Farewell Ferengistan

Banco De Gaia

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 4, 2006)
• Original Release Date: July 4, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000FFP0CI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #96,079 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
There are a few artists in the swirl of U.K. electronica that keep trying to push the boundaries, and Banco de Gaia is one of them. The ethno-techno design that founder Toby Marks debuted some 15 years ago was already a broad palette to draw upon, but Marks goes beyond that. He's still using the Middle Eastern grooves and chants which may or may not be fake, but there's also the dreamy atmospheres of the title track, a drifting ambient tonic that segues into an almost '50s-style rock piano riff on "Ynys Elen." Like most of Banco's music, there are always hidden touches and references. "Flow My Dreams, the Android Wept" not only nods to Philip K. Dick, but the vocoder vocal on Wendy Carlos's A Clockwork Orange score as well. Marks has said that he doesn't want to just make "wave your hands in the air" music, but he does do that so well, including the epic "Kara Kum," with the pounding Qawaali drumming driving the track into ecstasy. But as Last Train to Lhasa illustrated, Marks has always been a musician who puts his politics into his music. Farewell Ferengistan pushes even deeper into themes of globalization, nation-building, and mechanization. In a mostly lyric-free music, those concepts are implied more than proselytized, and even when he makes a political comment, it's often with a wink. He relates that "Ferengistan" is an ancient Arabic name for the West. I can find no corroboration for that claim, but knowing Marks, it's really a nod to Star Trek and its venal Ferengi race. Like all Banco de Gaia's albums, Farewell Ferengistan is a journey, sometimes joyful, often bittersweet. --John Diliberto

Product Description
"Farewell Ferengistan", once again mixes up sounds from around the planet with slamming grooves and ambient meditations. From the Bhangra-esque dance monster, "Kara Kum" to the epic "Saturn Return", Ferengistan is filled with the kind of fresh sounds, that have won Banco a rabid fan base around the world.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Banco album since 'Last Train to Lhasa', July 14, 2006

By	Brian J. Roach "brir" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For anyone not familiar with Banco de Gaia (Toby Marks), this is absolutely brilliant ambient electronic music, with touches of dub, world music, folk, and just about everything else you can imagine. He's been making brilliant electronic music since the late 80s, and has been releasing mind boggling original albums since 1994.

For fans, in my humble opinion, this is the best thing he's done since 'Last Train...' I, like many others, felt 'You Are Here' was a bit flawed, but this is a stunning return to form. Abandoning, except for the last track, the vocal cuts from the last several albums, this is prme vintage Banco, with gorgeous samples, amazing beats, and brilliant production.

Cannot recommend highly enough!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific release, July 25, 2006

By	Joseph Geni (Evanston, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Farewell Ferengistan" isn't the most original piece in Banco's ever-increasing discography, but it's one of the best. Thoughtful, engaging, energetic at times and meditative at others, political as usual but subtly so throughout, it incorporates all the best of Banco.

For those who don't know, Banco de Gaia is a well-named electronic outfit fronted by (and consisting mostly of) one Toby Marks. For the last 15 years or so, Banco de Gaia has been dropping one fantastic record after another, mixing together global percussion, melodic instruments from around the world, chants and throat singing and synthesizers and ambience and bits and pieces of who knows what. I won't use the term "world" music because Toby apparently dislikes it, as do I. Suffice to say there are liberal helpings of musical traditions that hail from lands east of Banco's UK residence. "Ferengistan," the liner notes tell us, is an ancient Central Asian term for European lands, which "later came to have connotations of greed, materialism and untrustworthiness." (Of course, the liner notes also say that any or all of the facts therein might be made up: perhaps Ferengistan is an homage to Star Trek instead. Marks is politically minded, but he's also got a sense of humor.)

Which reminds me: for Banco fans who felt that Tongue in Chic and some of the vocal cuts of recent years were a little heavy-handed, you'll be happy to know that they are more seldom and more subtle this time around. Banco de Gaia has a unique ability to be more politically relevant without lyrics than with them (see "Last Train to Lhasa"). So, for example, "The Harmonious G8" features interweaving, undulating vocal lines from singers from each of the Group of 8 countries, each composed separately without knowledge of the other ones, and subsequently arranged by Banco in the studio, leading to a slightly chaotic composition. It works as a piece much better than you'd think, it gets its point across, and it doesn't feel like we're being preached at either.

The album's pacing is good also. The first four songs are more drum-happy, with echoing flutes. They fit together nicely. "G8," barely 2 minutes long, divides the album. The last four tracks are more gentle and pleasantly meandering. As per usual, all the songs are patiently constructed. They're in no hurry to get where they're going. The build up to, and anticipation of, the heavy percussion often takes longer than the lick itself. In lesser hands the weighty track lengths that can be found here (all but one of the songs is between 6 and 11 minutes) would smack of pretension, but here it seems more a statement of loving craftsmanship.

As I said, it's not the most original Banco record, the fun G8 experiment and the Phillip K. Dick tribute aside. But old fans will enjoy hearing some familiar refrains woven into a new and engaging work. New fans can dive in blind and appreciate this album for what it is: an excellent album.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listening and Spacing Out Here in the Heart of Ferengistan, August 13, 2006

By	Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is really a first-class album in the ambient-electronica genre, with each track contributing to the total overall effect. Haunting and atmospheric and yet dynamic and dramatic, cosmic and ethereal and yet edged with earthly concerns and subtle humor, this music is as complex in mood and tone as it is in cross-cultural musical influences. My only nitpick comes from my personal preference for instrumental music: the last track, with its (admittedly fine) lyrics and vocals, ended this wonderful album on a bit of a weak note for me. But not enough to displace this CD from being one of this year's favorites as far as I am concerned.

While I have a few other albums by this group, I'm admittedly something of a casual fan, and I highly recommend some of the excellent, informative reviews on this page by more dedicated and knowledgeable fans. Based on my experience, though, this seems to be one of Banco De Gaia's stronger efforts, one that I will be listening to for years to come.

(Just for the record, the word "Ferengi" really is what the liner notes claim it to be, an Arabic word for European mercantilist traders and hence for Westerners/foreigners in general. The Star Trek usage is based upon this, as the Ferengi were meant in part as a sly satirical swipe at the hyper-capitalist expansionism of the West in the 19th and 20th centuries. That being so, though, these end up being mutually reinforcing references, both of which perhaps were intended to resonate with the listener.)