ENDANGERED

Wow. 4.49 stars! (I felt like they can do better sometimes ;) )

It makes me wonder but I can easily listen to FAR CORNER and enjoy their music. I’ve never been ZART fan; I’m a newbie to the genre, and I never look on purpose for Avant-related releases. But this one made me interested – once I’ve enjoyed immensely UNIVERS ZERO’s “Heresie”, and FAR CORNER were said to be the same way beautifully dark and frightening. Yes, I know, 99 % of Chamber Rock bands are usually compared to UZ, but FC had something special about them. As if some voice told me: “Get them and nobody else”, and so I did. Being a sucker to a genre, I must admit the only thing – yes, FAR CORNER are like UZ’s “Heresie”, and it’s awesome fact. Dark, complex, frightening, depressive, intense…I like it! Some tracks are more Avant, some are more fusion-related, some are very driving and rocky, some are like Emerson on acid :) . I liked the whole thing and it’s hard to me to determine the best track or favourite bit…There are things that are better as a whole. FAR CORNER is exactly from this kind of things, from the dark side of the Prog. Please, take a listen to that one, it’s stunning. My favourite modern Chamber release for now…and I feel like I need more!

4.5 stars. I actually like this one better than their debut. I found this one to be darker, moodier and even emotional on a couple of occasions.The subject is endangered species and some of the song titles as well as the shadow of the wolf on the cover and the deer skeleton inside the liner notes, really bring home how serious this problem is. Even where I live they want to expand the developement to where I have seen deer, fox and other wildlife.They will sacrifice all of that, all in the name (so they say) of progress. When we know it's all in the name of money. As for the band, three of them are classically trained and Maske and Schmidt have even written technical manuals on their respective instruments. Yes, this band has the chops and then some. The main instruments are bass, cello, keyboard / organ and drums. Other instruments are added as well.

"Inhuman" is an experimental track that is sort of an intro for the next one. This one is eerie and haunting. It's inhuman ! Sorry, I had to say it. The swirling organ sounds are a nice touch. Bass leads the way on this one, as it does on most of the tracks. Kopecky is brilliant ! "Do You Think I'm Spooky?" was recorded live and features pounding piano as drums join in followed by bass and organ. Great sound !I love the hammond organ before 3 minutes. Hypnotic drums after 4 minutes as piano is sprinkled in. "Creature Council" is an aggressive and heavy track. It features more beautiful organ runs, and the keys and drums are prominant. Check out the bass after 3 minutes ! The song does calm down with piano, bass and light drums but it's brief. Various sounds fill the air on this next uptempo section. It gets heavy 7 1/2 minutes in before the cello arrives. Dark piano melodies end it. In the liner notes they say that the style of music in this song reflects the "metal heads" in each one of them.

"Claw" is really each member making scratching noises anyway they could. It's dark and atmospheric with strange sounds. Funny but I found this song to be a little emotional just thinking of the wildlife and the different sounds they make in their habitat that may one day disappear. Of course their claws are used to survive in various ways. This track is very experimental and it works. "Not From Around Here" originally made me think of animals who are forced into populated areas because of their homes being removed, but the band unfortunately says this title was used because this song is different from the rest. It's a jazzy, brighter song with some nice piano and bass, lots of violin as well. "Endangered" is the epic track at almost 20 minutes. My original thoughts about this song were "this is what it sounds like to be endangered". And if you listen to this song with that mind set you can feel the animals fear, and hear them on the run. The haunting sounds, the build ups,the strange alarming noises, they all go into making my imagination run wild just like a good book.

What else to say ? I'm a big fan of this band, and I think this is their best work yet. I just wish this was as much a concept album as it is in my mind. Maybe the next one ?

A late prog discovery of mine that has left me quite impressed is "Endangered", a very late discovery indeed, since I'm convinced that had I managed to purchase this avant-prog gem one year before this review I'm starting to write now, my "best of 2007" personal list would have had some serious modifications. You can't turn back the clock, but you can praise a good musical work anyway. This is Far Corner's sophomore album: Far Corner is, together with Birdsongs, 5uu's, Thinking Plague, Estradasphere, French TV, Dr. Nerve et al., one of those intrepid bands from the USA that state a peculiar approach to the avant-garde side of art-rock with solid inspirations from old school RIO, zheul and, contemporary chamber experimental jazz. The case of Far Corner is that their nuclear sound tends to be more atmospheric and a bit less aggressive than most of their avant-rocker partners, which by no means indicates plain accessibility; you will also find somber darkness and robust tension in many passages of "Endangered", you can rest assured about it. 'Inhuman' states a sense of bizarre, eerie mystery that patently announces the arrival of some imminent explosion of doom and gloom - pure suspense Univers Zero style. The track's frenzy closure, with those pounding tribal drums and climatic organ progressions, adequately opens the door for the arrival of the more assertive piece 'Do You Think I'm Spooky?'. The straightforward accent of the sort of question borne on the title makes sense with the vital dynamics delivered through the track's development. The musical ideas portray a sense of darkness and controlled creepiness, yet it is also majestically appealing. 'Creature Council' goes to even more dynamic places, reinforcing the jazz-rock factor in such a way that it even gives some room for the inclusion of Emersonian elements in many piano and organ passages. The overall result sounds like a hybrid of "Uzed"-era UZ and a Crimsonized Return to Forever, plus some subtle touches of Magma (in some rhythmic pulsations and wild bass phrases). The cello interventions, that superficially may sound more like ornaments than anything else, actually serve as melodic complementations for the bass and keyboard inputs when not playing some brief, wicked solos. 'Claws' is a pure exercise on aleatory music: as always, it has to be enjoyed and interpreted as a manifesto against the rules of modern reason in favor of a Dadaistic concept of freedom. The introduction of the melodica momentarily provides some sort of candor among the resources of dreamy chaos, which at some point stops dragging around in ethereal disturbance and ends up focalized on the conclusive storm. 'Not From Around Here' is very jazzy, and that allows the band to explore its lyrical side (so far, unsuspected to some extent): while Maske states his exquisite piano lines, Schmidt manages to feature her cello's melodic drive combining the gentle delicacy of chamber music and the groove of jazz. You also have a bass solo in which Kopecky laterally emulates Stanley Clarke. Once this moment of melodic solace is over, the last 20- minutes are occupied by the namesake piece. 'Endangered' delivers a sort of compendium of the most recurrent sonic strategies displayed in the preceding repertoire: strong yet not overwhelmingly dark moods of gloom, jazz-rock dynamics, weird musique concrete interludes, passages dominated by pulsating syncopations, plain tributes to old school chamber rock. The plethoric finale (including trumpet deliveries by Maske himself) completes the final build-up perfectly. "Endangered" has to be one of the most brilliant avant-prog efforts released in the last two or three years: an excellent endeavor by Far Corner, a band we should pay more attention to.