Trauma, my first album since 2016's The 9th of Nine Hearts, is an expression of stress and of suffering while also a celebration of overcoming and of hope.

This juxtaposition is explored over the course of the album: a craving for peace in Mir; a simple bee sting in A Bee Song; loss and grieving in Draig Ddu; the wish for things to be otherwise in War; greed and abuse of power in My Little Country; AI’s potential for good and/or bad in Electric Sheep; a yearning for something greater and purer in Mo Dhia; the unbearable weight of relentless suffering in Endure; and the resignation, acceptance and surrender of The Dying Light.

The creation of the album was informed by both family and global issues: declining health in both my parents was overshadowed by ongoing wars around the world, inducing trauma in millions of people (be they defender, aggressor, or innocent) while the growing environmental crisis inflicts damage on the very world we inhabit, cracking the fabric of our survival systems.

Despite all of this, Trauma seeks and finds light in the darkness, and great beauty and joy in the midst of despair. The album is ultimately a celebration of the acceptance that in this huge universe we can dream of better and transcend our travails.

Nietzsche wrote “What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger”. Perhaps that is what truly makes us human?

Buy LP/CD

Banco de Gaia - Trauma

You Are Here, Banco de Gaia’s sixth studio album, was a meditation on how things were in 2004, the year of its original creation. From elaborate electronica to caustic commentary, its globally inspired series of soundtracks runs from mystic to manic and back again.

Alongside floor-filling booty-stompers like Tongue in Chic and Zeus No Like Techno (a staple in the Banco live show to this day) are the introspective Still Life and the hypnotic Not in My Name, while Jennifer Folker, the vocalist on Obsidian and Glove Puppet, returns for an extra-smoky performance on the elegant torch song Gray Over Gray.

The slightly delayed 20th Anniversary Edition comes with a second disc of standout remixes from the time, plus a handful of fresh versions.

You Are Here (20th Anniversary Edition)

Persian strings and prog rock. Tibetan songs and ecstatic house. Welcome to the strange, wonderful world of DJ / remixer /dance music maestro Banco de Gaia (aka Toby Marks) whose work sprang from the hopeful exuberance of British house, the joys of sampling, and the advent of global music.  

Now, new listeners unfamiliar with this funky founding father of eclectic electronica can savor nearly two decades of hits, rarities, and remixes on Songs from the Silk Road. An intro to the vibrant cross-pollination of house and world music, tracks shift from hard-hitting to playful, pulsing to ambient, all guided by a strong, omnivorous ear for powerful beats and delicate filigrees of sound.

Pensive modal harmonies (“Farewell Ferengistan”—named for an obscure Central Asian term for Europeans) alternate with hand drum-heavy dub grooves (“Amber”). Gentle digital pops and glitches (“Big Men Cry”) give way to driving rhythms, stirring vocals, and glittering keyboards (“Last Train to Lhasa”).

As Banco De Gaia puts it: “I wanted to round up the body of work and create a portfolio for new listeners. The origins of this sound, a sound that’s now ubiquitous, are really interesting, and I want people to know more about it. Back then in early days, we were inventing this whole new thing. This album shows that, and how things have evolved since.”


Songs from the Silk Road

I thought it perhaps best to coral all the FREE DOWNLOADS that I have posted up into one place

Enjoy :-)


PS. Pic is courtesy of the very kind http://notatourist.co.uk/

Bandcamp

Free Downloads

Obsidian (Remixes Pt. One)

Obsidian (Braxton Remix)

To celebratre the release of the 20th anniversary edition of Maya on Friday 28th February 2014, I am very happy to present this excellent remix by soundcloud.com/silinder

I came across his remix by accident, and liked it so much that we contacted him about releasing it via here. Thankfully he was more than happy to help, so please download this and share far and wide.

The anniversary  edition is a limited edition, CD only, 3 disc set featuring the original album plus a CD of alternate versions and a CD of remixes. We have only pressed 1455 copies, each one numbered, and once they are gone we will not repress any more.

FREE DOWNLOAD

Banco de Gaia - Heliopolis (Silinder Remix)

Heliopolis (Framewerk Northern Mix)

Altered Realities collates most of Banco de Gaia’s remixes since 1990 into one authoritative collection. The very first remix was a baggy version of Beautiful Happiness’s Something Sonic, while the latest is a cosmic re-version of Youth & Gaudi’s Empress of the Tarot. A sonic Banco thread connects them all. 

Some of the tracks are previously unreleased, while others, which predate the internet, are unavailable digitally, making this a must-have release for both serious Banco fans and for all lovers of alternative electronica.

The collection came about by serendipity, as Toby Marks aka Banco de Gaia explains: 

“Putting this together was never my intention for 2023, as I’m supposed to be working on new music! However, someone on Twitter pointed out that 2023 marked 30 years since my first remix, and that milestone seemed worth commemorating. Only later did I remember that I made my first remix in 1990, not 1993, and so I had missed the anniversary entirely, but by then the project was well under way.”

With remixes of work by electronic pioneers Zion Train, L.S.G. (AKA Oliver Lieb) and Mr. C alongside tracks from next generation cosmonauts like Youth & Gaudi, Desert Dwellers and Kaya Project, as well as those of troubadour Mazlyn Jones, Zero 7’s Sophie Barker, 90s pop-rock-techno group HED, percussionists Ensemble Bash, pioneer producer Wally Brill (now a Senior AI Conversation Designer at Google!), Franco-Iraqis AIWA, the wonderfully named Russian duo Sex Of Insects and Dr. Who sound designer Simon Power, Altered Realties is an eclectic musical journey through three decades of creativity, inspiration and evolution.

Wally Brill - A Loop In Time (Banco De Gaia Remix)(preview)

When I was a kid in the 70’s I remember seeing a TV programme about a guy who declared that an old naval platform somewhere off the coast of England was his own country.

Many years later I was asked to contribute to the Outlaw Oceans project and thought this was a perfect subject for a track. As I don’t really do 70’s retro, apart from the odd prog rock cover, I decided to work the 70’s-style narrator’s voice into a retro 90’s sounding track. Sadly the initiative ran into complications and the release was pulled.

As I found it an amusing project to work on, I never gave up on the track, and re-visited it earlier this year to give it a final tweak.

I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane as much as we have, or at least find the ridiculousness of it all entertaining!

My Little Country

BANCO DE GAIA - My Little Country

Banco De Gaia & Future Pasts - A Bee Song (preview)

Banco De Gaia - Endure (preview)

Banco De Gaia - Draig Ddu (preview)

Banco De Gaia - War (preview)

Banco De Gaia - My Little Country (preview)

Banco De Gaia - Mir (preview)

20 years ago I released Last Train to Lhasa - which makes me feel very old!

To mark the anniversary of its release, I have created a limited edition, physical only (no downloads or streams) 4 disc box set, featuring previously unheard alternative and extended ambient mixes as well as a handful of fresh remixes by like-minded artists. This will come out in June.

To kick-start the celebrations, I asked Ukraine’s soundcloud.com/astropilot and Dublin’s soundcloud.com/silinder to add some 21st Century flavour to the title track, and released them on Monday 30th March via all the mainstream download stores and streaming sites.

To mark this release, I am posting up this remix that I did myself of Lhasa. Please share the link far and wide.


Banco De Gaia - Last Train To Lhasa (2k2 Mix)

Banco de Gaia - We Are Here (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Gray Over Gray (FutureLoopFoundation's Nightime Chanteaux Mix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Zeus No Like Techno (Overfunkt Remix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Not In My Name (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Tongue In Chic (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Tongue In Chic (Midival Pundits Remix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Down From The Mountain (Ornah-Mental Mix by Dirk Schlömer)

Banco de Gaia - Down From the Mountain (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Still Life (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Waking up in Waco (Simon Power's Awoke Remix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Waking Up In Waco (preview)

Banco de Gaia - We Are Here (S.O.N.A.T.I.O.N.'s In This Moment Remix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Gray Over Gray (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Not in my Name (Rob Bong Remix)(preview)

Banco de Gaia - Zeus No Like Techno (preview)

Banco de Gaia - Still Life (Andrew Heath’s With Glass Bowl Remix)(preview)

As part of our 20th anniversary programme, my good friend soundcloud.com/drtrippymusic remixed Kuos

We couldn't fit the remix on to the 4 disc boxset, so have decided to give it away instead

Buy the Album

Banco de Gaia - Kuos (dr Trippy Remix)

Live recording of Last Train to Lhasa.
Recorded by Alex from Tarquin's Live at Sankey's Soap, 27 October 1997.
Mastered by Banco de Gaia.

To get the full live set for free, please go to bancodegaia.bandcamp.com

Banco de Gaia - Last Train to Lhasa (Live at Sankey's Soap 1997)

I am off to Australia for the Eclipse 2012 festival this weekend, and to celebrate have made a special mix of a track from my new album.

New album, "Apollon", is due for release Spring 2013 - this is possibly the most upbeat of all the tracks on there.

Banco de Gaia - Eternal Sunshine (Ozclipse Mix)

BandCamp

Banco De Gaia - Wimble Toot (edit)

Banco De Gaia - For Such A Time (edit)

Amber (preview)

B2 (preview)

Farewell Ferengistan (preview)

Last Train to Lhasa (Live at Glastonbury)(preview)

Sheesha (preview)

Tempra (preview)

Banco De Gaia has been performing and releasing for over 25 years now, along the way becoming one of the music industry’s most maverick innovators. His legacy is as glittering as it is diverse, ranging from Hollywood film sound credits to the critically acclaimed ‘Last Train to Lhasa’, first released in 1995 to a rapturous reception. His live act still packs out venues and festivals all over the world, with audio-visual performances renowned for their explosive, cutting edge quality: from sampling wizardry fused with haunting vocals and poignant acoustics to genre-hopping musical instrumentals, all accompanied by socially engaged visuals.

Behind Banco de Gaia is artist Toby Marks. Starting out as a drummer in a metal band, he began using sampling kit to cut his own tunes after falling in love with electronica during the 1980s acid house era. By the early 90s, after winning respect for a clutch of credits on the Ambient Dub compilations, he was signed to Planet Dog Records and released ‘Maya’, in 1994, and then ‘Last Train to Lhasa’, in 1995.

Both albums featured an artfully arranged cocktail of textured samples and live instrumentals lifted from across the world. Both went straight to No. 1 in the UK Independent Charts as well as sweeping through the international electronica scene, making him, along with the likes of The Orb, one of the early pioneers of ‘chill out’. Both ‘Last Train to Lhasa’ and ‘Heliopolis (Eudopolis Dog Mix)’ notably featured on Sasha & Digweed's classic ‘Northern Exposure’ mix CD among myriad other compilations. 

Since then, he's released a further 6 studio albums, 1 live album, 1 live DVD and 15 EP’s and also runs his own label, Disco Gecko Recordings. He went back to basics in 2014 with a sold-out 20th Anniversary CD-only (no streams or downloads available) release of ‘Maya’, followed by similar 20th Anniversary editions of ‘Last Train to Lhasa’ in 2015 and ‘Live at Glastonbury’ in 2016.

Pink Floyd and psychedelia remain a constant influence: Banco’s cover of Echoes in 2007 helped shape the ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ collection in 2009 and Floyd’s legendary saxophonist Dick Parry was one of Marks’ special guest collaborators (alongside no-man’s Tim Bowness and Zero 7’s Sophie Barker) on his ‘The 9th of Nine Hearts’ album, which came out in October 2016.

“A continuation of the consistently high form Toby Marks has shown throughout a long and illustrious career” (Total Music Magazine), The Crack described ‘The 9th of Nine Hearts’ as full of “dubby loveliness that fuses psych, spiky rock, acid and ambient” while the Ambient Music Guide hailed it as “Banco's strongest album of new material in 15 years”.

Banco de Gaia

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