A bell is rung. A man orders a large coffee. Sad strings and a tinny piano ascend up with raucous percussion until, after all this, the album ends with a meek sound of a stock crash cymbal.

Observations: The ambient piece is always at the end, which I have come to acquire a general distaste for. “Solar Panel Smile” is not at all human, or authentic, and its one sample is so butchered that it loses its impact. Most people I speak to know what the Wii is, but when they hear it in this song it just sounds ‘off,’ as though it does not belong.

Narrative: We have reached the end. This closer is important because it begins with using recognizable sounds, but ditches them last-minute to instead build towards something better. A better world, that is. Solar panels have helped the environment plenty, despite their expensive production cost, and are generally treated as one of the most useful innovations in recent years. Like a robot contorting its silicone muscles to reveal a set of eco-friendly teeth, “Solar Panel Smile” is Ferraro’s SimCity populace looking at the viewer as they leave in their car from before, waving goodbye and wishing them good luck as technology consumes Earth.

Now that a significant chunk of this essay has been spent discussing the raw implications of this album, it must be brought up what all of this means for me, and for the man who made this music. For me, Far Side Virtual appeared initially to me as a cynical, anti-consumerist view on our modern culture, but its sincerity in message and tone leaves a very cathartic feeling upon completion, negating the apparent dystopia it has been describing. I have refrained from using the word ‘dystopia’ because there is no such thing in Ferraro’s view of our futuristic world. People are happy, people thrive, and people are connected in Far Side Virtual, regardless of how bleak things may seem under the surface. I can only hope Ferraro feels this same sentiment, for it shows how irony can become wrapped in an additional layer of sentimentality and sincerity and become “Post-Irony,” whereby we use satire and jokes as a means of understanding our world, rather than chastising and ignoring it.

Those who I have spoken to concerning Far Side Virtual agree that it sounds crass and unapologetic when viewed through the lens of a Luddite or just anyone disillusioned with the rapid growth of technology and social media. My friend Josh from back home always found the album as a monolithic structure, taunting people like the same black stone in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” One of my peers at the university here, Jack, had lengthy discussions with me concerning the underlying narrative of this album, and was able to give plentiful insight into possible reasons why James did this with this instrument, or what he meant when he changed the beats at this exact moment. He also helped me verbalize my thoughts on the album, which had been brewing for some time.

Unfortunately, on the Internet, when we look at vaporwave and public discourse, it becomes apparent that cynicism and disillusionment take precedence over actual discussion. Many people see the aesthetic MIDI charm and assume it to be as such, without looking deeper. When the album first came out, publications such as Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound rushed to deliver reviews that each hit the mark in different spots. There are, still, quite a few perspectives that deserve mentioning. Noel Gardner speaks from the perspective of Ferraro “come on you trendwatching outsider music dorkballs, try liking THIS!” A user on the website Sputnik Music writes, “Laid out through glossy synths and bareback beats is the corporatist mania that awaits us, wherein everything and everyone is advertised and your brain recalls information by using a Google search engine.” Stefan Wharton hits the nail on the head concisely, offering that “Far Side Virtual highlights developments in the ways that we consumers interact with our technological and [] the advancement toward a ‘post-human’ dynamic.”

Post-Internet; Post-Ironic; Post-Human. Why is everything in post now? Post-modernism is the new wave of the new wave. The one written publication I picked up that discussed Ferraro was a book about post-modern nostalgia-driven music, Babbling Corpse by Grafton Tanner. His book treads over plenty of the same points brought up here, but the underlying message is that people like Ferraro, Lopatin, Vektroid, and the other slew of vaporwave producers have all come together united in discord to bring the populace the past in the form of a commodity. Whether we have misinterpreted the past does not matter as long as it brings us closer together. Technology may dilute human interaction but it is still humanity’s choice whether we want to forge communities and prosper. Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, Vaporwave, Muzak, Second Life; these are all sides of a multi-faceted die that we throw and hope lands on something to consume and enjoy our lives. Music is no different. We listen to music to feel good, even if what we are listening to is not meant to do so. We find solace in knowing that emotion and entertainment can be derived from the mundane. I will offer a short passage from Tanner’s book: “And Instead, we found the greatest enjoyment in just listening and delighting in the way the music made us feel. That mixture of dread, nostalgia, and transcendence I feel while listening to James Ferraro’s Far Side Virtual is akin to…cosmic horror – a horror of the “outside.”

Bibliography

Soderberg, Brandon. “James Ferraro: Far Side Virtual” Album Review | Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2011, pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15992-james-ferraro-far-side-virtual/.

Gardner, Noel. “Album Review: James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual.” DrownedInSound, drownedinsound.com/releases/16625/reviews/4143929.

Wharton, Stefan. “Music Review: James Ferraro - Far Side Virtual.” Tiny Mix Tapes, Hippos In Tanks Http://Hipposintanks.net/, 3 Nov. 2011, www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/james-ferraro-far-side-virtual.