Michel Banabila: Unspeakable Visions LP (Knekelhuis, 2024)

June 22, 2024 at 11:40 am | Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Michel Banabila: Unspeakable Visions LP

Michel Banabila’s latest LP goes beyond “fourth world”, creating an entirely new world of its own. Most of the tracks feature 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”). “So Far Yet So Near” has a feeling of almost familiarity — the first vocal part sounds like the oft-sampled “it’s just, you’re alone” line from Streetwise, and it feels like it approximates African rhythms and chillout room textures, but it’s difficult to narrow down exactly what it’s emulating, or synthesizing. “Little Star” seems like it can only be described as an alien lullaby. “AI Brainfire” seems to deal with technological overload by embracing full-on dance beats. The album ends with a title track which calms everything down and lets you reflect on all the altered reality you’ve just witnessed.

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