Price: £12.00
Format: CD
Artist: Banco de Gaia
CatNo: GKOCD034
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Banco de Gaia The Magical Sounds of Banco de G 2CD
A 20th Anniversary limited edition 2CD edition of Banco de Gaia's The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia - an album that freely travels between genres and continents (from the European violins of Glove Puppet to the Kenyan rain song that forms the basis of No Rain).
 
As with the previous Banco 20th Anniversary reissues of Banco albums, this will only be available on CD (with no downloads or streams available).
 
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After the disaster of Big Men Cry and a traumatic American tour with Moby, it was time for Banco de Gaia to take stock. A move to Somerset allowed him to set up a new studio, and all the label intrigue from the last release drove him to find a new American partner in Six Degrees, and to set up his own label, Disco Gecko Recordings, for European releases.
 
Maybe it's world music, or global trance; but it's not intentional. "I used global samples without even realizing it," Mr Banco (Toby Marks) says. "I'm more interested in atmospheres. The texture is evocative rather than upfront. There are no 3-minute pop hooks; you can't whistle much of it in the shower."
 
The  extra disc features an unreleased remix from the time, a stunning live medley, a fan remix discovered on Soundcloud, two modern remixes by fellow Disco Gecko artists (dr trippy and Simon Power) plus a live recording from WOMAD festival. “WOMAD was in Reading back then and we played in the sports centre which was basically a big concrete box. In the middle of summer. A very hot summer. I went on only wearing shorts and was soaked in sweat before the drums even came in. Great times."
 
What you can do with The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia is sink deep into the rhythms - which does not necessarily mean you can dance to it. Marks adds layers of percussion ("I sometimes don't know when to stop") to create a fully anchored groove with surprising polyrhythms and syncopations. "I can't listen to a lot of dance music," he admits. "The groove is too stripped down. I like the more complex rhythms of rock, jazz, or Latin American music, where sometimes you can't even tell what the core rhythm is!"
 
 
CD1
1. I Love Baby Cheesy
2. Harvey and the Old Ones
3. Sinhala
4. Touching the Void
5. 144k?
6. Frog’s Dinner
7. Glove Puppet
8. No Rain
 
CD2
1. I Love Baby Cheesy (SunUnderWater Mix)
2. Harvey and the Old Ones (Perpetual Loop’s SO Mix)
3. Sinhala (Live in Oxford, 1999)
4. Frog’s Dinner (Live in Oxford, 1999)
5. 144k? (Live in Oxford, 1999)
6. Touching the Void (Live at WOMAD, 1999)
7. Glove Puppet (Simon Power Remix)
8. No Rain (dr trippy Remix)