NYC, Hell 3:00 AM
| NYC, Hell 3:00 AM | ||||
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| Studio album by James Ferraro | ||||
| Released | October 15, 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 2012–13 | |||
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| Label | Hippos in Tanks | |||
| Producer | James Ferraro | |||
| James Ferraro chronology | ||||
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| Singles from NYC, Hell 3:00 AM | ||||
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| Alternate cover | ||||
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| Alternate cover | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 74/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Dummy | 6/10 |
| Fact | 2.5/5 |
| HHV | 9.2/10 |
| Pitchfork | 6.6/10 |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |   |
| Uncut |  |
NYC, Hell 3:00 AM is a studio album by American electronic musician James Ferraro, released on October 15, 2013 by the label Hippos in Tanks. The making of the album was very different from the making of his past releases; the recording of what would later be NYC, Hell 3:00 AM began only has a "ritual" for Ferraro to record at midnight, and the main concept was "realized" instead of planned out in the beginning. It was also the first time Ferraro recorded in an actual studio.
Described by Ferraro as "a surreal psychological sculpture of American decay and confusion," NYC, Hell 3:00 AM follows the decayed aspect of New York City that is unknown to most of the world. Sounds on the record include string sections, woodwinds, audio from news broadcasts about topics such as the September 11 attacks, samples of garbage noises, and text-to-speech voices. Most music journalists wrote very favorable reviews of NYC, Hell 3:00 AM, and the record landed on year-end lists of publications such as Tiny Mix Tapes, Vice magazine, Chart Attack and The Wire; common major praises were toward its unique concept and the way it presented it, while the record's more mixed reviews put the criticism on the presence of Ferraro's vocals.
The writing and recording of what would later be titled NYC, Hell 3:00 AM started in the fall of 2012 only as a "ritual" for James Ferraro to record during midnight hours, the only concept for the album planned being a soundtrack to a sex tape. One of the songs that came out of the sex tape concept that would appear on the final LP is "Cheekbones." Described by Ferraro as a "dark love song," it regards young people who try to experience sexual intercourse in the same way actors and actress in films do, as well as people's gratification from seeing emaciated bodies. It wasn't until the summer of 2013 when mixing of the LP was near completion that he realized a bigger theme with what he was recording, which was the dark side of New York City: "it was just inherent within these recordings that I was making. But it was pretty blind. At the end, it sort of revealed itself to me without me setting out and doing it." This process was very different from the making of his past releases, where it was more controlled with the main idea already planned. It also departed from the making of Ferraro's past works because it was the first time Ferraro recorded in an actual studio; he said that he "really enjoyed that experience of having a space to create in."
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