James Ferraro

James Ferraro takes inspiration from "the things I see" in his 'NYC, Hell 3:AM' dystopia. The follow-up to 'Sushi' is a wry reflection of his locale, "a surreal psychological sculpture of American decay and confusion" evoking imagery of "rats, metal landscape, toxic water, junkie friends, HIV billboards, evil news, luxury and unbound wealth, exclusivity, facelifts, romance, insane police presence and lonely people... all against the sinister vastness of Manhattan's alienating skyline." Of course, this being James Ferraro, his perspective is uncannily incisive and riddled with ambiguity. And, like the recent cycle of solo albums from Dean Blunt - with whom he conceived the gallery installation 'Watch The Throne' - it posits Ferraro as an increasingly keen and subversive dramaturgist, following a theatrical series of surreally synaesthetic scenes featuring your protagonist sharing his emotions through a prism of autotune and illusory lighting and spatial dynamics framed with field recordings, snatches of police radio and TV news samples. It's a complex and perplexing album that's instantly intriguing but which will no doubt take a few listens to fully get the measure of