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Rating:
LA RECENSIONE
BEST ALBUM OF 2011 ACCORDING TO THE WIRE:
People took it so badly that the magazine had to retract everything and play it off as a prank; but after 5 years, they might have actually been onto something. Far Side Virtual is considered the album that gave voice to all the electronic subcultures of these '10s (Jam City, Fatima Al Qadiri, Rabit, vaporwave, and the list goes on), alongside the compañeros: Daniel Lopatin and Ramona Xavier (if you don't know who they are, I certainly won't tell you: that's your problem).
In other venues, we've already discussed what vaporwave is and isn't, how it supposedly represents the social trends of these times, post-capitalism, and post-human; but for this time, I'll leave aside the human and focus on the machine.
Far Side Virtual is polyphonic ringtones for a hypothetical smartphone, it's morning alarms pre-breakfast and post-poop, it's the ephemeral in its essence. It’s banality and irony, but also foundation and concreteness. These are tracks that can apply to all the people in the world, they're the world music of the twenty-first century, and it's not the song that adapts to the mood of the man, but the man that must adapt to the mood of the song.
The sonic originality of hypnagogic pop or chillwave that removes the clarity of music, here it’s reversed, the glitch must be flattened, and there must not be a gram of human warmth but only austere coldness; we've been in the new musical world for 5 years, yet romanticism is not letting us find our way out of reverse gear.
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Summary by Bot
Far Side Virtual, named the best album of 2011 by The Wire, is credited with giving a unique voice to 2010s electronic subcultures like vaporwave and hypnagogic pop. Its sounds mimic modern digital life—ringtones, alarms, and machine-like coldness—reflecting a shift from human warmth to austere artificiality. The album's originality challenges traditional romantic music perception and deeply influences contemporary electronic music. It stands as a foundational work for modern listeners adapting to new musical moods.Tracklist Videos
James Ferraro
American experimental musician whose 2011 album Far Side Virtual is widely discussed in relation to vaporwave and hypnagogic pop.01 Reviews
