For once, it's all out dancefloor attack complete with Oliver Lieb and Speedy J remixes and it's a rhythmic collision of synths and electronic drums all the way.
BANCO DE GAIA:Maya CD
A timeless classic and one of the all-time pinnacles of ambient music which should be owned by everybody. The compositions flow with layers, crystal clear sound and cohesion with simply awesome melodies and rhythms that wil sound good in 10 years time and the CD is one all-out high point.
BANCO DE GAIA:Live At Glastonbury CD
Many have said that Banco's set 'stole' the non-main stage part of the festival and on the evidence of this 70+ min CD, I can see why. With a stronger emphasis on percussive rhythms and use of, particularly Middle Eastern, samples, this is one uninterupted journey through many of Banco's best tracks, going right back to the early tapes, and is an essential piece of listening for all synth music fans who don't mind a tad of a dance influence with their music. The playing is great, the music is great-can't go wrong with this.
BANCO DE GAIA:Last Train To Lhasa DBL CD
This covers everything that has made 90's ambient music such a world-wide force and remoulds it into something that is unique to Banco de Gaia. To compare this to "Maya" is like comparing the Orb to James Last (and we all know how brilliant"Maya" is). Disc one features the more rhythmic pieces, with the feel of a vast train journey as the huge complexity of rhythms,melodies,soundscapes, samples, textural layers and more, cruise through your head leaving you gasping with amazement on many occasions. Disc two, an hour long and featuring just 3 tracks, the ambient "meisterwerk" that you've always wanted. With a vast heavenly, multi-layered set of melodic, ambient, purposeful and dynamic soundscapes that really do develop and evolve with passion and fantastic beauty, this is one of the best spacey-verging-on-rhythmic ambient CD's ever created.
BANCO DE GAIA:Last Train To Lhasa CD Single
Not only is it a stunning single fom the new album but track 3 features a mix of the title track not on the album so get this before it disappears, Banco fans.
BANCO DE GAIA:Big Men Cry CD
Put succinctly, this is another classic studio album and easily his best one to date, not a bad feat considering the stature of his previous works. Throughout the first part of the CD the rhythms are just immense, not dance-oriented, but with huge, solid layers of acoustic and electronic drums underneath layers of synths and samples, all put together in classic Banco fashion, echoing what's gone before but now sounding supremely confident with more of a flow to the soundscapes plus a maturity and depth of composition. Track 4 leaves the rhythms and goes into a spacey, Moroccan flavoured 5 mins of synths, electronic sprinklings and delicate rhythms from synth and el perc while track 6 goes one stage further and drops the rhythm cascades with a composition centred around a slowly emerging mist of ethereal choral vocals, synths, and what sounds like a mellotron but probably isn't, on a magical piece of cosmic, symphonic music, like a modern take on the intro to Watcher of The Skies', as the music soars grandly for over 4 minutes. Then it fades into a slow, spacey section where synths and a solid, slow set of drum layers pass by for 6 mins. Finally track 7 ends the CD with a magnificent 19 min, predominantly full-sounding, multi-synths space music track that is much more varied than many similar tracks, becoming percusively rhythmic for 3 mins towards the end, but finishing as it began with a set of wondrously spacey synths. Overall, an absolutely brilliant album and yet another great studio offering from one of the best electronic music artists in the UK today.
BANCO DE GAIA: The Magical Sounds Of Banco De Gaia CD
Arrived just to late for a review in the April supplement, but let me tell you now that this is a masterpiece from one of the genuine pioneeers of real ambient music in the '90's, and this is arguably the best album he's done to date. Right from the synth vibes, crunching rhythms and addictive samples of the opening track (the USA-only CD single release), you are leaping around the room with a smile on your face and a warm fel in your heart as a truly classic slice of rhythmic ambient music scorches into your brain, with all the elements we've come to expect from Banco but never realised it could sound as good as this, on a track that you'll be playing to death, believe me. With a further 7 tracks and nearly 60 more minute of music, he covers a range of moods and influences, from trad western ambient through African and Eastern textures to some corking train-like rhythm bases that are just so solid and addictive. Every track is a gem on a truly faultless album that will rightly ge regarded as one of the top 10 albums of the year when the roll-call comes round. Absolutely essential.
BANCO DE GAIA: I Love Baby Cheesy (USA EDITION) CD Single
3 non-album mixes of the amazing first track of the album, plus two more non-album mixes of different tracks make up this import-only single and I do not have to tell you that this is sheer quality stuff that should have a place in your colection and that's all there is to it - buy it and buy it now.
BANCO DE GAIA: I love Baby Cheesy CD SingleŁ4.49 12" Single
Different track list from the USA release. This one features 'Dub Pistols mix', 'Wayward Soul' 'Skippy Mix', 'Album version' on the 12" and 'Radio edit', 'Dub Pistols mix', 'Wayward Soul Electric Cheddar
Remix' on the CD single
BANCO DE GAIA: I Love Baby Cheesy UK CD Single
This one shares the of the five tracks that are on the USA version and has a completely different cover and is, of course, cheaper. It's a great single so whether you are a collector who must have both, a fan who wants the full thing or a fan on ltd income who can only manages the UK version, this is one single you just simply have to get, and that's the bottom line.
BANCO DE GAIA: Iqizeh CD
Like me, you may have heard opinions on this album that effectively ask you to 'look out - it's not what you know from before'. Well, that's as maybe, but all I can say is that it is simply phenomenal. With a decided influence from Arabia in general and no doubt Egypt in particular, this is a blinding set of tracks that has you hooked from the start and riveted to the end. From tracks that surge like whirling dervishes to the three minutes of track five that would have not been out of place on the 'Blade Runner' soundtrack, this is a positive delight throughout. Most of the tracks are rhythmic, and the best bit is that most of the tracks can be classed as classic ambient music, the sort you knew and loved in the early-mid '90's and pine for more. The rhythms are from synths, electronics, drums and percussion, while the melodies and soundscapes seem to have so much depth to them, it's like falling into an endless heaven of multitudinous, gorgeous, addictive music that seems to wrap itself all around in a warm caress. The feel is supreme, the atmosphere electric, the mood electrifying and the enjoyment at unparalleled peaks. The whole sound, when turned up loud, is positively engulfing, as the album tracks soar from new height to new height. Anyone who might have thought that Banco were 'yesterday's thing' had better think again, because this wipes the floor with most of the current ambient acts around right now and is a decided candidate among the electronic top ten releases of the year 2000. Essential listening.
BANCO DE GAIA: 10 Years DBLCD
Christ - has it been ten years!!! Jeez, I was there at the beginning, selling Banco De Gaia cassettes by the truckload, knowing that here was an act destined for big things indeed, and so it came to be. Sadly, none of the cassette material is presented on here, as it all predated the first Planet Dog album, but what you do get is a completely and utterly unparalleled voyage through the history so far, of one of the founding fathers of real ambient/downtempo/chill-out/ambient dub music. Over two and a half hours long, this is the most magnificent introduction to the band that it is possible to have, complete with some rare mixes and tracks that have previously only ever seen the light of day on long-deleted compilations. But for the committed fan to, it's a treat as I've got all the original albums, yet I've played this whole album several times in the week that I've had it. If you think you're an ambient/downtempo music fan and you have no Banco De Gaia, then you are simply not. This is essential listening. The way it's been constructed is magnificent with track after foot-tapping track pouring out into your senses, all so addictive that you never want to take it off before the final note has ended. The selection of tracks is perfect and the whole thing hangs together so well, that if you didn't hear themes that you recognised along the way, you might swear you were listening to a completely new album - it really is THAT good.
BANCO DE GAIA: 10 Years Remixed CD
Absolutely fantastic stuff!! This is what remix albums are all about. Where the source material is genuinely used as a template around which the various remixers work their own magic. The cast list reads like a "who's who" of ambient, including Eat Static, Future Loop Foundation, Dreadzone, Loop Guru, Higher Intelligence Agency, Asian Dub Foundation, Zion Train, Transglobal Underground and more, across seventy-seven minutes of wondrous music. Interestingly, the first two tracks on the album, mixed by Eat Static/Future Loop Foundation respectively, rather than up the tempo, do exactly the opposite and create two glorious slices of languid ambient dub with a beautiful downtempo tranquility to it all, but layered and deep at the same time. The flavour of the whole album is one of strong, textured, layered rich-sounding ambience and ambient dub, much with a distinctly ethnic and exotic touch, as African and Asian laced rhythms wind a sinuous path around the foreground melodies and electronic layers/samples. There's not a bad mix on the whole thing and it's the sort of album that, once started, has to be played to the end as you get caught up in its spells and charms. Solid, substantial yet with that far-off quality and atmospheric bliss, this is one stunning album, and one of the finest of its kind.
BANCO DE GAIA: You Are Here CD
It's been far too long since the last one - but it's more than worth the wait. A 68 minute album of all new music, and not a less than brilliant track on the entire thing. The opener, "Down From The Mountain', starts with just languid synthesizer and Eastern-sounding female vocal as the synth layers build, the bass rhythm goes into relaxed dub mode, then a mini-moog-like solo synth soars on top as a fantastic drum rhythm starts to build underneath, the whole thing gathering and evolving, until it breaks out into just the female voice and this train-like drum/percussion/bass rhythm chugging along to perfection. When the voice fades once more and the bass thunders in with the accelerating train-like percussion, a lone synth solos on top and distant strings surround the piece, the effect is simply breathtaking, illustrating to perfection that Banco De Gaia still reigns supreme when it comes to ambient chill-out music of class and quality. Without a break those glorious drums segue right through into track two, and the single, 'Zeus No Like Techno', and here the rhythms mutate from the train-like splendour to a pounding beat of synth bass, drums and electronics, around which synths swoop and soar, the foreground electronic layers becoming ever louder as the track drives forward, totally hypnotic and you just try resisting moving to this one - can't be done. Above all this a rippling bouzouki/harpsicord-like electronic melody flies onward, as the whole thing rises and takes off and just surges into life, in many ways a sort of Mediterranean ambient-techno travelogue of immense delights. Things simmer down but become no less powerful for the floor-shaking bass, window-rattling drums and soaring synth splendours that is the sample-laden ambient dub of 'Waking Up In Waco', a track that, in many ways, hearkens back to the heady cauldron of pleasure that was the original 'Medium' tape, only way stronger, way more depth and force, a production to die for and one mighty 7 minute slice of classic Banco.
The 12 minute 'Gray Over Gray' is the album's first real song, beginning in relaxed mode with bass notes from piano under a deliciously smoky female vocal singing the lyrics in chilled-out jazz style, that wondrous voice soaring away. As the synths come in and the wordless chorus begins you are reminded of an ambient version of Pink Floyd's 'Great Gig In the Sky', it's got that sort of languid but building feel to it, but totally chilled-out. The track slowly builds and becomes like the aforementioned track the more it goes on - I bet Toby will be holding his head in his hands at this comparison - but it's what it reminded me of. That said, there's a whole lot more texture and depth here, as well as being a whole lot more beautiful a slice of ambient composing, playing and strong female vocalising - a gem. The 7 minute 'Tongue In Chic' is another wicked slice of train-ride rhythms from drums, bass and synths, only above this the multi-tracked female vocal weaves a suitably magical spell, this time the whole thing faster and stronger, that vocal reminding me of someone more famous but I just can't think who right now - but a steaming great piece of emotive ambient brilliance with Hillage-like synths sparkling and flying all over the background - superb stuff. The 10 minute 'Not In My Name' is the sound of souped-up ambient dub taken into a whole new dimension as drum rhythms, pounding bass, layer upon layer of synths and samples chug and surge on a trip that will have you swaying with the best as the irresistible rhythms resound and reverberate, a celestial voice rises from below, samples chatter all over the background, chants weave in and out and the effect is jaw-dropping beyond belief. Just amazing!!! 'We Are Here' is a 7 minute composition of more downtempo ambience with a solid but slowly flowing rhythmic foundation, a chanting female multi-tracked vocal that has a distinctly Moroccan feel to it and the sound of Arabic Banco building and layering as the instrumental glides forward, ending in a more ambient dub flavour. The near 9 minute final track, 'Still Life' spends the first three minutes on soundscaping with electronics and samples providing the meat before the track moves into a smoky dub rhythm, almost hazy as the drums emerge slowly and the female vocal sings a languid lead over the cascading synths and loping rhythmic foundations. As it goes, more synths are added, the layers rise up, strings are overlaid and the vocal soars to the skies, as strong a slice of ambient classical-heavenly vocal mix as you'll hear and just an awesome, uplifting and emotional way to end what has been a thoroughly class album. He's touring soon - I hope I get to see him, because on the evidence of this album, this is one talent that still shines as brightly as the midday sun - a stunning album by anyone's standards.
BANCO DE GAIA: Zeus No Like Techno CD Single
Featuring two radio edits of the title track - a wild and wicked floor-stomper - and the contrastingly delicious song 'Gray Over Gray' with its warm female vocal, it also has a mix of each track that is exclusive to this single. First up is a mix of 'Gray' courtesy of Future loop Foundation and they turn it into a slowly driving slice of solid symphonic, rhythmic ambient magic, as the song takes on a whole new dimension with its rock hard foundations of electronic drums, synths and bass, surrounded by an endless ocean of strings and synths to give a sound as deep as the ocean and just as blissful over 7 wondrous minutes. The Overfunkt remix of 'Zeus' piles on the electronic rhythms on top of the powerful percussive beats with solid sequencers and wicked electronic bass runs.
BANCO DE GAIA: The Magical Sounds Of Banco De Gaia CD
Arrived just to late for a review in the April supplement, but let me tell you now that this is a masterpiece from one of the genuine pioneeers of real ambient music in the '90's, and this is arguably the best album he's done to date. Right from the synth vibes, crunching rhythms and addictive samples of the opening track (the USA-only CD single release), you are leaping around the room with a smile on your face and a warm fel in your heart as a truly classic slice of rhythmic ambient music scorches into your brain, with all the elements we've come to expect from Banco but never realised it could sound as good as this, on a track that you'll be playing to death, believe me. With a further 7 tracks and nearly 60 more minute of music, he covers a range of moods and influences, from trad western ambient through African and Eastern textures to some corking train-like rhythm bases that are just so solid and addictive. Every track is a gem on a truly faultless album that will rightly ge regarded as one of the top 10 albums of the year when the roll-call comes round. Absolutely essential.
Checking out all the compilations featuring Banco,we find that the overall musical quality and consistency of each album is well brilliant. The Banco De Gaia exclusive tracks and remixes are only one of the reasons that you should buy as many of these excellent albums as you can afford, because the music and artists on most of these are pretty damn superb:
V/A:Future Shock (Video)
Classic ambient music set to computer graphics on one of the few genuine ambient music videos around
V/A:Whirl-Y-Waves 1 & 2 DblCD
Long-awaited double CD from the biggest Chill-Out/ global dance club in the world for the last 10 years. Compiled by DJ Monkey Pilot, it features exclusive tracks by Banco de Gaia, Transglobal Underground, Joi, Astralasia, UVX, etc.
V/A:Synthetic Pleasures CD
The gentle side of techno featuring Hardfloor, Jaydee, Tranquility Bass, Banco De Gaia, Human Mesh Dance, Terre Thaemlitz and more. This is what samplers are all about, as each track reflects that artist's music and all the tracks are consistently good, particularly the beautiful melodic/rhythmic tracks by Tranquility Bass, John Cameron and Single Cell Orchestra. Throughout the CD, the accent is on relaxed, melodic, predominantly percussively rhythmic but never fast enough to be dance, and mostly quite spacey with strong and enthralling with each track allowed to breathe, develop and flow.
V/A:Dubnology Dbl CD
High profile compilation that takes in the best of a growing club scene with its roots in the '70's and its future in the techno/trance scene of the '90's. An amazing line-up includes Orbital, Underworld, Dreadzone, Sabres Of Paradise, Loop Guru, Banco De Gaia, Renegade Soundwave, Transglobal Underground, Eat Static, System 7, Zion Train and many, many more making this one of the all-time essential compilations up there with the equally spectacular Planet Dog comps.
V/A:Transmissions From The Planet Dog DBLCD
Over 140 mins of music on 2 CD's from the UK's original ambient/techno label featuring half a CD each from Eat Static, Banco De Gaia, Timeshard and Children Of The Bong. Not only is it amazing value, not only is it full of stunning music but it's also a perfect intro to the music played by the artists in question and just incredible.
V/A:Peel Your Head CD
Radio One Peel sessions from Eat Static, Banco De Gaia and Timeshard- brilliant and faultless. Can't say fairer than that- essential listening.
V/A:Trance Europe Express Vol 3 DBL CD
25 tracks + 192 page booklet featuring exclusives from Air Liquide, Banco De Gaia, Sun Electric, Mouse On Mars, Biosphere, Luke Slater, Resistance D, Mu-ziq and more.
V/A:Feed Your Head Vol 1 CD
Exclusive tracks from Astralasia, Eat Static, Drum Club, Banco De Gaia, Optic Eye, System 7, Nodens
Ictus (the incredible rarely-recorded synth offshoot of the Ozrics) and many more. At the time it was
essential listening, now it is even more so both as music in its own right, a guide to the bands' music for
future purchases and a stunning set of tracks.
V/A:Ambient Dub Vol 1 CD
Featuring exclusive tracks from Banco De Gaia, Higher Intelligence Agency and more.
V/A:Global Partnership Vol 1 CD
Featuring TGU, Zuvuya, Banco De Gaia, Bob Holroyd, Loop Guru from ambient side and Bhundu Boys, Sierra Maestra, Oumou Sangare and others from the world music side on a splendid blend of cross-cultural ambient real-world music.
V/A: Feed Your Head Vol 1 CD
This still sounds just amazing, over ten years on, with a set of largely languid, spacey and rhythmic tracks that really do sum up the essence of what made nineties ambient music a thing of beauty and strength that spawned a thousand bands that followed. Her we get a whole host of tasty tracks without a filler in sight, all exclusive to this album, from the likes of Astralasia, Drum Club, Eat Static, Banco De Gaia, Optic Eye, System 7, Nodens Ictus, Ullulators and more. Essential and a thoroughly all-time ambient classic.
V/A: Voyage To Planet Dog CD
Following the amazing success of the Orb in bringing real ambient music to the masses back in the early nineties, the second wave of quality ambient music was spearheaded by Banco De Gaia & Eat Static, and following that, the Planet Dog label, followed by the likes of Timeshard & Children Of The Bong, all of whom produced seriously amazing, class ambient music, and all of whom are represented here on this superb album. It's a sampler album to let you hear the splendours of what each group or artist has to offer, each track being representative of the album from which it is taken, but with the additional factor of the whole thing being continuously mixed to form one long ambient set that is simply amazing to hear. With two tracks each from Eat Static, Baco De Gaia & Future Loop Foundation, plus one each from Timeshard & Children Of The Bong, including an exclusive mix of one of the Eat Static tracks, this is an uninterrupted voyage through the world of real ambient music, the bands themselves and the whole sound of Planet Dog. As a set of music in its own right - one continuous piece - it's faultless - and as a guide to the artists, it's also perfect. Just a fantastic album.
V/A: Isca To Avalon CD
Described as 'a trance journey through South West England', this is actually a better album than that might imply and I'd go so far to say it's actually a brilliant album.
With all-exclusive tracks from the likes of Global, N-Tropic, Banco De Gaia, Kangaroo Moon, Another Green World Vs Alien Mutation and four more, with every track a foot-tapping, melodic, solidly rhythmic, sequencer-driven, fast-flowing, tune-laden gem. The album starts with as solid a slice of ambient trance as you'll hear, courtesy of Global, with a track that kicks into touch nearly all the recent output from the likes of Astralasia, System 7 and their partners, for this has it all - some superb, solid, crisp, driving synth/sequencer/percussive rhythms, a glorious set of melodic synth leads and rhythms, one seriously addictive wordless voice sample, gorgeous flowing string synths filling out the sound as a brief but absolutely wicked electric guitar solo crops up in the middle of it all. One amazing opening track that sets the scene perfectly for what is to follow as a whole host of ambient and trance mixtures across a wide range of highly satisfying styles and melodic/rhythmic layers come surging onto the horizon. Guaranteed to have you leaping about the place like a dervish, but at the same time working as some of the finest sequencer-driven trance around right now, this has the mix of rhythm, melody, finesse, crispness, strength, multi-layered synths, full-sounding arrangements and everything else, absolutely spot on. For anyone who likes sequencer and similar sounding synth rhythms, this album is manna from heaven and I could well imagine anyone into the latest Chicane album getting off on this splendid offering. For a mix of mellow trance with full-sounding, multi-layered ambience and so many gorgeous layers it's untrue, the eleven minute Banco De Gaia track is a thing of great joy and utter genius with other tracks exercising the right to chill out as well, mixing the feel and mood with the more up-tempo numbers. Overall, though, this is one of the most enjoyable albums you'll hear this year and if it's the acceptable face of ambient-trance that you seek - trance music as a serious listening experience - then you simply cannot go wrong with this album - fantastic.
V/A: Renaissance Worldwide Singapore 3CD SET
Three massive and quite different remix CD's featuring the mixing talents of David Morales, Dave Seaman & BT, across 38 classic tracks from artists such as Banco de Gaia, Hybrid, DJ Shadow, Deep Dish, BT and many, many more. For those that like a range of trance and dance styles, this is exceptional stuff.
+... Beyond Planet Dub Double CD
Voyage To Planet Dog CD
Sally's Photographic Memory CD
Northern Exposure CD
Earthtrance CD
One A.D. CD
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