James Ferraro has been known to make “vaporwave,” and was, what some might call, one of the progenitors and founders of the genre. “Human Story 3” is not vaporwave. James Ferraro has put on art exhibits that consist of speakers playing 30 second ringtones that he has crafted. Unlike “Sufi Girlz,” “Human Story 3” is not composed of ringtones. James Ferraro has been known to (or jokingly described to) produce Muzak, the commercial distillate of sound, often derided for being played as holding music or in elevators. “Human Story 3” certainly draws influence from Muzak as a ubiquitous cultural calling card but is not Muzak itself. James Ferraro describes himself as a “composer,” a word that has connotations far different than “producer” or “artist.” Does “Human Story 3” fit the vestiges of stratified musical class structure that are dredged up by the label “composition?”
Press Play.
The past works of James Ferraro have often been confined to definite physical places, with “NYC, Hell, 3:00 AM” and New York, “Skid Row” and L.A., and “Far Side Virtual” arguably occupying the Internet as a place. Human Story 3 is not nearly as grounded in the Internet or in any physical locale. Human Story 3 is supposed to be the Everyman, the Everywhere, but yet also No One and No Where.
Jerusalem Athens Alexandria
Vienna London
Unreal
Aestheticism is dead James Ferraro exists for James Ferraro and we are all along for the ride
Come what may
One could read all of the material written about this album and form their own conclusions, for all of that material says more than I will here and I will make no attempt to summarize, only quote.
“Human Story 3 in its essence is a dialectic on the discord between technological advancement, human folly and human progress. folly characterized by assessing the loss that occurs in the way technology is being integrated and applied to our lives”
“Human Story 3 actualizes this dilemma scenario placing humans at the crossroad of technological innovation and human dispossession in musical commentary.”
“‘I get closer and closer to painting the questions I have about our world in a less horrific way. The existential dread of most of my earlier works stopped at the horror. Now I’d like what I do to function with a higher purpose in mind. Seeing that moment of enlightenment through and keeping it intact to offer solutions for our smart planet.’”
“ For the most part, however, the vocals tend to wash over these tracks in a constant stream of babble, a torrent of audio pop-ups that can’t be blocked.”
Starbucks.
Buy now, pay later.
Free
Way.
GPS
GPS Starbucks GPS debris
Disney
It would be a great tragedy if artificial super-intelligence is never developed
You’ve met your peak, and, an algorithm wants your job, now what
Do
You do?
DAY
DAY
DAY
And yet throughout the vocaloid Babel there are clearly mass-produced yet haunting lines and canned instrumentals that are nevertheless moving and stirring in the way they flow. These are the cliches of music technology that James Ferraro manipulates to take on sometimes dark and sinister, yet sometimes overwhelmingly transcendent meaning. Marimbas, pianos, pan-pipes, and organ tones, the whole gamut of Finale Notepad-esque synths are here and yet sound new and fresh. Ferraro manipulates the uncanny valley at will, moving and shifting it in great tidal surges that render the strange comforting and the routine disturbing.
doduhdodaydoduhdayduhdoduhdaydohduh
Cloud Security! With Ambition and Passion!
The Super-Me Era
Oh Proteus, what do you see? What can you see? Aluminum byres, where shall you be? Drifting endlessly, in your, pneumatic horse.
“Human Story 3” largely superficially concerns itself with the philosophical concept of a post-human world in which humans are no longer desirable or necessary, and retreat to their own heavens in fear of what they have created. Yet this isn’t typical trans-humanist drivel or cyperpunk schlock. The thrust of “Human Story 3” is what those concepts mean to the listener and how such seemingly absurd fears manifest themselves due to the superstructure of capitalism. Existential dread steeped in a fear of technological irrelevance is a product of the modern world, and is the story that James Ferraro speaks of overcoming.
Gentlemen, we are seeing a major rebound, in praise of products for a high brand of jewel, the, if you will, Super-Me Era.
Lo, the fallen towers. Two have become one. Yet the merchandise, it is single.
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
I will show you fear in a handful of dust
I say unto You, my weary Brothers, the Super-Me Era is here.