Knekelhuis Vinyl & CDs

Review: Dutchman Banabila's second studio album on Knekelhuis once again affirms his status as a boss-level operator among ambient music fans. The eleven-track record explores soul-stirring, krautrock-tinged, and avant-garde electronic landscapes that are all rooted in emotive expression. His compositions feature ethereal voices in the form of fictional characters chanting in a language of their own creation, resonating with a captivating essence that transcends linguistic boundaries. The record also showcases Banabila's mastery of sonic textures as he weaves a narrative of layered complexity and emotional depth while some tracks like 'Rattles' hark back to his earlier work on Knekelhuis.

Review: Dutch experimentalist Michel Banabila reasserts his place at the forefront of the scene with yet another of his masterful fun lengths. He has been crafting music for more than four decades and over those years has picked up a dedicated fan base while also composing for theatre, TV and ballet. His vast oeuvre retains dizzyingly high levels of quality assurance and Echo Transformations is another high-water mark "inspired by the Fourth World dimension." It's a melange of lush harmonics and soft but heavy broken beats, tropical synth work and warped electro-acoustic sounds that manage to feel hugely organic, ancient and tribal and synthetic and futuristic all at once. Turn on, tune in and zone out to this one for a brilliantly psychedelic experience.

Review: This is a third hot 7" release in a row for the Knekelhuis label. De Ambassade aka Pascal Pinkert is the man behind the intern, intoxicating music, which pairs a middle eastern sounding lead synth with urgent, hurried cold wave drums and stark synth work that brings more than a hint of industrialism. The sense of uncertainty and paranoia that blights all our daily lives right now certain colours these tracks, too, with anxiousness never far away from the avant-pop sounds. Add in the rolling basslines on the a-side and more mysterious vibe of the flip and you have two vital tunes.