Plug into the Alternate Universe of ‘Neurogeist’ by James Ferraro
neurogeist-james-ferraro-topnotes
June 25, 2020
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# Plug into the Alternate Universe of ‘Neurogeist’ by James Ferraro
*Our newest series 'Top Notes' considers the latest releases through
layers of musical nuance. Similar to tasting a dish or smelling a
perfume, the work is evaluated in a stream of consciousness: Top notes
refer to striking first impressions, middle notes to the core character
of the work, and base notes to the work's long-lasting take-aways.*
**Top notes:** *Arpeggios, '80s *synth** *soundtracks*,
cyber-*aesthetics*
**Middle notes:** *Climate change, isolation, the uncanny valley,
retro-futurism, The Matrix's green digital rain*
**Base notes:** *A machine orchestra soundtracks a post-human future*
[James Ferraro][1]{: rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"}'s work
amplifies the underlying values, grievances, and absurdities of the era.
In the early 2010s, he used a mix of MIDI instruments and
stomach-churning Muzak to critique corporate culture, consumerism, and
capitalism on albums like *Far Side Virtual* and *Human Story 3*. For
the last two years, he's been prophesizing about
post-climate-catastrophe societal collapse through Four Pieces for
Mirai, a four-album (plus opening "overture" EP) sequence drawn from the
aesthetics of video game soundtracks, synth scores, and science fiction
sound design.
The original text accompanying the overture EP:
*"By the middle 21st century all the great cities were dying,
skyscrapers
and roads silent and empty, left to fossilize in a technological dark
age
came to be known as The Deterioration*
*All that was left was The Remnant, a feudal hierarchy of leftover
humanity, though steadily vanishing.*
*No one understood the true nature of the processes at work or could
explain the vanishing until Marai came. a computer virus, Mirai was
created to release us"*
The first EP, *Four Pieces For Mirai*, showed us the crash: glitches,
dying modems and medieval plucked instruments to illustrate the world's
return to a feudalist state. The first full length, *Requiem for
Recycled Earth*, was a tragic "opus of ecocide and planetary divorce,"
the anxiety of climate change told through melancholic strings and synth
soundscapes.
[1]: https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
> Neurogeist ? 6/12/2020[https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ][1]
> [pic.twitter.com/67WYJE5epL][2]
> {: lang="de" dir="ltr"}
>
> --- JAMES FERRARO (@LIL\_ICEBUNNY) [June 5, 2020][3]
{: .twitter-tweet data-width="500" data-dnt="true"}
'Neurogeist,' the second full length in the FPFM sequence, is the
soundtrack to an Earth that has moved on past humanity. The album is
more focused, playing like one long, airy breath of relaxation,
accompanied by short, twinkling arpeggiated notes and bit-crushed washes
of noise. There's an effortless quality to the way the music unfolds;
the anxious tension of previous projects is gone.
By the fourth track, digital waves give way to heavy drops and pulses.
By the fifth, you're flooded by mechanistic reconstructions of metal
blasted beats. The bursts of white noise feel like the heaving breaths
of overworked machines, and synthesized choruses hum uncanny laments
before an overwhelming trance melody gives the final send off.
Electronic musicians have often stated their mission as finding emotion
in the machines, but on *Neurogeist*, it feels like the machines are
expressing it all on their own. They never needed us anyway.
*Zach Tippitt is an editor for Telekom Electronic Beats*. *Follow him on
Instagram [here][4]{: target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"}.*
[1]: https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ
[2]: https://t.co/67WYJE5epL
[3]: https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY/status/1268961173313126402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[4]: https://www.instagram.com/justthetippitt/
---
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blueprint: article
title: 'Plug into the Alternate Universe of ‘Neurogeist’ by James Ferraro'
date: 2020-06-25T16:15:04+02:00
wp_id: '187464'
slug: neurogeist-james-ferraro-topnotes
teaser_image: legacy/neurogeist-james-ferraro-topnotes/CW00_Name_Site-scaled.jpg
contents:
-
type: text
text: '<p><em>Our newest series ‘Top Notes’ considers the latest releases through layers of musical nuance. Similar to tasting a dish or smelling a perfume, the work is evaluated in a stream of consciousness: Top notes refer to striking first impressions, middle notes to the core character of the work, and base notes to the work’s long-lasting take-aways.</em></p><p><strong>Top notes:</strong> <em>Arpeggios, ’80s <em>synth</em></em> <em>soundtracks</em>, cyber-<em>aesthetics</em><br><strong>Middle notes:</strong> <em>Climate change, isolation, the uncanny valley, retro-futurism, The Matrix’s green digital rain</em><br><strong>Base notes:</strong> <em>A machine orchestra soundtracks a post-human future</em></p><p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">James Ferraro</a>‘s work amplifies the underlying values, grievances, and absurdities of the era. In the early 2010s, he used a mix of MIDI instruments and stomach-churning Muzak to critique corporate culture, consumerism, and capitalism on albums like <em>Far Side Virtual</em> and <em>Human Story 3</em>. For the last two years, he’s been prophesizing about post-climate-catastrophe societal collapse through Four Pieces for Mirai, a four-album (plus opening “overture” EP) sequence drawn from the aesthetics of video game soundtracks, synth scores, and science fiction sound design. </p><p>The original text accompanying the overture EP: </p><p><em>“By the middle 21st century all the great cities were dying, skyscrapers<br>and roads silent and empty, left to fossilize in a technological dark age<br>came to be known as The Deterioration</em></p><p><em>All that was left was The Remnant, a feudal hierarchy of leftover<br>humanity, though steadily vanishing.</em></p><p><em>No one understood the true nature of the processes at work or could explain the vanishing until Marai came. a computer virus, Mirai was created to release us”</em></p><p>The first EP, <em>Four Pieces For Mirai</em>, showed us the crash: glitches, dying modems and medieval plucked instruments to illustrate the world’s return to a feudalist state. The first full length, <em>Requiem for Recycled Earth</em>, was a tragic “opus of ecocide and planetary divorce,” the anxiety of climate change told through melancholic strings and synth soundscapes.</p>'
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type: text
text: |-
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="de" dir="ltr">Neurogeist ? 6/12/2020<a href="https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ">https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/67WYJE5epL">pic.twitter.com/67WYJE5epL</a></p>
<p>— JAMES FERRARO (@LIL_ICEBUNNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY/status/1268961173313126402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2020</a></p></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p> ‘Neurogeist,’ the second full length in the FPFM sequence, is the soundtrack to an Earth that has moved on past humanity. The album is more focused, playing like one long, airy breath of relaxation, accompanied by short, twinkling arpeggiated notes and bit-crushed washes of noise. There’s an effortless quality to the way the music unfolds; the anxious tension of previous projects is gone. </p><p>By the fourth track, digital waves give way to heavy drops and pulses. By the fifth, you’re flooded by mechanistic reconstructions of metal blasted beats. The bursts of white noise feel like the heaving breaths of overworked machines, and synthesized choruses hum uncanny laments before an overwhelming trance melody gives the final send off. </p><p>Electronic musicians have often stated their mission as finding emotion in the machines, but on <em>Neurogeist</em>, it feels like the machines are expressing it all on their own. They never needed us anyway.</p><p><em>Zach Tippitt is an editor for Telekom Electronic Beats</em>. <em>Follow him on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/justthetippitt/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</em></p>
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# Plug into the Alternate Universe of ‘Neurogeist’ by James Ferraro *Our newest series 'Top Notes' considers the latest releases through layers of musical nuance. Similar to tasting a dish or smelling a perfume, the work is evaluated in a stream of consciousness: Top notes refer to striking firs...
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For the last two years, he's been prophesizing about post-climate-catastrophe societal collapse through Four Pieces for Mirai, a four-album (plus opening "overture" EP) sequence drawn from the aesthetics of video game soundtracks, synth scores, and science fiction sound design. The original text ...
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[1]: https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor > Neurogeist . 6/12/2020[https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ][1] > [pic.twitter.com/67WYJE5epL][2] > {: lang="de" dir="ltr"} > > --- JAMES FERRARO (@LIL\_ICEBUNNY) [June 5, 2020][3] {: .twitter-tweet...
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*Zach Tippitt is an editor for Telekom Electronic Beats*. *Follow him on Instagram [here][4]{: target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"}.* . [1]: https://t.co/0fGky0doHQ [2]: https://t.co/67WYJE5epL [3]: https://twitter.com/LIL_ICEBUNNY/status/1268961173313126402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw [4]: https:...