#toby marks

Motion is an innovative new album by sound artists Toby Marks and Andrew Heath. Although the pair have collaborated on individual tracks and shows before, this is the first album they have worked on together. Toby and Andrew started making extensive field recordings on trips to the four corners of Britain during 2018. They went deep into Llechwedd Slate Caverns in Wales, explored Suttle Stone Quarries in Bournemouth, hopped on the Swanage Ferry to Poole Harbour, took to the air with the Yorkshire Gliding Club, floated down the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and rode the Bure Valley Railway in Norfolk. By the end they had a staggering hundred hours of audio in total, which they processed and transformed, blending piano, guitars and electronics, to produce a deeply meditative, endlessly unfolding collection. Sometimes evoking images of machinery, sometimes of nature, these pieces flow and twist, at all times maintaining a humanity and sense of personal experience at their core. At times intense, sometimes barely even present in the mix, the music enthralls and entices, drawing the listener into a world both seemingly familiar and weirdly unknown – a quite alien, and yet still organic, space, a space which is of this world and yet ultimately of Marks and Heath’s own invention. Toby Marks - Field recordings, Sound design, Guitar, Guitar synthesizer Andrew Heath - Field recordings, Sound design, Piano, Electric Piano

"In 1998 I formed Disco Gecko Recordings as an outlet for my Banco de Gaia music as I couldn’t find another label that I was happy to work with. My earlier experiences working with both independent and major labels had left me less than convinced that I would find anyone who actually understood, or cared about, what I was trying to do, so I thought I had better just do it myself. It can’t be that much work, right? I meant to add other artists to the label eventually but it wasn’t until 2014 that I finally found the time to do so, releasing Andrew Heath’s gorgeous album The Silent Cartographer. Since then I have released albums and EPs by a bunch of other artists, always looking for music with heart, integrity and beauty. Unlike many peoples’ preconceptions about Banco, this isn’t a dance music label, although there is some of that. Rather, it’s an outlet for anything from ambient instrumentals to midtempo floor stompers via experimental electronics and traditional (and not-so-traditional) instruments. To mark 20 years of the label I decided to do something a bit more interesting than just a ‘best of’ compilation. As there are now nine artists releasing music on the label, plus various ‘associates’ (such as Andy Guthrie who was with me at the birth of Banco and still remixes and contributes the odd track when he can), I decided to ask them to each remix each other. The pairings were picked randomly but the results are anything but. With tracks covering the full range of what we have to offer, this compilation showcases the talents of writers, producers and performers of the highest quality. Every track is a unique journey into the minds and personalities of two different artists, often working in very different styles, and the results are definitely more than a sum of the parts. 20 years has gone by in the blink of an eye. Hopefully this album signposts the way ahead for the next 20 (and beyond)." Toby Marks, head honcho at Disco Gecko since 1998

View On WordPress

When I mentioned Delerium in one of my discussions of the modern trance/techno/electronic music from Europe, I made two mistakes. One, I forgot Delerium is actually a Canadian project, so we cannot call them European. Two, I'm not sure the duo could fit into the parameters of the term. The musicians, similar to Delerium, appeared a lot during the 90's, which was a prolific perod for mechanical tunes, yet these types of outfits were beyond any sort of classification. I mean, what genre does Banco de Gaia, for example, belong to? You can find traces of trance, but there's more to his sound. Of course, the record companies usually put a label on this idiom, but the cognomen gathers a disparate variety of musicians and many use the phrase pejoratively. Yes, I am talking about new age.

Listen/purchase: 91 by Banco De Gaia

****Click below to listen to a Below Zero show**** http://www.belowzerobeats.com/Track_Listings/ http://www.live365.com/stations/clubraven http://bit.ly/aFkJX

Anyway, Toby Marks (who is Banco de Gaia) is a freakin' genius, so give it a listen.