Detailed Reviews [Jean-Pascal Boffo - 2004 - "Infini"]

Prolusion. The famous French multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound engineer and producer Jean-Pascal BOFFO has given a double meaning to the title of his eighth album. The slightly elongated figure of eight lying horizontally means "Infinity". Here: "Infinitude", as the title of the last track suggests. For more info on Boffo's creation in English and his full discography, please visit the Gibraltar Encyclopedia. Personally, I can also offer your attention the review of his previous album.

Analysis. As far as I can remember, even the first album of our hero featured a guest musician on a couple of tracks. So it's for the first time here that Jean-Pascal has crafted an album completely alone from the first note to the last, appearing at once as a one-man 'ensemble', engineer and producer. That's not the point, however. "Infinitude" does not resemble any of the man's previous output, and generally, has little association with his past creations. Still, free of any derivative features, this is, nevertheless, Boffo's most unpretentious album to date, to put it mildly. My wife liked it very much, saying it's a fairy-like music, implying it would excellently fit fairy-tale movies or cartoon films. Indeed, with a strong cinematic feel throughout each of the twelve compositions, it sounds like a soundtrack for a good, light and warm Christmas story-based picture with an indispensable happy ending. So, it's all about a traditional electronic music with a complete set of its attributes, which, though, due to the presence of melodic guitar solos, should probably be called Ambient. Well, it's no good carping at Jean-Paul. He is too experienced to make anything of poor quality. The music was thought-out down to the smallest details, is pleasant and is both placatory and catchy. But where is Prog? Where's infinity, after all? Does it mean that it appears itself in the endless possibilities of modern digital technologies? But in the context of their using in music they usually turn out to be very limited, as in this very case, and this is not the case in how the conception of infinity should be properly interpreted, at least in my view. Knowing that this is Boffo's first album in the last four years, I'm inevitably forced to conclude that no one can be safeguarded against the creative crisis.

Conclusion. "Infinitude" should have been released through Dreaming, a division of Musea Records, and not through Musea itself. Jean-Pascal Boffo might find many new fans with this album, but I fear it won't satisfy most of the old adherents of his creation. It's no secret that the majority of Prog lovers are men and they are most often "black sheep" in their families, since most of the other members are music lovers, too, but with different references. Dear readers, this CD sounds like it was initially intended to be "The Christmas album", so it would be a really excellent Christmas gift for your wives, moms, other relatives and friends with good, but more traditional taste in music.

VM: December 17, 2004