Tycho: Dive - Album Review

Tycho
Dive
Rating: Grrrr

Scott Hanson, aka Tycho, is an electronic producer whose obvious touchstones are Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss, and shoegaze artists like Slowdive. His third album Dive is a downtempo gem, full of lush synths, clean beats, and hauntingly atmospheric guitars. Dive is akin to recent releases from M83, Active Child, Neon Indian, and Washed Out, taking the influences of Chillwave and morphing them into some fresh and new. While there is not a lot of dense complexity in these tracks, Hanson keeps the mix perfectly aligned, never stuffing the tracks with extraneous elements, nor making them too minimal. Each track is about the glistening synths and driving rhythm, with no room for dubstep aggression, or IDM moodiness. Dive is the aural equivalent to a blanket on a cool fall evening.

Tracks like "Daydream" start deceptively on a note of pleasantly plucked acoustic guitars and synth tones. Gradually increasing in strength, adding driving bass and crisp beats which slowly morph into almost drum and bass like patterns, never stepping too hard over the line. The way the track drops out and returns is masterful, never allowing the listener to known precisely where the track is headed.



The all-build "Hours" moves along its four-to-the-floor beat picking up several strands of synth tones and guitar textures, knowing when to add more or drop them out. Hanson says just as much with the silences as he does when his melodies.



Hanson's tracks seem very readable at first. The first few bars of title-track "Dive" begin with a simple drum pattern and keyboard melody, adding with it the only time on the record a voice is heard. Over the next 8 minutes, however, the track changes like the tides, flowing in and rushing out, becoming more and more insistent.



"A Walk" moves from drifting ambiance to a fierce, rolling beat and deep bassline with washes of synths crashing overhead.



"Adrift" lives up to its name, losing the listener in a vast sea of clattering percussion and waves upon waves of lush synthesizers.



Things take a funkier turn on the all too short, stuttering "Epigram," losing itself in crisp beats and undulating bass.



"Elegy" tips over the scale slightly to more Windham Hill ambient territory and truly is the only misstep on the album.



Dive is an elegantly produced record that grows and grows upon each new listen. The songs have the quality of being timeless and classic, but don't feel dated in anyway. It is easy to lose yourself in these gorgeous tracks while the passing of time seems to stop. Hanson has simply created one of the best sounding electronic albums of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.