Oneohtrix Point Never

Although composer Daniel Lopatin's R Plus Seven contains many familiar sonic touchstones for listeners who have followed the acclaimed electronic music composer's development over the last half-decade, his Warp Records debut is a major departure from his previous work; Lopatin's experimental inclinations lurk behind the scenes – in the concepts and procedures he adopted to create the tracks – while the music itself comes as close as Lopatin has ever gotten to anything resembling traditional song structure. Which, for Lopatin, is only so close: The work is full of overlapping, abstract musical through-lines, puzzle-like pieces that, taken together, might allow you to glimpse an overarching tableau. But it's more about the journey than the destination. R Plus Seven is disruptive and hypnotic in equal measure, and the fun of it lies in trusting Lopatin as he guides you past – and often through – its succession of walls and mirrors.

The Brooklyn-based artist has always deftly balanced the experimental with the accessible:  He has released several albums under his Oneohtrix Point Never moniker on various independent labels -- including the 2013 3-CD/5 LP Rifts, a compilation of his early work -- as well as amassing a large catalogue of mini-album tape releases. His most recent disc, 2011's Replica, was built around samples of television commercials; Sasha Frere Jones of the New Yorker called it "music that gently triggers a series of images and feelings, none of which you can name and all of which seem entirely common." He has built live soundscapes at the Museum of Modern Art; collaborated with Montreal-based ambient electronic music composer Tim Hecker on the largely improvised 2012 Instrumental Tourist; and recast the title track from his 2010 disc Returnal as an elegant and emotive piece for piano, featuring the otherworldly voice of Antony Hegarty. Advertising powerhouse Saatchi & Saatchi tapped Lopatin for an installation event at the 2012 Cannes film fest and Sofia Coppola's longtime cohort Brian Reitzell invited him to create original music for Coppola's The Bling Ring. Said the Saatchi execs, "There's this grandeur to his music, but it's always counterbalanced by moments of irony and lightness."

James Ferraro

To pursue an acting career as a soap opera star as James Ferraro ® Simulacra Company was the ultimate 21st century dream for James Ferraro, a dream that was forged on a note pad under the cyber skies of Manhattan's slick midtown metropolis to become a world-famous hyperized living puppet of our Postmodern civilization, acquiring the world's media stage as a canvas, in the form of a glossy pure entertainment pop machine.

The approach to assembling his acting style was to be a theoretical expedition through the virtual landscape of Tabloid Cultoure, The Linguistic Consequence of Modern Decadence and Digital/Mega Entertainment Age Sexuality Persona … to name just a few sources of inspiration, and of course for it all to be captured on the flawless $1,000,000 TV cameras of the entertainment industries' major studio networks. 

But where to assimilate to the aforementioned theories:

"My ideas from New York had flowered in the most violently magical way, as I entered what we Hollywoodologists call 'The Floor' (HOLLYWOOD GROUND ZERO) . . . and this led to outlets beyond my wildest imagination, seeing beyond the institutional buildings of the worlds Entertainment Center," says Ferraro.

JF continues: "Whilst wine tasting in Napa valley with my mother, on a tour through Simulacra's wine country . . . in the red convertible PT Cruiser and watching a giant Hollywood Blockbuster intermittently on the on-board DVD screen between wineries, I was so excited and inspired by the leading actors performance that I decided to leave the world of acting to focus more dramatically on a venture to be a recording artist."

"I became completely obsessed with Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin in C minor. As it blasted from the speakers of the PT Cruiser, spilling out into the open air, I indulged in an ecstatic delirium that was colored by a sweet subtle victorious madness, ideas flooded my mind, blood coursed through my veins, Smart Water™ oxidized my brain . . . thoughts of Napoleon at the Olive Garden, Julius Cesar reading poetry to me . . . I started to fully investigate these two artistic individuals almost exclusively at this moment, scanning what historic memory I had available in my brain. When I arrived home I ran into my humble chamber and got to work."

Ferraro has since released countless musical recordings on various record labels hailing from The U.S.A., The United Kingdom, Japan, Europe and beyond. A critically acclaimed artist of the 21st Century POP ART wave, the man with the moon-lit pompadour now teams up with Hippos in Tanks to create the next chapter in his on-going sonic adventure, in which, Ferraro explains, "The results of this relationship will see a new era in Art History."