Banco De Gaia

ambient

For nearly two and a half decades, Banco de Gaia has been consistently redefining world electronica, with his music leaving an indelible footprint on the global scene, sparking many a dancefloor and inspiring countless musicians to follow. His sound has been at the forefront of blending acoustic and electronic sounds, integrating themes and techniques from cultures and traditions the world over, and along the way he has worked with musicians and producers as ingenious and diverse as Pink Floyd’s Dick Parry, Natacha Atlas, Tim Wheater, Eat Static, Zion Train and Paul Horn – to name just a few. The first releases of Banco de Gaia, or Toby Marks, were on the early 90’s Ambient Dub compilations that spawned a thousand “chill out” albums. Planet Dog Records released his first album, Maya, in 1994, which received a Mercury Music Prize award nomination, and followed it in 1995 with Last Train To Lhasa, which hit #1 in numerous charts in the UK and abroad, and found a home in many DJ’s selections, including the legendary Sasha and Digweed. The next decade saw the release of a handful of classic albums: Big Men Cry, The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia, Igizeh, You Are Here and Farewell Ferengistan, with Drippy from Big Men Cry featuring in Darren Aronofsky’s cult film Pi. Banco de Gaia’s music was never about sitting in recording studios only, though. He is known as well for his numerous live performances and ability to energize a dancefloor. His performance histor...