Cohort Gaia

After the disaster of “Big Men Cry” and a traumatic American tour with Moby, it was time for Banco de Gaia to take stock. A move to Somerset allowed him to set up a new studio, and all the label intrigue from the last release drove him to find a new American partner in Six Degrees, and to set up his own label, Disco Gecko Recordings, for European releases.

‘Gaia: Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996-2003)’ is a new in-depth compilation of works by Japanese musician Dream Dolphin. Co-compiled by long-time friend of the label Eiji Taniguchi, it draws from a vast discography of music oscillating between IDM, Pop and Ambient. First appearing on Eiji’s compilation ’Heisei No Oto - Japanese Left-field Pop From The CD Age (1989-1996)’, this selection of rediscoveries, further shines a light on the singular musician known as Dream Dolphin and her place in Japan’s rich electronic music legacy.

Composed over a period of fourteen years, John Pickard's Gaia Symphony and Eden are scored for the standard British brass band, with expanded percussion in the case of 'Gaia'. Both works in different ways mirror concerns regarding the world and nature, and their relationship with the human species. Gaia was the Greek goddess of the earth, but is also the name of a theory which proposes that the earth itself is a living organism and that its colonisation by humankind merely marks a certain point in its history.

Lionel Loueke - Gaia (2015) {Blue Note B002354502}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 369 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 133 Mb
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© 2015 Blue Note Records | B002354502
Jazz / African Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Guitar

Gaïa finds West African guitarist Lionel Loueke reunited with his longstanding trio of bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth for the first time since 2010's Mwaliko. It was produced by Blue Note label boss Don Was and cut live in the studio – sans overdubs – in front of a small invited audience. The sonics are a tad more brittle, but they add to the crackling energy on offer. First single "Aziza Dance" is funky as hell; the guitarist vamps up a storm and Nemeth drops a ton of breaks amid snare-driven syncopation.