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Hidden Patterns

by Michel Banabila

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Hand numbered compilation CD in full color 6 panel digisleeve.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Hidden Patterns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 2 days
    edition of 200  27 remaining

      €9 EUR or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €7 EUR  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    3 CDs: with download. (Please note: Early Works & Wah Wah Whispers DL will be send via wetransfer as 24bit WAV, not via code)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Hidden Patterns via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 1 day

      €25 EUR or more 

     

  • For U.S. customers: buy cd at Squidco

1.
Little Boy 02:00
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Alienation 04:50
13.
14.

about

Compilation -
with an emphasis on quiet, non-rhythmic (ambient / minimal) recordings.

All tracks composed by Michel Banabila,
except 'One Moment In Time' composed by
Michel Banabila, Stijn Hüwels & Cok van Vuuren.

Sleeve by Michel Banabila & Rutger Zuydervelt.
Arrangement track 7 by Michel Banabila & Maarten Vos.
Arrangement track 5 by Michel Banabila & Anton Goudsmit.
Mastering by Michel Banabila, except tracks 6, 7, 14,
mastered by Marlon Wolterink / White Noise Studio.

Includes a bonus track.

Taken from:

Little Boy / Zooming In / Descending The Mountain / Humans And Nonhumans - DTM Remix (Descending The Mountain / 2021)
Dragonfly - Synth version (Translations / 2020)
Ears Tell Us Where We Are In Space - Guitar version (Precious Images / 2008)
Dragonfly - Original (Uprooted / 2019)
Secunde - CJD Remix (Home / 2017)
Sounds From An Unforgettable Place 1 (Sounds From An Unforgettable Place / 2022)
Drowning Angels - Original (Music For Films & Documentaries II / 2021)
Hope - Disquiet 0271 Prison Sky (Just Above The Surface / 2018)
Alienation (Monochromes / 2022)
Secunde - Ambient Mix (Secunde Ambient Mix / 2020)
One Moment In Time (One Moment In Time / 2022)

Reviews / quotes:

THE ANSWER IS IN THE BEAT:
Hidden Patterns is another compilation of Michel Banabila’s recent work, dating back to 2008, and including more collaborations and music from film soundtracks. The whole release actually has a very cinematic feel, with poignant acoustic melodies which seem like they’re underpinning pivotal scenes of self-discovery and realization. It starts out with two brief solo pieces which are ethereal, piano-based, and if not ominous, then at least beckoning things to come. Oene van Geel’s violin gives several other pieces a strong sense of longing, and Anton Goudsmit’s guitar playing on the version of “Ears Tell Us Where We Are in Space” brings the sound closer to ECM-style jazz. “Secunde (CJD Remix)” is a 13-minute epic with murmuring voices and an acoustic bass line which resembled oar strokes pushing a boat down a canal. “Sounds from an Unforgettable Place 1” has more disruptive electronic beats stamping and rattling away, along with haunting vocals. A few other following tracks incorporate sounds that may or may not be vocals of some sort, be they synthetic or manipulated, making it seem like the machines and instruments are speaking. Finally, “One Moment in Time” is another lengthy, peaceful gondola drift filled with subtle murmurs, resonant guitar strums, and slowly blossoming synth swells. (Paul Simpson)

SUBJECTIVISTEN:
"Wonderschone atmosferische tracks, die door de bijzondere opbouw haast driedimensionaal lijken / Wat een toonaangevende pracht allemaal" (Jan WIllem Broek)

THE SQUID'S EAR:
Dutch composer Banabila (b. 1961) has well over a hundred releases to his credit though Hidden Patterns is this listener's first encounter with his work. It seems to be a compendium of sorts, with pieces dating as far back as 2008, some of them originally from films.
The general mood is gentle ambient with a light, contemporary classical tinge. There's a lot of Badalamenti here, often bathed in Eno circa 1980, especially the work with Jon Hassell. The pieces with an electrically augmented chamber ensemble often feature violist Oene Van Geel and tend to fluctuate between the kind of moody neo-neo-romanticism heard in "indie" films nowadays with Glassian overtones. It swells with iterated strings dressed in bell-tones, subsides, disappears. Everything is rounded, cushioned, not a sharp edge within earshot. Unfair perhaps, but it's hard to describe without allusions to all the various musics of which one is reminded. At its best, as on 'Dragonfly', featuring bass clarinetist Gareth Davis, it recalls something that might have appeared on an early 90s Made to Measure album, something with just a tinge of the "exotic", say by Benjamin Lew or Hector Zazou. It all goes down smoothly, even pleasantly. If the above descriptors sound like the kind of aurae you're fond of embracing, Hidden Patterns offers a well-performed, well-recorded variation of same. (Brian Olewnick)

INACTUELLES, MUSIQUES SINGULIÈRES:
J'ai déjà consacré quelques articles à Michel Banabila, compositeur prolifique qui refuse de s'enfermer dans un style uniforme. Aussi cette compilation généreuse est-elle la bienvenue. Le musicien néerlandais y rassemble quinze titres extraits d'une dizaine d'albums récents, dont certains remontent quand même à 2008, l'accent mis sur des musiques tranquilles, sobrement ambiantes. On y retrouve une pléiade de collaborateurs, parmi lesquels Oene van Geel à l'alto, Gareth Davis à la clarinette basse.

En ouverture, "Little Boy", une pièce à la Harold Budd, piano aux longues résonances et fond brumeux, donne le ton. Michel Banabila part toujours de l'évidence mélodique pour nous faire rêver, et pour nous entraîner dans des lointains exotiques. "Dragonfly" est de ce point de vue un morceau exemplaire, avec ses boucles fluides, insinuantes, de synthétiseur charmeur, dérapant peu à peu vers le mystère.  L'alto d'Oene van Geel ouvre "Zooming in", titre très cinématographique, le plus aguicheur de cette compilation, qui montre la large palette du néerlandais, aussi à l'aise dans une musique "commerciale", facile, que dans des compostions beaucoup plus fines, voire expérimentales. Cet éclectisme, cette absence de prétention sont ici parfaits. "Descending the mountain" (titre 4), à nouveau avec Oene van Geel, est un moment de grâce, une bande annonce pour un film sur la descente de l'Éverest par un crépuscule grandiose. "Hope - Disquiet 0271 Prison Sky" (titre 10) est de la même veine un tantinet grandiloquente, très agréable toutefois. La guitare électrique d'Anton Goudsmit nous vaut un morceau séduisant à la limite du jazz. La version instrumentale de "Dragon Fly - Original" permet d'entendre l'impressionnante clarinette basse de Gareth Davis dans cette pièce superbement écrite, presque à la Arvo Pârt par son l'atmosphère énigmatique et fervente.

Le long mix "Secunde - CJD Mix" nous rappelle que ce séducteur est tout simplement un des grands compositeurs de musique ambiante électronique : dosage parfait des sons de terrain, frise instrumentale raffinée, sens du climat sonore. Le mix ambiant qui le prolonge en treizième position, "Secunde - Ambient Mix", ne lui est pas inférieur par son hypnotisme minimal.

"Sounds From An Unforgettable Place #1" (titre 8), entre pastiche et parodie, est un étrange collage exotique pour orchestre de brousse, dans la lignée si l'on veut de Jon Hassell. "Humans and NonHumans - DTM Remix" (titre 11) se rattache à cette lignée d'un étrange un peu grotesque, inquiétant, particulièrement réussi dans l'excellent "Alienation" (titre 12), envoûtant. "Drowning Angels" (titre 9), pour piano et voix déformée (du compositeur je suppose), donne un écho décalé du titre 8, pour musicien occidental désespéré, et c'est superbe, cette trajectoire lointaine qui se rapproche, cette chute des anges ! La version pour Midi proposée en dernière position (titre 15) me paraît nettement moins réussie, trop adoucie.

L'autre long titre de la compilation "On Moment in Time" (titre 14) prend la forme d'une traînée spatiale rêveuse, à demi illuminée par les flambées des guitares électriques de Stijn Hüwels et Cok van Vuuren : un grand moment ! (Denis Philippe)

AMN REVIEWS:
With only the most vague grasp of the avant music scene in the Netherlands, I would still venture to categorize Michel Banabila among its most captivating members. Also one of its most prolific collaborators, having recorded with Machinefabriek, Pierre Bastien, Stijn Hüwels, Jeff Greinke, Bill Laswell, Robin Rimbaud, Dave Liebman, clarinetist Gareth Davis, trumpeter Eric Vloeimans, among many, many others. He is a stylistic chameleon, having delved into jazz and electronica, ambient, pop and music for stage, screen and dance with equal aplomb over a forty-year career.

Hidden Patterns is a compilation that emphasizes his quieter side – the “non-rhythmic (ambient/minimal)” side, he writes, and it is abundant with tranquil pieces mostly culled from the late teens and early twenties. Resonant piano pieces “Little Boy” and “Hope” breathe the same air as Eno & Budd and several tweaked, ethno-futurist excursions divulge an affinity with Jon Hassell. “Zooming In” is a sun-kissed meadow of pastoral contentment, while the somber “Secunde (CJD Mix)” is chilling audio-film noir. Chamber pieces, some quite short, flash Banabila’s innate lyricism. At the end, the album ebbs gently away with the extended ambient contemplation of “One Moment in Time.”



Elsewhere on his Bandcamp page, Banabila has compiled Breathe, a digital primer “for recent new followers, with a focus on classical orientated tracks.” Together, these collections offer a deep dive into a rich and accomplished oeuvre. (Stephen Fruitman)

POPUNIE:
Compilatie met de nadruk op rustige, niet-ritmische (ambient/minimal) opnames uit de periode 2008-2022 uitgebracht op het eigen Tapu Records. Hidden Patterns is een uiterst fraai en organisch klinkend geheel geworden dat opnieuw de bijzondere kwaliteit van Michel Banabila onderschrijft. Divers materiaal uit een periode van 14 jaar én gemaakt met een keur aan samenwerkingspartners klinkt maar zelden zo coherent. In alle opzichten een fantastische release!

credits

released January 21, 2023

Michel Banabila: keys, sampler, percussion, electronics, voice.
Anton Goudsmit: electric guitar. (5)
Oene van Geel: viola. (3, 4, 6, 7, 13)
Gareth Davis: bass clarinet. (6)
Peter Hollo: cello. (6)
Gulli Gudmundsson: electric bass guitar, e-bow. (6)
Maarten Vos: cello. (7)
Ilya Ziblat Shay: double bass. (7, 13)
Keimpe de Jong: clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano saxonet. (7, 13)
Cok van Vuuren: electric guitar. (14)
Stijn Hüwels: electric guitar. (14)

UK customers: buy at Norman
normanrecords.com/records/195937-michel-banabila-hidden-patterns

2023 ℗ Tapu Records.
Cat. nr. TR101222CD.


CD manufactured by MonotypePressing, Warsaw, Poland.

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