The fifth installment of the Rewritten Histories series focuses on remixes and alternative mixes of Banco tunes recorded between 2017 and 2022. It features: remixes created for the 20th anniversary editions of "Big Men Cry", "The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia" and "Igizeh"; the stunning re-works of "Heliopolos" and "Obsidian" by Framewerk and their Capital Heaven crew; plus two brand new remixes of "Fake it til you make it" by long-time collaborator Andy Guthrie under his 100th Monkey guise.

10 Years Remixed was a limited edition release created following the success of the previous year’s debut Banco de Gaia compilation 10 Years. It began as a conversation between friends and evolved into a collection of remixes. This is a deeply personal document with every remix being commissioned by Banco himself and every remix with the exception of one mix being borne out of a long term relationship.
In a super reactionary and totally cynical music industry how do you express your joy at what you do? After struggling to re-acquire his master tapes, how do you throw a sonic party? In this instance Banco de Gaia called his friends and the result is 10 Years Remixed, a beautiful collection of mighty fine exclusive remixes…

This compilation of work from the decade by Banco de Gaia (aka Toby Marks) not only shows off his best work in a setting that's a continuous mix, but also makes one of the strongest cases yet for electronica as the new prog rock. It might not have the complex time signatures or rampant instrumental virtuosity of an earlier era, but it does offer far more than most rock music, with depth, ingenuity, and a tune that - generally - progress from A to B, and in the best cases, to C and beyond. And Marks frequently offers the very best cases, not just on pieces like the excellent "Last Train to Lsaha" or "887," but also on "Gizeh" and "Mafich Arabi." You can trace the development in his work, from the early post-rave material to the more thoughtful, ethnic-influenced work, which is ultimately more satisfying…

An enchanting journey through nine responses to love, Banco de Gaia’s ninth studio album arrives at a time when the world needs it more than many of us may realise. Featuring special guest artists, from 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.

After the success of his album Apollo, Banco returns with Ollopa, a remix album that turns its source on its head: not only have the name and original track order been reversed, but the artwork is inverted too, with the sun becoming the moon and other symbols flipped upside down. The collection starts with Tripswitch’s sublime remix of Acquiescence, which builds slowly from an ambient opening into a downtempo delight, setting the tone nicely for both Antipodean duo, Deep Fried Dub, who add a cheeky dancehall lick to Oreia, and the high priests of sacred bass, Desert Dwellers, whose jittery yet soothing remix of All Sleeping is like sonic incense for the mind and body…

Apollo is Banco's first new studio album in 7 years and brings together heavy dub beats, powerful vocal arrays, and lilting melodies, drawing inspiration from both old and new schools of sonic artistry, and in doing so blending the subtle flavours of the act's historical sound with modern day techniques and ideas.
Apollo opens with the powerful and evocative Lamentations, featuring the ethereal vocals of Zhenia Mahdi-Nau, before slipping into Wimble Toot, whose initially stuttering drums and bass build into a relentless rhythm, peppered with reggae style horns and saxophone, nicely setting the scene for the foot stomping, dust raising, dancefloor rousing Eternal Sunshine…

To celebrate two decades of creating ambient and downtempo electronica under the name Banco de Gaia, Toby Marks put together this enjoyable if slightly uneven two-disc set, a retrospective of sorts that takes a fresh look at his past rather than simply gathering and recapitulating it. On the first disc, he reinterprets both his own work (longtime fans will get a particular kick out of his Euro-trance reconstruction of "Soufie") and that of others - Hawkwind's "Spirit of the Age" is given a long, luxurious interpretation that incorporates elements of house, funk, and ska, while King Crimson's "Starless" gets an even longer - and frankly rather plodding - arrangement of its own. His most ambitious experiment on the first disc is a rendition of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" that lasts fully 22 minutes - an impressive feat, and one that does a fine job of blending Marks's own personal electronic vision seamlessly with Floyd's unique sound…

"Ferengistan" is a term used in Central Asia to denote an imaginary place that represents the superficiality and materialism that too often characterize Western culture. So there's no real secret to the message behind this album by Toby Marks, aka Banco de Gaia. While the music is (thankfully) free of didactic lyrics, its instrumental tracks were written with serious matters of geopolitics in mind: one track has reference to a law recently passed in Mongolia, reinstating the use of surnames (a practice previously forbidden under Communist rule); the ironically titled "Harmonious G8" consists of eight overdubbed vocals, each an improvisation by a singer from one of the G8 nations; "White Man's Burden" requires little amplification. If you're not interested in the politics, you can just relax and enjoy the variously danceable and relaxing moods that Marks creates…

After taking time out to tour in 1997, Toby Marks moved from the UK Midlands to Somerset, in southwest England to set up a new studio. After recording the new CD, he then decided to set up his own label in England, Disco Gecko Recordings. The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia travels freely between the violins and cellos of Glove Puppet and the Kenyan rain song that forms the basis of the next piece, No Rain. So maybe it’s world music, or global trance; but it’s not intentional.

In 1997 when “Big Men Cry” was originally released on Planet Dog Records, no one could have predicted the chaos that would surround and follow it. The campaign was a classic case of the record company marketing one thing and the artist recording another. In this instance, the label and many of the public alike wanted “another Last Train to Lhasa” but for Toby Marks (AKA Banco de Gaia), another “Lhasa” was the last thing on his mind.
Add to that a breakdown of relations between Toby and the record label and you have all the necessary components for a pretty uncomfortable album release. This was compounded by Ultimate Records, who licensed the Planet Dog label, going into liquidation shortly after the album’s release…

1995: fresh from finishing and releasing his magnum opus, 'Last Train to Lhasa', Toby Marks, aka Banco de Gaia, rolled down to Glastonbury Festival to play on the Avalon Stage in the Field of Avalon. The year was one of the first times dance music had been given significant space at the festival, and Toby’s set was much anticipated, with the marquee completely full by the time he came on stage. The set featured many of his most familiar songs, often given radically new arrangements, turning some previously un-danceable tracks into driving club tunes. Ed Vulliamy described it in his review for the Guardian as “electrifying: symphonic, epic, hugely lyrical music in the best traditions of the early Floyd, underpinned by synthetic energy but aiming at an appropriately earthy message, atop which a flute sometimes danced” and credited the show as the highlight of the year…

26 years ago Planet Dog released one of the all-time classic albums of modern electronica - Last Train to Lhasa - which reached #31 in the UK Album Charts and #1 in the UK Independent Charts. Misconstrued at the time as a Tibetan-themed album (it actually contains only one Tibetan sample), its groove-inflected, multicultural soundscapes helped to form the blueprint for much of today's global electronica, with its influence evident today in acts such as Public Service Broadcasting…

Inspired to enter the field of electronic music by Britain's acid house explosion of the late '80s, Toby Marks took quite a different spin on electronica with his recordings as Banco de Gaia, introducing elements of Eastern and Arabic music, sampling similarly exotic sources, and tying the whole to ambient-dub rhythms. Marks began releasing cassette-only albums in the early '90s, distributed through a network of clubs and artists known as Planet Dog. When Planet Dog became a record label as well (later the home of Eat Static and Timeshard), Banco de Gaia debuted on disc with the Desert Wind EP, released in November 1993. Early the following year, Marks released his first album, Maya…

The 20th Anniversary Edition comes with a second disc of standout remixes from the time, including the previously vinyl only Jack Dangers dub, plus a handful of fresh remixes by fellow Disco Gecko artists.