Unspeakable Visions by Michel Banabila

Banabila returns with a second LP release on Knekelhuis. The renowned Dutch producer is up there among the stars when it comes to ambient music and the so-called ‘fourth world’ legacy. On this eleven-track album, we witness soul-wrenching, kraut-tinted, and early-yet-modernist electronics.

Coming from his heart, these imaginative recordings center around otherworldly voices – fictional characters chanting in a made-up language, imbued with a captivating spirit, transcending linguistic barriers. Through remarkable complexity and technique, 'Unspeakable Visions' is full of sonic textures, together evoking a layered, emotional arc.

While the track 'Rattles' still references the artist's first album on Knekelhuis, 'Echo Transformations', the style of most other tracks departs towards an intriguing new mix of both pop-infused songs and gloomy abstraction, balancing between a sense of anticipation and desolation. (Luke Cohlen, May 2024)


Reviews / Quotes:

AMBIENTBLOG:
Shortly after Michel Banabila dropped The Unreal Realm, he’s back with a new album titled Unspeakable Visions. This new album shows a completely different side of Banabila‘s music, demonstrating his musical versatility.
Unspeakable Visions is his second release on the Amsterdam-based Knekelhuis – a label ‘motivated by conflict and surprise, [releasing music that’s] as alien as it is familiar, as bodily as it is soulful, as bizarre as it is beautiful’.

Unspeakable Visions perfectly fits this description. The (eleven) tracks are relatively short this time – most are under five minutes. All are created around manipulated vocal samples, some of which can be recognized from his earlier work or live performances. It feels as if these samples come from about every corner of the world, but I assume Banabila created most of them – if not all – himself.
Paired with fitting instrumental arrangements, the tracks range from evoking fourth-world atmospheres to ambient soundscapes and lively rhythmic patterns.

While his early influences from Eno & Byrne’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” and the spirit of Jon Hassell can still be discerned, Banabila has sculpted his own personal style over the past four decades. His evolution has birthed a genre-defying sound that’s instantly identifiable and impossible to replicate. Unspeakable Visions presents the kind of music that only Michel Banabila himself can create. (Peter van Cooten)

MOORS MAGAZINE:
'Deze muziek moet je de tijd gunnen, en vaak beluisteren zodat het de tijd heeft om zich helemaal voor je te ontvouwen. Magistrale muziek' (Holly Moors)

VITAL WEEKLY:
'It’s melodic, rhythmic and delightful, but it’s also very ambient, very atmospheric, dark at times, and not something I would call pop music (but what do I know about / Banabila’s music is richly textured with sounds; there’s always something going, moving from one part of the world to another, worlds connecting, Stockhausen’s ‘Telemusik’ meeting Eno / Bynre's ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’, if you get my drift. / Another excellent record, but that’s no surprise; the man has a consistent, high-quality music catalogue, and if the name is new to you, well worth investigating if you are into melodic and rhythmic atmospheric music. (FdW)

REACH.SOUND:
I’m smitten by this latest album for Knekelhuis: adventurous and playfully experimental electronica, chopped and diced up into a genuinely eclectic medley, this album reminds me of a kind of photomontage of me finding some of my early favourite albums on labels like Idle Hands, Warp, or Peak Oil (way back when they released early music from Strategy).

There’s a clear blue vein of Krautrock influence flowing throughout Unspeakable Visions, as well as the thread of some aspects of spiritualised ambient music, and yet there’s not really any particular moment on the record than belongs solely to these labels. Banabila seems to have tuned a radio station to the global frequency of the Earth, and subtly edited vocal intrusions in all sorts of languages are found here and there throughout the album.

If you dig the planet-bound stargazing of Koyil, Jon Hassel, or Misha Sultan, this will be right up your street; organic and unhurried, there’s so much space to unwind on these compositions. Rattle rasps out of a flute above dank, curious basslines, while Little Star twinkles just so, fractioned guitar shimmering over gloriously relaxing swells. I’ve sunk into it repeatedly, and always find myself coming out of a stupor when it all stops, and suddenly the world sounds less comforting. (Freddie Hudson)

THE ANSWER IS IN THE BEAT:
Artificial voices, singing and speaking in an invented language. The deconstructed gibberish words flow through soundscapes which are sometimes mysterious (“Darker and Darker”) and other times are just straight up playful (opener “Viva Voce”). “Little Star” seems like it can only be described as an alien lullaby. (Paul Simpson)

OOR:
Banabila is tegenwoordig een veelgevraagd leverancier aan theater- en tv-producties. Wie Unspeakable Visions hoort, snapt dat laatste direct. Alles draait om sfeer in zijn wonderlijk losse composities. Het resultaat klinkt beurtelings meditatief en wonderschoon / Deze ga ik vast ook weer grijsdraaien. Ambient voor gesloten ogen en een open hart. (René Passet)

RECORD REPORT:
Pieces like 'Little Star' showcase an incredibly cinematic and homely essence. It's somewhere between ambient folk and a dazzling Balearic beach soundtrack as slow textures wash over you like a tide.

Unspeakable Visions is a sprawling canvas of psychedelic premonitions and memory-evoking music. Michel's Banabila steadfast commitment to infusing folk-leaning elements into his electronic music creates a mind-bending experience. It's a must-listen for those drawn to world music-inspired electronica. Unspeakable Visions delves into sonics and structure more holistically for those seeking a departure from the ordinary. (Tom Babbington-Fowles)

AUDIOPILE:
Banabila creates something genuinely strange and dreamlike. But it's also immediately appealing and deeply chill. Frankly, an excessive abundance of unearthly wonders.

HHV MAG:
Der Niederländer Michel Banabila hat schon herabfallende Wassertropfen, sanft getupfte Schlaginstrumente und undechiffrierbare Vocalfetzen unter hauchdünnes Geklonke geparkt, da hat dein liebster Plattenladen sein New-Age-Fach noch verschämt in der hintersten Ecke geparkt. Wenn du auf seiner Discogs-Page sechsmal auf »Next« klicken musst, um ans Ende der Discografie zu landen, sprechen wir von einem Musiker, der nicht mehr viel zu beweisen hat. Auf dem experimentierfreudigem Label Knekelhuis gibt sich der »Routinier« (man merkt, es ist noch Europameisterschaft, während ich das schreibe) ein zweites Mal mit neuer Musik die Ehre.

Michel Banabila ist aber auch nach mehr als vier Dekaden im Game rastlos und neugierig. Im Vergleich zu früheren Platten wird auf »Unspeakable Visions« auch schon mal auf die Uhr geschaut und schneller auf den Punkt gekommen. Das ist keine Musik, die um sich selbst kreist und sich auf der eigenen Vergangenheit ausruht, stattdessen schickt Banabila seine Ambient- und Fourth-World-Slowburner auf Entdeckungstour, verpflichtet manipulierte und verfremdete Stimmen für abstrakte Klangkunst, die uns etwas mitzuteilen haben, was wir nie verstehen würden und verzichtet mit rhytmisch ehrgeizigen Songs wie »So Far Yet So Near« nicht einmal auf einen sehr dezenten Blick auf den Tanzboden. (Christopher Hunold)

EXPOSÉ ONLINE:
The renowned Dutch producer Michel Banabila returns with his second LP release on the Knekelhuis label, Unspeakable Visions. This new album is a big departure from the experimental looping on his prior album, Echo Transformations. Banabila is now experimenting with otherworldly voices chanting pseudo-languages intertwined with analog and digital synths, processed samples, and rhythmic modulations. I am reminded of the Brian Eno and David Byrne collaboration, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. But Banabila takes it much further into alien worlds, yielding true alien pop music, which is a perfect companion to the latest Einstürzende Neubauten album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Banabila’s music is quite approachable, even his dark and gloomy tracks. Particular favorites are the opening track, “Viva Voce,” with its odd percussive textures, the delicate and primitive “Little Star” that reminds me of Jorge Reyes’ shamanistic music, and the alien rave music of “AI Brainfire.” Banabila continues to produce innovative and interesting experimental music with a youthful enthusiasm. Each of the eleven tracks is unique, showcasing Banabila’s musical chops, experience, and diversity. Through his experimental approach to composition, Unspeakable Visions is an album of interesting and engaging sonic textures. (Henry Schneider)

NIEUWE NOTEN:
Stemopnames, een meeslepende ritmiek, verrassende geluiden, het is er allemaal. (Ben Taffijn)

RADIO AMOR:
Dutch sound artist Michel Banabila can conjure up some pretty gigantic sounding compositions that feel like they’re floating in space, found throughout his dark ambient high water mark album Unspeakable Visions. Those who dig experimental headphone music will find great rewards at every turn on Unspeakable Visions, a multi-lingual dive into the unknown bringing to mind the work of Nicolas Jaar. (Marty Slagter)

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