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Title: Banco De Gaia - Maya
Review: _Maya_, Toby Marks' first full-length offering as Banco de Gaia, bears all the unfortunate hallmarks of mid-90s techno, back when ambient dub roamed the earth. Marks added his voice to the renaissance of ethnic-sample techno with "Heliopolis," which uses the same Dead Can Dance riff as the Future Sound of London's classic "Papua New Guinea," but the overall effort seems dated. On _Maya_, Marks focuses primarily on the Middle East (despite the South American title), and while there's nothing here that calls for jihad, neither are any of the tracks particularly inspiring. Indeed, "Mafich Arabi" suffers from a slight case of cheesiness, a symptom that reappears in the electric guitar and dull samples of the title track. If anything, this album is more of a chill-out test run, a first try that would only lead to better things.
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