Ultra Bonbon - North American Family Bond [Tanzprocesz]/Ultra Bonbon - Tapehisssabysss [Bonbon Bruises]/Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol. 2 [No Label]

For the past couple years I've taken notice of Dan Milanese's Ultra Bonbon project as one of the more interesting and overlooked noise artists out there. I was happy to see France's Tanzprocesz label put something out by Ultra Bonbon as the two seemed a match made in purgatory. The very nice looking North American Family Bond cassette shows those "Europeans" a thing or two about how to raise happy, close-knit families North American-style. How does Milanese do this? With noise, silly. The title track is actually rather friendly as the tones are little smoother than the usual Bonbon outing. There are plenty of fuzzy blips squiggling and crunching around over some polyphonic, pulsing Q-chord type sound. I'm pretty sure this is guitar-less but every once in a while Danny rips out a thick, fuzzy riff that I'd have liked to see repeated. "Fog of Magog" gets shifts up into harsh mode real quick with an explosion of feedback and vocal junk. It's actually probably the moments after the crescendos that are most interesting as you can feel the residual seething angst still but the machines are caught between calm hums, swoops and twirls and on-edge, grainy feedback bogs. I like that Milanese engineered a brighter sounding set, as the normal route for any harsh tape seems to be hide in the darkness. A stepping keyboard melody starts up near the end which is continually shifted down while Danny shreds his throat.
The second side is a single track, "Gods Bubbles." I don't really know what God's bubbles are like but Danny's got plenty of his own bubbles here. I sort of imagine this as a field recording of some Wonka-esque bubble bath machine. This is Blobs (aquatic Orphan Fairytale & Dolphins into the Future collabo) for the noise set. Ultra Bonbon is always fun to listen to cause there's plenty of movement in the tracks. They never get to a point of manic freakouts but they're never slow going either. Milanese engages in a range of sounds from mild pitter patter to obnoxious oscillator bleats. But what I really love is when he whips up a melody out of nowhere as he does halfway through the side. The screamy vocals don't even bother me so much because of the killer 3-note dirge backing him up. Tones are beaten and strangled to death but the track keeps dragging it's bloody corpse along. Some excellent, complex work for sure.
This Tapehisssabysss is one of the most interesting Bonbon works. At a half hour it's about 3 times the length of the typical Bonbon release, which has a lot to do with it. Milanese has plenty o' room to comfortably stretch out his limbs and ideas. He almost takes the opposite route as North American Family Bond where that was very bright, volatile and one of the harshest releases with the Bonbon tag, Tapehisssabysss is murkier and paced more slowly. Shaped around a looped keyboard melody, Milanese plants a bed of chirps and sweeps and even a few drones. It's a placid side overall, one where you can just sit back and zone out even if he throws a spicier tone in at the end. It's maybe a bit on the repetitive side but its a nice one to chill to.
The second side is great with an awesome wobbly melody and what seriously sounds like muted trumpet. There's a variety of synth whooshes and tape mutation here. Every once in a while you get a pretty big blast of noise, as all the other elements try to hypnotize you into a vulnerable state. It's a really twisted and fantastic track. There's a wild hodgepodge of sounds here, the horns, electronics, weird tape fuckery all brewed into this mucky little stew with a delicious but still kinda funky taste. The piece seems to get crankier as it winds down, like its tired of keeping the creepy train going, before it grumbles to an abrupt halt.
A lot of people were rightfully confused last year when Ultra Bonbon dropped Paradise Vol. 1 and Paradise Vol. 3 without the supposed Paradise Vol. 2 in the middle. Well here it is, a bit late to the table. The funny thing is, this is closer to "paradise" than the others. At least in my opinion it is, as its much easier on the ears, and really what weirdo truly wants to be stranded on a desert island with only a Prurient/Wolf Eyes tape to keep him company? Anyway, "Resplendent City" is a pretty mellow listen. It still has plenty of grit and grime in its joints but there's a shiny oscillator tone leading the way with half melodies amongst little crackles. And at five minutes its just the right length. The second side's piece actually titled "Paradise" is on the weirder end of things. It's really garbled and cut up and pretty difficult to identify what it is you're actually hearing. There's some tense tones buried down a little and this actually one of the more dense, "composed"--for a lack of a better term--pieces from the Bonbon. No real crescendo just the hint of one and then it's back to the A-side. It's about the journey, man...
All three of these tapes are really showing Milanese is a man with a plan; he's definitely expanding his sound in a number of directions and judging from these he's been successful at it. I'm looking forward to the next batch he cooks up.
North American Family Bond is available from Tanzprocesz still but Paradise Vol. 2 and Tapehisssabysss are in editions of 20 and 12, respectively, so good fucking luck!

Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol. 1 [Bonbon Bruises]/Ultra Bonbon - Paradise Vol. 3 [Bonbon Bruises]

A couple of quick tapes from the Bonbon Bruises crew up in Canada.
"Restoration" on the first side of the first tape is probably my favorite of the bunch so it's a good foot to start on. I'm not exactly sure what Ultra Bonbon employs beyond the nebulous "electronics" tag. This track is super jittery, vomiting up all sorts of half formed melodies. The sounds are distorted but not particularly harsh, allowing the melodic sensibilities to really come through. There's even a part towards the end that's a straightforward, unadorned melodic breakdown. The track stays energetic and engaging through its duration, thanks in part to the duo's unwillingness to let a sound sustain for more than a split second. The overall piece is a structure made of exceedingly small splinters making for a very "alive" track. The b-side features "Ancient Tree" which is quite a bit different. It's essentially a duet between some kind of synth/drum machine and what sounds like a keyboard set on "steel drum." It's a really odd configuration but against the odds it works. The melodic presence is important in keeping the track engaging as are small details such distorted eruptions that vanish as quickly as they appear.
On Vol. 3, "The Perfect Laws of Science" gets freaky with a malfunctioning oscillator and drum machine and alien vocals. Some sections flail around and some are incredibly pummeling but the piece in general is just wigging out at every possibility. The whole track is pretty nuts and made all the more confusing with the addition of subtitles "science is not better than the people who pursued after it" and "the laws of science are perfect but the application is not." Is this track meant to be an example of an imperfect application of the laws of science? I have no effin' clue. "Triumphal Fall" on the flip side seems more mild mannered at first before distorted synth swoops drop in. There's a bizarre oscillator melody that hums along against swelling synth notes for the majority of the track. Even though the whole thing is draped lightly in crusty distortion, it approaches being both pretty and hypnotic.
Ultra Bonbon is definitely one of the more interesting noise crews out there cause even with these two tapes, UB made four jams that are each pretty different from each other but when taken together, go to define a single sound. Each tape comes in a mini manila envelope with sweet art and an insert. Vol. 1 is gone but Vol. 3 is available and limited to 30.

Ultra Bonbon/Grand Lungs – Bad Breath (halitosis) [Bonbon Bruises]/Sean McCann – Mirage Warehouse [Sound Holes]

These two releases don’t have a whole lot in common other than they’re both released by foreign labels and they both are short and splattered with a bit of paint.
The first comes from Canadian label Bonbon Bruises. Contrary to the billing, Grand Lungs is on the A-side. Never heard of Grand Lungs before this but it looks like they’re from the UK according to the insert. The Lungs’ side is split into 3 untitled tracks that fly by fast enough to give you whiplash. Terraced dynamic shifts and malfunctioning electronics create a pretty damn explosive and immediate sound which gives you little chance to catch your breath. The second piece actually has a melody for a whole two seconds before crumbling into storming static and some typewriter-esque clacking that modulates its shrill feedback backing. The last piece is the bulk of the side and is much heavier on the low end. I think there are some super slurred vocals in there too but I can’t be sure. This piece moves at a slightly more tempered pace but still manages to freak the fuck out. After a brief feedback respite (if you can even call it that) ray gun sounds start blubbering all over before the prompt end of the side. These guys offer some noise I can really dig: harsh, heavy and hyper (that sounds like something Rolling Stone would print… how lame am I?) On the flip side, Ultra Bonbon takes over. UB is a husband/wife crew that also runs the Bonbon Bruises label. They offer one piece called “Noticeably Unpleasant” which I find to be rather pleasant myself. It’s less harsh than Grand Lungs but plenty noisy. The track is constructed somewhat skeletally where you are only hearing a few sounds at a time that get swapped out and mix-and-matched. The whole ordeal maintains a mellow pulse, which is surprising and impressive considering how much they hopscotch around between different samples of feedback, distorted voice and synths or whatever else they’re using. If the last side was harsh and hyper, this side is mellow noise. Not in a drone way, the sounds don’t sustain for too long, but it has a real easygoing vibe that belies harshness of their palette. It’s a real interesting sound that works for them.
Moving on, Sound Holes is a great label outta the UK (Scotland, I think) and they put out an excellent Dull Knife tape about a year ago (which to my dismay is not yet sold-out. Pick it up; emptiness never sounded so killer.) Sean McCann is, of course, from San Francisco and his releases amount to roughly 3% of SF’s annual exported product—seriously, check out his past/present/future discography, this dude will have released something on every label ever by 2011. I wish I had that much great music to release. This tape finds McCann in a more minimal mood with some watery keys and a pitchshifted undercurrent before settling into a gentle guitar strumming. At least I’m guessing it’s guitar, it actually sounds like guitar overtones with the guitar filtered out. Things then switch to a sitar 'n percussion jam. Real easyflowing and gentle on the ears. McCann knows exactly how to make the listener feel at home. That jam slips into an ethereal quartet of voice loops before a radical shift into a Caribbean video game soundtrack that is odd at first but turns out to be real sunny and pleasant with nice vocal accompaniment. The flip holds a cloudy synth and voice piece for its duration. Real blurry and billowy. McCann gives the track time to stretch its legs and slowly piles on more melodies. A pretty gorgeous piece of music overall.
I like this tape; it gives you a nice 20 minute overview of McCann’s style, so it might be a good intro to his stuff. Speaking of which, I have to say this guy’s stuff is always quality and worth checking out, particularly the tapes in my opinion, they suit his sound perfectly.
Bonbon Bruises did a neat job packaging the tape in a little manila envelope done up with hockey tape and an insert. Mirage Warehouse has classy, minimal art on a fold-out j-card. Both tapes are still available but be warned Bad Breath is limited to a scant 35 and the McCann is limited to 69.