Far Side Virtual
| Far Side Virtual | ||||
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| Studio album by James Ferraro | ||||
| Released | October 25, 2011 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:29 | |||
| Label | Hippos in Tanks | |||
| Producer | James Ferraro | |||
| James Ferraro chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Far Side Virtual | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10 |
| Fact |   |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.6/10 |
| Spin | 6/10 |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |  |
Far Side Virtual is the thirtieth studio album by the American electronic musician James Ferraro, released on October 25, 2011 by the record label Hippos in Tanks. First conceived as a series of ringtones, the album marked Ferraro's transition from his previous lo-fi recording approach to a sharply produced, electronic aesthetic that deliberately evokes sources such as elevator music, corporate mood music, easy-listening, and outdated computer sound design. The album has been interpreted as engaging with themes such as hyperreality, disposable consumer culture, 1990s retro-futurism, advertising, and musical kitsch.
Far Side Virtual was met with polarizing but generally positive reviews, with most critics commending its conceptual underpinnings and noting its ambiguous relationship to its subject. It was named album of the year by UK magazine The Wire, a decision which was met with contention from some journalists and readers. The album has since been cited as one of the original releases and catalysts of vaporwave, an Internet-based electronic music microgenre that covers much of the same sonic and conceptual territory.
Ferraro explained that his original idea had been to release the sixteen compositions on Far Side Virtual as a set of downloadable ringtones, but wanted the songs to have the impact of a complete album; he felt that few would want to purchase the music as a set of ringtones. Ferraro said, "Hopefully these songs [will be] made available for ringtone[s] and the album will be condensed into ringtone format so the album won't be the centerpiece, it will just dissipate into the infrastructure. The record is just the contained gallery space of these ringtone compositions." Ferraro said that listeners using the songs from Far Side Virtual as ringtones was the realization of Far Side Virtual as "a performance art installation".
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