Banco de Gaia

IGIZEH

(Six Degrees)

Toby Banks has been crafting worldly trance soundscapes as Banco de Gaia for some seven years. His latest uses the same palette that has earned him a loyal global rave following: layers of dubby, ambient tones infused with Arabic, Asian, or North African sounds, all of which climax to druggy effect. The opening "Seti I" is a swirling bit of hypnosis with its Egyptian chant and cresting waves of entropic, steadily building beats. "Gizeh" is pure electronic ambiance mixing Turkish clarinet and Indian vocals over a heavy hip-hop tempo.

If Banco de Gaia sounds like Deep Forest and Enigma, that shouldn't come as any surprise -- all are new-age disciples, though Banks's music comes off as slightly more sophisticated. "Obsidian," for example, shows keen insight into the sweeping tension that drives dance music. I can't shake the feeling, however, that like those other two, Banks is the kind of cultural panderer who's motivated by the same ethno-fetishizing that draws tourists to Goa in search of spiritual redemption. Indeed, the title of "Fake It till You Make It," a three-part, 12-minute opus, may tell us more about Banco de Gaia than Banks would care to admit.

-- Joseph Patel