Album Review: Tycho: Awake

Tycho: Awake
Label: Ghostly International
Released: March 18, 2014

6/10

Tycho is to Boards of Canada what Coldplay is to Radiohead. After the latter band pioneered an appealing sound, then defiantly veered into "difficult" territory, the former band emerged to fill the new gap - shamelessly emulating the latter band's original pop sensibilities. This isn't a total indictment however. Why did Boards of Canada have to alienate fans by following up the infectious Super 8 trip-hop of their classic 1998 album Music Has the Right to Children with that onerous collection of nightmare vignettes Geogaddi in 2002? Enter a host of unapologetic imitators like Tycho, with albums like 2006's Past is Prologue, giving hungry fans a generous helping of that classic Boards of Canada sound.

Tycho is the alias of San Francisco audiovisual artist Scott Hansen. As Tycho, Hansen creates instrumental electronic soundscapes as impeccably as he does graphic art (design alias ISO50). All washed out pastels, hazy landscapes, abstract nostalgia, and an ethereal sun baked atmosphere. After the aforementioned pastiche of Past is Prologue, Tycho released the much improved Dive in 2011 (on Ghostly International, a Stateside analogue to UK's Warp Records). Dive brought more focus and definition to Tycho's fuzzy Instagram aesthetic. That trajectory continues on this year's Awake.

On the appropriately titled long player, Awake, Tycho breaths new vitality into his sound by integrating live session players into the project. Tycho now sounds more natural and organic - like an actual band rather than a solo bedroom project. Bass lines are beefy, drums snap vigorously, guitars shimmer, and ear-worm melodies ebb and flow vividly. Album openers "Awake" and "Montana" ride elastic bass grooves reminiscent of a funkier Cure, while "L" and "See" incorporate straight-forward 4/4 kicks that beg for extended deep house edits suited for poolside sunset deejay sessions.

Toward the end of the album, "Apogee" and "Spectre" expand Tycho's audio dynamic by merging crunchy breakbeats with spiraling synth arpeggios, before fading out gently with the ambient wash of "Plains." Whereas previous albums buckled under lengthy run times, Awake runs a merciful 37 minutes - staying engaging throughout while demanding repeat play. Though Tycho isn't breaking any barriers with Awake, he's definitely going in the right direction and forging his own identity. Fortunately, even studious mimics can break the gravitational pull of their biggest influences and blast off into uncharted space.

Comments

Albums 2023 - Top Ten

Another year done and gone, and what a great year for music. These are my top ten favorite albums of 2023, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Baroness: Stone (Abraxan Hymns - 9/15/23) Not so long prior to 2015’s Purple , Baroness’ excellent fourth album in a color-coded series that concluded this year, their tour bus flipped in Bath, England, resulting in both shattered bones and band lineup. Founder and frontman John Baizley remains as the sole original member of this Savannah, GA, sludge and progressive metal group. 2017’s Gold & Grey introduced fans to axe-shredder extraordinaire Gina Gleason, cementing a new and now consistent dynamic that pays dividends on Baroness’ latest LP, Stone . As its title implies, this one is rock solid with drums and bass locked in propulsive motorik tempo, Gleason’s soari...

Albums 2025 - Top Ten

To borrow from a Brent Cobb album title, the dominant musical theme for me this year was "ain't rocked in a while." Despite auditory excursions into electro, drum & bass, and country music, my craving for guitar riffage and six-string shredding was strong, and 2025 delivered. Long time favorites like Deftones and Ghost returned with late career highlights while the next generation of Gen Z artists inspired by Gen X sounds - Doomsday, Die Spitz, and Rocket - picked up guitars and released outstanding debut albums. These are my top ten favorite albums of 2025, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Client_03: Testbed_Assembly (Client_03, 7/4/25) Electro has roots in krautrock, funk, and the cut-up rhythms of the nascent hip-hop scene - a cyborg groove built on 808s, synthesizers, and ...

100 Favorite Albums of the 1990s: Part 2 of 10 (1992 - 1993)

Part 2 of my "100 Favorite Albums of the 1990s" list covers a period of time when I was finishing up middle school and about to head into high school. Despite having very limited knowledge or context for anything at the time, I was internalizing all the corporate-curated alternative rock "authenticity" propaganda of the era and, without much sense of irony, had become somewhat of a purist. For the most part, only bands with at least one clearly defined guitarist, bassist, drummer, and vocalist would do. Extra points for lyrics conveying some sense of tortured realism. Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers were my favorites. Doc Martens, Chuck Taylors, flannels, and band t-shirts from Sam Goody were my uniform. I'd also picked up my first Discman (a Sony D-111) for my birthday in '92, so now I was mobile. Music as identity - that is, "you are what you listen to" - now seemed like a very big deal. - Will G The Black Crowes: The Souther...

Sound Obsession

Search This Blog