Dan Pound is an American composer who bridges tomorrow and bygone eras with his blend of modern electronics and shamanistic wind instruments.
DAN POUND: Liquid Planet (CD on Dan Pound Music)
This release from 2006 features 70 minutes of fluid electronic music.
Delicate tonalities blend with airy electronics to produce haunting melodies of captivating charm. Atmospheric waves establish layers of ethereal harmonics which act as a luscious backdrop for more substantial electronic melodies.
Driven by pleasant keyboards, these melodies explore drifting pastiches of fragile demeanor. Although diverse in sound sources, the electronics are generally temperate and easygoing. Even the harsher passages evoke a tranquil response, delving into an intensity with craftily soothing properties. Meanwhile, the ephemeral melodies possess a restrained vitality that infuses the audience with psychological stamina.
Flutes contribute a fanciful edge to the spirit tunes, enhancing the overall flair of dreaminess embodied by the music. Didjeridoo provides a distinctly ancient flavor to some tracks, tastily complimenting the futuristic electronics with a touch of tribal ancestry.
Clocking in between three to six minutes long, these tracks afford the listener a variety of different compositions, ranging from deeply moody to languidly quirky. The central theme is a fluid sound, fragile and flowing, a template that Pound explores with inventive creativity. Each track provides a unique sonic dose of smoldering serenity. These tunes sparkle with intellectual promise.
DAN POUND: In-Sense (CD on Dan Pound Music)
This release from 2007 offers 70 minutes of sparkling electronic music.
With this release, Pound explores a sonic approximation of different light sources. His pulsating atmospherics evoke shimmering fields of luminosity, capturing borealis in the form of cascading tones of gentle character. The auxiliary electronics embellish this firmament with whimsical melodies of significant depth.
Rolling cycles accrete into lush expanses of glittering disposition. Keyboards accent the streaming sound with hints of lively emphasis, just sharp enough to rouse but not strident enough to jar.
Percussion is featured in a few tracks, lending cultivated locomotion to these seething pools of visible sound.
Again, flutes and didjeridoo inject breathy humanity to the tunes, the former seasoning the harmonic flow with pastoral airs, the latter impressing an antediluvian reverence on the wafting ambience.
While pacific and relaxing, these compositions exhibit an internal strength that seeps into the listener's psyche, unlocking ancestral memories and fusing these primitive instincts with impressions of optimistic tomorrows. A certain edginess lurks just beneath the surface, elevating the tunes from the ambient genre without spoiling things with undue animation.
These tracks are slightly longer (five to nine minutes), granting Pound the opportunity to unfurl his harmonic constructions with graceful eloquence.
DAN POUND: Fire Within (CD on Dan Pound Music)
This release from 2007 offers 61 minutes of energized ambience.
Delicate electronics blend with dense percussion to produce a delightful excursion into dark realms in strident need of illumination.
Atmospheric textures generate a moody backdrop, while crystalline keyboards describe airy chords that smolder with portentous stamina. Compact loops establish a floating character that is then tempered by additional cycles that rise to greater clarity as they gradually break free from their closure and explore alluring variations. Meanwhile, growling electronics appear here and there, producing gritty punctuation to the aerial sonic expressions.
Percussion plays a vital role in many of the pieces. By relegating otherwise dramatic rhythms to the distance, Pound creates an ephemeral locomotion that softly motivates yet remains suitably unintrusive. In one instance, supple bongos conjures a tribal flair, while another track employs decidedly mechanical tempos in counterpoint with optimistic flute strains.
Haunting didgeridoo lends a subtle arid disposition, while vocal effects bestow a yearning humanity to the tunes. One track even features a cameo by desert guitar.
These compositions display a comfortable sense of being adrift in one's own consciousness. The melodies are calm, yet powerful, evoking a stately presence of relaxed exploration. Harmonic structures combine to achieve delicately melodious soundscapes. With short spans of 5 to 7 minutes, these tunes are never allowed to grow indulgent, flourishing in their compact conditions and ripening into delicious doses of energized serenity.
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