Canada-born multi-instrumentalist Dino Pacifici has composed albums that mix
lounge jazz, cosmic music and folk melodies.
Random Factor (Dance Plant, 1994) and
Urban Oasis (Dance Plant, 1996) lean towards the jazz side of the
equation, whereas The Journey (Dance Plant, 1997) is a humble and
emotional form of tonal electronic music.
Half of Random Factor (Dance Plant, 1994) is consumed by electronic
lounge music:
Midnight Sun has a romantic guitar melody against a backdrop of
atmospheric electronics and slightly syncopated beats;
Northern Lights is a nocturnal shuffle with a sax-driven theme; etc.
The pace accelerates only for
exuberant exotic scherzos of Southbound and Odyssey and
for the synth-pop of Anajym.
The eight-minute Nocturnal Dance is a more adventurous excursion into mood music (unfortunately, spoiled again by a stereotyped guitar solo). Even
better is the haunting fantasia Alexander's Adventures.
And even better is the alien impressionism a` la Brian Eno
of The Ice Fields Of Neptune.
Urban Oasis (Dance Plant, 1996) indulges in even more languid soft-jazz
themes (Santa Ana Winds, Cool Blue, Urban Oasis,
Long Summer Nights), sometimes bordering on old-fashioned easy-listening
muzak (Floating On The Airwaves) but with much stronger melodies.
Slow Boil and On The Strip add a little verve.
The Journey (Dance Plant, 1997) is structured in longer tracks that
abstract the traditions of exotica, easy-listening and lounge-music.
Pacifici's fusion borders several styles without embracing any of them. It
is warm (The Journey), ethereal (the 11-minute Earth Song Trilogy),
astral (Cascades),
blurred (Reverie),
surreal (Voices In The Mist).
The 11-minute closer, Rainforest Rhapsody, further expands his
horizons by introducing ethnic percussion and natural sounds: melodies are
only sketched, and become part of a bigger tapestry of harmony.
This, his most electronic work, displayed Pacifici's skills at arranging
and scripting music, rather than his melodic talent.
His tone can never be tragic. An element of magic and ecstasy permeates
all of his sonic excursions.
He found his true voice as an electronic impressionist, a cosmic courier
for the global village.
Rather than representing a further step in Pacifici's evolution,
Acquiescent Resonance (Dance Plant, 1998) marks a regression to
the lounge-music of his early days. Electronic dance beats pretend to
modernize Dreams In Green and Acquiescent Resonance, but
this is old-fashioned easy-listening. More vigorous incursions into
fusion-jazz (It's Gotta Have Soul)
and funk-rock (Shadow Lands) go nowhere.
The Awakening boasts a solemn melody and haunting arrangements,
and Perc-U-Later boasts a puzzling polyrhythmic base, but
little else stands out.
The hip-hoppish See Beyond could be an instrumental base discarded by
Madonna.
The tracks are lengthy and lush, but their content is minimal.
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