- It's fitting that James Ferraro's new EP is called Troll. He's often accused of being one, especially in 2011 with his divisive, vaporwave-pioneering album Far Side Virtual. Since then, Ferraro has been restlessly creative, releasing unpredictable music, often under a pseudonym to little fanfare. While Ferraro can be slippery, he regularly returns to themes of sonic futurism, which is the overriding atmosphere of Troll.
This is best heard in the synthetic vocals, which appear on three of the tracks and sound like they come from the same Vocaloid. I can't make out many of the words but they sound like they're in English, adding an extra layer of meaning to titles such as "Hedonic Prison" and "Cyber Bile." The equally synthetic sound palette gives the EP a digital sheen, and you'll find glassy chimes and fluted synths throughout. Vaguely Asiatic in its use of pentatonic scale, this meld of styles makes for dense, complex and unusual melodicism that's fascinating and oddly tuneful.
Tracklist01. Hedonic Prison
02. Bio-Sewer
03. Cyber Bile
04. Dopaminergic Precision
05. Sedentary Boils (Disembodied Salience)