TYCHO – Dive (Part 3)

André returns from a brief hiatus (locked in his bedroom with a bottle of lotion, perhaps?) to level a final verdict on the most difficult album we’ve asked him to tackle this year. Tycho occasionally strays from the expected, and that’s where Dive really shines. There’s also a reference in here to Emmanuelle 8, which, man, I don’t know. Google’s not helping on that one.
Tycho – “Dive”

From: André Salas
To: Zach Evans

Zach,

Thank you for backing me up on more than a few of my random musings…particularly on the familiar (generic?) quality to many of the tracks on Tycho’s latest offering. It did occur to me, however, that perhaps to aficionados of the soft electronic genre there were nuances and flourishes that we, as novices to it, might not have picked up on. Perhaps in the world of electronic ambient this is something akin to Gaga’s Fame Monster? OK, I’m being a bit silly, but you get my drift. It’s important that we at least give the album a fair shake, no?

So yes, after a few days of listening to the album, soaking in Calgon to it, doing yoga or masturbating after smoking weed while it played softly in the background… I came to know the songs better, more importantly be able to tell them apart and damn if I didn’t even like it more. Don’t get me wrong, I was often tempted to slip on Grum or Class Actress, but I persisted.

The funny thing is, I was most annoyed by the tracks you mentioned as highlights: the opening track “A Walk” and “Melanine,” for instance. Not that they were bad or unenjoyable, just too… precious. Or the pretty thing we mentioned earlier.

The ones that worked best for me were the ones that had a bit more edge: from the kicking synth drums of “Hours” to “Coastal Brake’s” flirtation with disco. The unexpected vocals on title track “Dive” were jarring and a welcome surprise… as were the warm, organic sounds of the guitars you mentioned earlier on other tracks. Basically, anything to fuck things up a bit and veer off from the expected worked. But that’s me: a little further in that direction and you’d probably have another record, perhaps the soundtrack to Emmanuelle 8.

You question whether the artist’s obsession with lush, gauzy soundscapes and prettiness eventually kills the album’s ability to challenge us as listeners…I think not. Dive may or may not fail as a listening experience due to our musical tastes and expectations, but I felt thoroughly challenged trying to grasp the musician’s way of expressing and communicating emotion through a machine without lyrics and barely a vocal. It was at times a frustrating experience for me, and at times a rewarding one. I did come away with a new respect for Dive, and the genre, itself.

Adrift in a sea of Melanine,
André