Cooler than cool, James Ferraro's Cold mixtape was a nightmare-ish journey through breathy r&b croons and trapped-up synth-wave. It was the anxiety of waiting alone in the lights of NYC platforms at 3 a.m. for a train, his hums like those used to relax a nervous mind cautious of dangers beyond the area touched by street lamps. To some degree, “Eternal Condition / Stuck 2” is a continuation of his explorations on the Cold tape. The hour is the same, the fear is channeled through a wearier r&b minimalism, and it all angles towards a noir vision of a city with no shame for its demons.
Ferraro's bleak vision for NYC is expressed in the minor catharsis at the end of “Eternal Condition” and ripped back to reality on “Stuck 2” with a police bulletin and machine drone set to heart palpitations. His message: futility in escaping the iron jungle.
James Ferraro's NYC, Hell 3:00 AM is out October 15 on Hippos In Tanks.
