Zach Evans and André Salas dig into Tycho’s album Dive, an electronic nostalgia trip that takes a while for either of these guys to get into, but soon finds them “meditating” with lotion and referencing something called Emmanuelle 8, which…um…I don’t know.
Tycho – “Hours” (Download mp3)
From: André Salas
To: Zach Evans
My first thought at seeing the cover of Tycho’s new album Dive was that it looked suspiciously like one of those prog-rock vinyls my older brother would inevitably bring home after a day of rummaging the used bins at Kim’s. Regardless, and perhaps spurred on by the specter of our Brandon’s wrath, I nonetheless slipped the damn thing on and prayed for the best. While I wasn’t completely off, Dive is pretty much dreamy electronica: at times it conjures up memories of Boards Of Canada, during the rare upbeat numbers I even recalled FM Attack. During the more boring stretches I felt I was shopping for incense at my local lesbian-run new age emporium.
Don’t get me wrong, I love instrumental electronic music as much as the next guy, a big obsession of mine being the late-era soundtrack work of Tangerine Dream (I seem to be alone in that, damn prog purists). The thing is, after a few very similar tracks, you tend to drift. Or in my case, start skipping tracks. See, the advantage an electronic score for a film has (can I rave about the soundtrack to Michael Mann’s Manhunter here?) is that you come to the music with certain imagery and emotions already bonded to the music, and you just go from there.
That’s when it hit me – I’m coming at this the wrong way. Tycho’s Dive sets up a soundscape to create our own imagery and become the soundtrack to whatever the fuck it triggers in our thoughts. Right? Maybe not, but this new attitude, with me firmly set as the star of my own soft-focus feature, got me through the album and damned if I didn’t end up warming up to it more. Not a WHOLE lot more, but ya know… it’s pretty. Maybe too pretty, but I’ll betcha it makes great background music for whoopee. Or dreams, of course.
Bleep bloop bloop bleep,
André
Tycho – “A Walk”
From: Zach Evans
To: André Salas
André,
I confess that I was also a little wary of reviewing an electronica album. The last time I was deep in this genre was back in my college days, when I snatched up every new release from Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, Dirty Vegas, the Chemical Brothers, and just about any other techno group that offered me some monster beats for weekend partying.
Since moving to Los Angeles and discovering KCRW (a public radio station famous for their excellent DJs and eclectic music), I have been exposed to the mellower side of electronica. But it’s a tough genre to be a casual fan of. There are rarely vocals to draw you in and provide a human element to the songs; it can be nearly impossible to identify a new track you’ve heard on the radio if there aren’t any lyrics to Google. So I have been working on discovering what contemporary electronica has to offer, but it is clearly a genre that rewards attentiveness.
You definitely picked the right adjective when you described Tycho’s album Dive as “dreamy.” Tycho favors reverb-soaked synths, fractured melodies, and gentle beats. It’s a sound that is common from artists on Ghostly International, a stellar label based in my hometown of Ann Arbor, MI. I hadn’t heard of Tycho before, so I dug up some information online. Tycho is the pseudonym of Scott Hansen, a native of Sacramento who moved to San Francisco in 1995 and got caught up in the worlds of both music and graphic design. He runs a design studio called ISO50, and his work has a signature look of warm colors and retro elements from which he rarely strays. The style is pretty and fairly interesting, if not necessarily groundbreaking, and I would venture to say the same about his music.
The beautiful synths that provide the backbone for Dive will be a familiar sound to anyone with even a superficial familiarity with electronica. How Tycho elevates his music slightly above the rest of the pack is by incorporating very warm, natural sounding guitar and bass lines in many of the best tracks.
The opener, “A Walk,” starts with a hazy mix of synthesized sounds that gradually coalesce around a rhythm section built on a drum machine and a lovely bass line, making for one of the best songs on the album.
“Daydream” and “Melanine” are two very different tracks that both benefit from having an acoustic guitar playing quietly underneath the melody. It helps bring the spacey sound of the music back down to earth.
You mentioned that you drifted a few tracks into the album, and I admit I had the same problem the first time I listened through it. There are a couple tracks in the middle that slow down the album and didn’t keep my attention. I found that by starting at track 6 I was able to stay engaged through the end, and I’m glad I did, because there are a couple good tracks on the B side. You also wrote that electronic music from film scores has the advantage of conjuring up imagery from the film, and I absolutely agree; “Adrift” has an ominous sound that made me think of the Blade Runner soundtrack. I liked it that much more just for the association.
The last track on Dive, “Elegy,” is unusual for how much guitar it features, but is one of the other standout songs on the album as a direct result. It’s kind of like the most mellow Explosions In The Sky song you’ve ever heard.
You’ve had a couple more days to listen to the album now, and I would love to know which tracks you go back to, if any? And you mentioned that the music might be “too pretty,” which is a criticism that’s been in the back of my mind as I’ve been listening to Dive. Are the lush dreamscapes of this album trying so hard to be beautiful that they fail to challenge us as listeners?
Daydreaming,
Zach
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
Tycho – “Epigram”
From: Zach Evans
To: André Salas
André
I thoroughly enjoyed your deeper dive into this album (ha!). The fact that we favored different tracks indicates to me that there is more variety in the album than we initially suspected. Or perhaps it indicates that we are slowly becoming connoisseurs of soft electronica, which is both an awesome and terrifying thought.
I will say, I have been impressed by how repeated, careful listening to an album does lead to a greater level of appreciation for, or at least understanding of, artists like Tycho, who fall outside of my usual playlists. I had a throwaway line in my last email about how electronica is “clearly a genre that rewards attentiveness,” and that has absolutely proven true of Dive. It sounds like after much… meditation… on the album, you are of the same opinion.
Speaking of your taste in art, I was not familiar with Emmanuelle 8 so I Googled it, and the top results were clips from a Turkish pornographic video (the description claims it is “hot scene sıcak sexy seksi,” and I concur). Also, this very discussion made it into the top five results, which is amazing. I am going to make up a movie called, oh, Galapagos 17, and see how quickly we can get to the top of the Google results for that phrase.
Getting back to Tycho, I don’t know quite how he stacks up to the other musicians in this genre, but after listening to Dive all week I genuinely want to know. It’s a testament to the quality of the album that it has pulled me into this electronic world and made me want to see what else is out there.
Ending with an epigram,
Zach
Tycho – “Ascension”
From: André Salas
To: Zach Evans
Oh Zach,
I feel we are coming to the end of this delightful series of missives, and although it will hurt to let you go, we have certainly done Tycho’s Dive the justice it deserves. And I think we’re both saying “this is a solid record, give it a try if you’re into that kinda thing, or better yet, even if you’re not usually”. Hell, isn’t art supposed to push, provoke and expand our narrow little minds?
Speaking of which, checking out Mr. Scott Hansen’s work as a graphic designer (BTW, what is it with these basically one-man side projects that hide behind a cryptic moniker? M83 and Class Actress come to mind) and his declaration that the songs are envisioned by him to be almost broken up into movements, helped me further come to grips with Dive. Damned if I haven’t done this much work to “get” a record since I tried to make myself an authority on experimental jazz to get tail from the icy blonde sax player across the hall in college. Only this time I was rewarded, perhaps not by juicy midwestern tail, but rather by a genuine music experience; and that feeling I actually learned a little about something I normally wouldn’t have made the effort to.
But enough patting myself on the back, when is Tycho doing a remix album? Working with Gaga? And when the heck is Emmanuelle 8 going into principal photography? (I must wholeheartedly recommend the 5th installment, in case you’re interested.)
Time to Spotify some Sarah Brightman for now, but no reason we can’t do this again soon. I’ll be waiting.
Diving out,
André
Dive is out now via Ghostly International.
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