Review: Christian Bonori, Paul S. Tone "Stripes of Light" EP

[Tim Robert]

In mid-2009, as I prepared the second installment of my Pure.FM Progressive
radio show "Headlands", I discovered a killer track titled "Enjoy The Sounds".
Produced by the Italian team of Christian Bonori and Fabrizio Ferrari, "Enjoy
The Sounds" features a relentlessly stomping groove and razor-sharp synth
lines, imparting an amusingly sinister irony to samples of Spectrasonics
founder Eric Persing hawking his wares. "Enjoy The Sounds" generated
enthusiastic reactions both on air and live, and I kept an eye out for more work
from Christian, Fabrizio and their cohorts.

As of late, Christian Bonori's most frequent collaborator is Paul S. Tone, and
their collaboration has resulted in an impressive collection of stylistically
diverse and texturally adventurous tracks, released on labels such as
Plusquam Division, Skeletor Music and Fourpeas Recordings. Having played
eight of Christian and Paul's tracks and one of their remixes on "Headlands" to
date (my favorites including "Damaged", "Contact By Satellite", "Veiled
Sunrise" and "Kom Ombo" - all worth checking out), I feel that their
genre-bending inventiveness deserves some trumpeting.

Christian and Paul's latest effort is their "Stripes of Light" EP, just released on
Plusquam Division. The EP's title track takes no prisoners from the outset. A
monumentally pounding bass line dominates the intro, and is soon
accompanied by a tuned-down scraping effect. After a short break filled with
icy, chattering synths and washes of descending noise, an irresistible,
clattering percussion riff charges in, followed by gurgling and percolating
synths, propelling the track forward and evoking the unstoppable momentum
of a freight train.

The other track on the "Stripes of Light" EP is "Gambol in the Sky", which starts
with an arpeggiated synth over a simple, head-nodding bass line. The track
subtly builds as a staccato clicking synth, a grainy effected hat and slapping
white noise work their way in. An infectious, echoing acid synth emerges from
the break, and metallic and aerodynamic pads weave in and out of the mix,
turning the track in a quasi-psychedelic direction. It all adds up to a track with
a laser-like focused intensity.

With a prolific output and a unique production style, Christian Bonori and Paul
S. Tone are sure to garner more fans while pushing progressive house in
creative new directions. Give their tracks a listen and see for yourself.