Earth Visitor

Ambient.

A lot of rain in June. Watching NASA videos about the Juno mission. Then this is what happens ...

We Are The Aliens from Michel Banabila on Vimeo.

AMBIENTBLOG:
June was a very rainy month, which was why Michel Banabila spent a lot of time watching NASA videos about the Juno mission. Or, maybe I’d better rephrase that: after watching the NASA videos he spent a lot of time creating this album which was inspired by the Juno mission.
In retrospect, we can be happy this was no ordinary sunny month, because inspired him to create this great album! Starting out with a piano theme that demonstrates why his music works very well in theatre and documentary soundtrack settings, the tracks focus on outer space – becoming more abstract while never losing their melodic, human, touch.
 Alien electronic soundscapes, sometimes ‘earthened’ with violin samples (performed by Salar Asid), piano, cat meows, and many distorted voice fragments (the kind that unmistakably identifies Banabila‘s work). With titles like What Creature Is That and We Are The Aliens, this album’s viewpoint is nót only that of earth’s astronaut, but also of the imaginary Jupiter inhabitant watching the earth invaders approach. After working ceaselessly and tirelessly for more than thirty years, recent re-issues of his early work finally gained the international acclaim it deserves (the Bureau B compilation Early Works / Things Popping Up from the Past and Astral Industries reissue of Chi Original Recordings). But it’s important not to get stuck in the past: Banabila is alive and kicking and still creating an impressive stream of new music! With his recent albums, Michel Banabila has explored many – often experimental – territories. Earth Visitor demonstrates he’s also still a master of cinematic ambient! (Peter van Cooten)



Special thanks to:

Radboud Mens for Izotope edits and check.
Salar Asid for contributed sample on "Earth Visitor" (violin).
Oscar Roelof Peterse for recording the piano on "Earth Visitor."
Tapu, my cat, for contributed sample on "Earth Visitor" (meow).
Rutger Zuydervelt, Gunther Buskies, Marc Weidenbaum, Joeri Mol and Hanyo van Oosterom for essential feedback.

Released July 10, 2016.

Composed & performed by Michel Banabila. Instruments:
piano, synthesizer, sampler, field recordings, voice, guitar.

I took the cover photo from a train from Tokyo to Narita , 2016.



017TR / Tapu Records ℗ 2016

Passing By from Michel Banabila on Vimeo.

47 Voice Loops

Proposal for a soundart installation consisting of a room with 47 speakers.

47 loops of my voice, some time stretched, each loop a different length. For every loop there is one speaker. The volume of each track for each speaker changes by an automated mix. The starting point of each loop is random, and as they move towards each other, endless new combinations can occur.



Inspired by / dedicated to Cornelius Cardew & The Scratch Orchestra 'The Great Learning' - paragraph 7 (1971)



AMBIENTBLOG:
As the title indicates, the basic ingredients for these tracks are 47 layered and looped recordings of Michel's own voice - and since each loop has a different length the result is a choral work in endless variations in which the same combination of fragments will hardly ever be repeated (a generative music principle often used by Brian Eno). Although the originating process and the philosophical fundaments may differ, those of you that paid attention at experimental music history class will probably immediately recognise "The Great Learning, Paragraph 7 " as composed and performed by Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra in 1971 - a piece that Banabila acknowledges to be one his greatest musical influences ever. The result is "MltVz9" - a mesmerisingly calm vocal ocean, whispering messages probably only your subconscience will understand... But it does not stop there. The second version of this track repeats the process but with the loops heavily processed and mutilated, feeling like washes of instrumental noise unrelated to human vocal. Next, the album concludes with a mix of these two versions, in which the voices seemingly struggle with their unnatural counterparts. Throughout his work, Michel Banabila has always been experimenting with all aspects of the human voice. This album is his ultimate hommage to the composer and the musical score he has admired for all his life. (Peter van Cooten - 04-18-2013).

SUBJECTIVISTEN:
"Een biologerend hoorspel dat zich als een ambientalbum laat beluisteren." (JanWIllem Broek)



001TR © Tapu records
Released April 9, 2013
michel banabila: voice

In Other Words

Cut up voices, tuned, with some electronic treatments.
I chose most of them based on their sound, emotion, timbre, the melody of speech, regardless of any literal meaning of the words.
New (non existing) words and phrases were formed with the rearranging of tiny samples.
Some voices were sampled from the Phonetics Lab, some via Web-SDR, some via Tunein radio.

A special thanks to Mark Dingemanse.







Purloined Voices (MP3) Disquiet.com

Phonema

R:IP
For voices & sampler.
released May 1, 2003.
De Rotterdamse Improvisatie Poel;

Joe Monk : voice
Peter Sterk : voice
Willy Bakker : voice
Vanita Monk : voice
Hugo Van Rooy : voice
Henk Van Schaik : voice
Marriete Kleisen : voice
Henri Van Zanten : voice
Pierre Verbeek : voice & recordings
Michel Banabila : sampler, edits & electronic treatments
Katja Vetter : organisatie