discogecko

Disco Gecko Recordings was set up by Toby Marks, AKA Banco De Gaia, in 1998 to release his new recordings and to reissue some of his albums previously available on the Planet Dog label, which had gone bankrupt. Rather than cater to a particular style or subculture, the Disco Gecko ethos is to promote music with heart, integrity and depth. Sometimes ecstatic, sometimes contemplative, it is always music with beauty at its core. Artists currently signed to Disco Gecko include ambient soundsmiths Andrew Heath, Animat and LO18, Punjabi Swamp technician dr trippy, downbeat duo Radium88, triphop trio Dragonfly Trio and soulful songwriter Sophie Barker. The label can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, Spotify, BandCamp and also has a website. To celebrate their 20th year the label are offering any 5 'discs' for £20 + p&p, with details of what's on offer up at http://www.discogecko.com/product/20th-anniversary-bundle/

"In The Blink Of An Eye" has been specially compiled by Banco de Gaia’s Toby Marks to mark 20 years since he set up the Disco Gecko label to accommodate his desire to promote eclectic forward-thinking music with heart, integrity and beauty. Using Disco Gecko artists to mix and collaborate with other artists on the label, the collections’ eleven tracks incorporate ethereal textures, experimental electronics, downtempo grooves and unique treatments of traditional (and not-so-traditional) instruments. Features tracks and remixes by Banco De Gaia, Andrew Heath, Sophie Barker, Radium88, Animat, Dragonfly Trio, LO18, 100th Monkey, Simon Power and dr trippy, "In The Blink Of An Eye" is available on CD and as a download or stream via smarturl.it/intheblink

An enchanting journey through nine responses to love, Banco de Gaia’s ninth studio album is released worldwide today. Featuring special guest artists, including Pink Floyd’s Dick Parry, Zero 7’s Sophie Barker, The The’s James Eller and No-Man’s Tim Bowness, The 9th of Nine Hearts is a celebration of the spark in all of us: the concept of love itself. Fusing ambient, psychedelia, art rock and acid house, each track evolves naturally into the next, with love the starting point to them all. The introspective Nine Hearts opens the album: a synth-fused jewel, with hints of Floyd-ian psychedelia, it features dreamy vocals from art rock vocalist Tim Bowness (No-Man). Inspired by the love in friendship, it merges into second track, Burn the Witch, whose edgy, prog rock beats clash with bold drum rolls and wild, orchestral ambience. Other highlights include the first single Le Foucauld, an electronic jamboree of joyous Middle Eastern samples and the lingering, melancholic beauty of ambient track And So We Dream of Futures Lost. The Princess and The Sky Goat, the ninth track on the album, opens with samples of coastal birds reworked into glittering, eerie textures. Dick Parry’s saxophone drifts across a mythical soundscape of oceanic calm, the backdrop to an opiate-chilled blend of bruised basslines and rugged riffs. Old time Banco de Gaia fans and contemporary dance-lovers alike will adore 91 – a dark, old school techno anthem, featuring samples lifted from an early Banco cassette-release. A thundering, bittersweet dancefloor filler, 91 is a throwback to the acid house movement and the idealism of the 60’s, and speaks to anyone dreaming of how to mend a fragmented world. Sophie Barker, who also wrote the lyrics, shines: her haunting voice, full of longing, calls to us all to keep love alive – not just on the dance floor, but throughout our lives. Poignant parting tracks, soundscape My Midnight Sun and vignette This Heart inspire hope and possibility. This is more than just an album: it’s a piercing lament, a call to arms, a musical pilgrimage, a celebration of love itself. It leaves you with a sense of renewal and a glowing reminder of how music, the universal language, is keeping our dreams alive. The 9th of Nine Hearts is a timeless homage to love, from a legendary artist and something we will all keep returning to. It’s definitely Banco de Gaia at his best. The album is available on CD and Vinyl from Banco.co.uk and as a download from Bandcamp. It is also available from all the usual tax dodgers: iTunes, Beatport, Amazon, Spotify etc

not sure why our previous comments have been deleted, but hey ho to answer your question, we asked the artist in quesion, and this is his reply: Thank you for your comments. The words (the singer's own) refer to the beautiful light of the full-moon and how it shines in the others face. A google search using the terms Leq and Juskiddink would have enabled you to find the original recording and translation. You would have noticed that the recording has been used in it's original construction. Altho I did change the pitch to fit my track. At the time of use I let the owner of the recording know that I was using it, credited both the owner and composer/singer and I did not alter the structure of the sentence. To do so would have risked altering the meaning of a language I do not understand. Which would not have been respectful to the artist. In more general terms you make some valid and important points which I agree with. In the modern digital era these are interesting questions, and I myself am often in the position of wondering where any income or credit for work I have done has gone. It hasn't gone to me! I tend to take a pluralistic and forgiving attitude to these infringements. Tho I certainly support and agree with your contention that respectfulness should be employed in these situations. Thanks once again for your comments, and good wishes.

‘Flux’ is ambient, lower-case music that continues the journey started by ‘The Silent Cartographer’. Both warmer and darker than its predecessor, there are no beats or percussion - asymmetric loops of processed found sounds pulse to provide rhythmic shift over a bed of processed field recordings and found sounds above which float, half-glimpsed piano melodies and electronic phrases. It is quiet and immersive but rarely still, always shifting to create new landmarks lit by glitch and inharmonic drift. Tiny details and abstract, organic pin-pricks of sound, emerge and subside in a constant state of flux.

Tracklisting 1. AstroPilot - Dum spíro, spéro 2. dr trippy - Sirens of Lorelei 3. 100th Monkey - The Inuit Snow Song (Icescape Secret Beats Remix) 4. Radium88 - The Future's Bright, The Future's Incandescent 5. Spatialize - Floating World 6. Toby Marks - Falling Tides (Shanghai 8am Mix) 7. Oombata Key - Festival of Lights 8. Temple Hedz - Dimensions 9. Project Transmissions - The Heavenly Hundred 10. Banco de Gaia - To The Nth Degree 11. James Eller - It's Beautiful Mike, It Really Is 12. Sam Salem - Penates 13. Andrew Heath - Epiphany Following the 20th Anniversary re-release of his classic album, Last Train To Lhasa, this June, this month sees the release of the first compilation curated by Toby Marks, AKA Banco de Gaia. With its title inspired by a Thomas Hardy poem, 'Strange-Eyed Constellations' features thirteen recordings by ambient and downtempo sound-smiths drawn from across Europe. The compilation weaves a merry path from AstroPilot's soothing opener, via 100th Monkey’s epic choral piece and Oombata Key’s glittering contribution, to Andrew Heath’s majestically contemplative finale. These thirteen gentle lullabies for hearts and souls are complemented on the CD by Andrew and Zoe Heath’s paintings and photographs. "In 1992, I saw my first tracks released on CD as part of the ‘Ambient Dub’ compilation series on Beyond Records. Six years later, when I set up my own label, one of my aims was to start a similar series of down-tempo, left-of-centre compilation albums, featuring more or less anything that I found beautiful and uplifting, irrespective of genre (although leaning heavily towards the electronic). Finally, 17 years later, I have found the time to make it a reality and so I present the first collection to you now. I would like to dedicate this album to Beyond Records’ founder Mike Barnet in thanks for the opportunity he gave me and for championing less well-known music. As Mike would say, 'last one out turns the lights off.'" Toby Marks The compilation is available from all good record stores and download sites, but to buy directly from the label, go to the Disco Gecko website for CDs or to the Disco Gecko Bancamp page for downloads.

20 years ago Toby Marks AKA Banco De Gaia released one of the classic albums of modern electronica - Last Train to Lhasa - whose groove inflected, multicultural soundscapes helped to form the blueprint for much of today's global electronica. To mark the anniversary of its release, Disco Gecko Recordings will release this June 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. To kick-start the celebrations, Banco De Gaia asked Ukraine’s AstroPilot and Dublin’s Silinder to add some 21st Century flavour to the title track, and their remixes are included on the 'Last Train to Lhasa 20th Anniversary EP', which came out on March 30th via all mainstream download stores, streaming sites and Bandcamp. He has also posted up a mix he did of the track for FREE DOWNLOAD: