Here’s probably a perfect place to start for all the Skaters/Clark Spencer/James Ferraro type things. This particular album is rather easy to understand and doesn’t involve the epic track lengths and ambient/new age atmospherics that he usually employs. Only “Goro Kralth” does this on the entire album, and it does it quite well, so it doesn’t drag down the album.
It is called “Hypnagogic Pop” for a reason. Pop can be found with relative ease on here, complete with actual beats and almost melodies. James usually doesn’t work with stuff that’s so immediately catchy, like “Midway Video” or “Alien in Hollywood”, the latter of which possesses some extraterrestrial chorus.
Vocals are even found on here, making it even more lovable work than usual. The “Alien Microwave” pieces seem to be noise interludes between the more conventional material, the word conventional being used very loosely.
James is famous for stating that he doesn’t use samples in his compositions. Everything on here is played by him, making the casual listener worried about James’ mental well being. But don’t fret. He works best in this sort of medium, and this is definitely one of his better recordings. And I know I tend to be a bit of a cheerleader for this guy, but it is rare for someone with a discography of his size to be involved in so many high-quality projects.