Tycho "Infinite Health" (2024)

  

This release marks a significant return to form. Recapturing the blissful breezy magic once felt on Dive, Californian producer Tycho seems to of found his unique summery vibes again. After a string of mediocre records, exploring unfruitful directions, we return to the soothing chilled out Downtempo charms of his landmark debut.

Indie guitar tone licks and colorful exotic saw synths entangle within a gorgeous production. Instruments come lavished in glossy reverberations, swelling with the musics momentum. Gradual builds of feel good energy pivot into salient melodies. Simple, easy and effective, often infusing brief repetitious grooves in their cadence.

 The percussion is class. A fraction Drumstep in tone with Downtempo intensity and plenty of variety in instrumental tones, Its unafraid of lulls and winding down. Its involvement is dynamic, ebbing and flowing with the overall vision, ready to step into the big clap kick grooves to emphasis a songs main stride and momentum.

Most of the potent melodic magic takes place within these firm rhythmic sways. Colored guitar licks have a habit of striking through the dense dreamy electronics like a human voice. Chanting simple mantras by jostling a handful of notes, its rarely a complex affair and its simplicity revels in the aesthetic chemistry. Its cloudy atmospheric layers border Ethereal at times, always nurturing breezy, clam energy.

Infinite Health brings out the best of Tycho again. Unfortunately, it falls short in consistency. Between well built songs drift in milder tracks exploring interluding temperaments. These toned down arrangements tended to dull the momentum, lacking percussive drive and a sense of destination. Its best songs are a delight, so not all is lost! There is plenty of feel good warmth to be enjoyed here.

Rating: 6/10

Tycho "Weather" (2019)

Laid back tempos, hypnotically chilled atmospheres and exotic summer melodies. All the hallmarks of American musician Scott Hansen's distinct sound remain intact on this newest project. It is however a clearly watered down version of his immersive sound that broke out with Drive. Softer synthetic tones and less of those dreamy waves of hypnotic sound, it marks a departure perhaps. In comparison the percussion is subdued and many of the gorgeous sounding instruments play on the leaner side, letting timely reverberations carry the atmosphere over building songs with dense melodic design. Its all sweet and luscious but the swells of thickening sound and driving tunes that once made this a very special project seem to be absent.

A lighter temperament of whats been done before is no bother but for me the record slips away with the inclusion of Saint Sinner. I don't like to dwell on negatives but I find her voice all to plain and vanilla for a record in need of an energetic swell. With a flat, soft and airy singing style she doesn't convey much emotive expression. A few inflections and whispering words break up a rather monotone approach. She fits in around the instrumentals but I feel nothing other than mediocrity from their chemistry.

In the shadow of former work the magic this new chapter just feels tamed with a lack of new ideas. The best tracks are undoubtedly those without Saint and with more room for expression some of his classic alluring melodic style illuminates but its often brief. This is a well produced record tho, with indulgent tones and aesthetics it could chill out anyone in the right mind, however the vocal aspect doesn't work out well. They span five of these eight tracks and clocking in under thirty minutes its really lacking any spark. As an introduction to Tycho's sound it would probably fare well but as a fan this direction just feels toned down, offering nothing new.

Favorite Tracks: Easy, Into The Woods

Rating: 3/10

Tycho "Epoch" (2016)

Five years since his breakout record "Drive", American, San Fransisco based musician Scott Hansen is back with Tycho's fourth full length record, another semi ambient dive into electronic psychedelia with chilled out downtempo vibes shimmering in the wake of lavish sounds gently soaked in reverbs and echos. Its essentially a carbon copy of "Drive", a slightly less ambitious sound where the oozing reverbs are dialed back for a little less ambiguity. The guitar licks have more prominence and involvement in the forefront of the music. Percussion feels somewhat "live" in some places where tom rolls and shuffling hi hat to snare grooves break away from the underlying electronic thud and snap. It gives balance to tempos that can be fired up by lively percussion without loosing its pace.

Of the nuances that differentiate it, most if not all is clearly an improvement. "Epoch" is a solid record, a masterful execution of Tycho's signature sound but in that comes a hefty amount of predictability. Once accustom to this sound it becomes a painting to frame on a wall, the soundtrack to a mood or vibe your searching for. Where this latest installment does that so well there is a lack of excitement in the unknown, nothing out of the ordinary and for that little reason for it to be fully engaging. It rarely command ones immediate attention at any point.

Predictability aside, its a fine sounding record. In comparison "Drive" sounds a little lost in itself where clarity of the instruments shines bright here. The production is excellent, a crisp sound where everything compliments one another. Deep soothing baselines groan under the ever steady thudding of the kick drum and all sorts of twinkling synthesizers stack up into walls of light as sunny melodies emerge alongside echoing guitars which pluck lightly away. Its a solid record but its short comings are obvious in a lack of adventure from what has already been done before it.

Rating: 6/10

Tycho "Dive" (2011)

Turning to something calm, upbeat and electronic I browsed my way to a record that really grabbed me a few years back. Its not a classic, it has its flaws but indulgences us in a unique style of electronic psychedelic and dreamy wet vibes delivered with a touch of accessibility. Tycho, or Scott Hansen, is an American electronic musician who's been actively releasing records under this moniker for over a decade and "Dive", his forth full length record, was the first of his music I heard.

The records style, substance and pallet establish itself immediately as the echoing, vibrato synths warm up into a pleasant and calm atmosphere. The down tempo beat comes in steadily with a hard, thudding kick and light snappy snare that feels as effortless as the breezy atmosphere that's growing. The song winds down a little before kicking back in with faster drums and growing layers of instruments and rich synths. A bold and calculated baseline grooves under airy synths that ooze and drift between the other sounds in an entrancing state. It washes over with an almost ethereal vibe, one that's much brighter and uplifting. At times these synths expand and contract to the beat of the bass drum, reinforcing a strangely organic vibe that creeps through electronic tapestry.

From the opening track alone you get a a vivid picture of what the rest of the record will offer. With such a lush and enigmatic sound Tycho fails to push the initial premise any further and the album can certainly lull if your not quite in the mood. But that's not what this record is about, its a moment of beauty, calm and serine, entrancing and psychedelic that stretches on and on. Although each song is great in its own right the lack of variety or imagination in the melodies has each song feeling like the one before it. The approach is the same each time and little is expanded on from the first track, which I feel could be a love or hate scenario. Maybe you want that one moment to stretch on, or maybe like me you need some spice and theater in a fifty minute record. Its brilliant, but flawed and on a final note I love the album art. Its simple but beautifully painted, and is a perfect fit for the sound inside.

Favorite Songs: A Walk, Dive, Melanine

Rating: 7/10