CROWDCTRL

We all have a small handful of cds that have perennial placement in our life’s five disc cd changer. Those desert island cds that somehow stike a chord somewhere and earn a coveted slot in life’s soundtrack.

Tycho’s Past is Prologue finds itself a comfortable resident of my list, having accompanied me on many a memorable moment and given inspiration and creativity when supplies are their lowest.

Recently known to me as Sunrise Projector, Tycho’s first full length was picked up earlier this year by Merck Records and re-released as Past is Prologue, with four new tracks and a remix of the original’s stunning album art.

The experience is largely the same. Tycho, known by day as Scott Hansen, and by his acclaimed graphic design as ISO50, spins together sounds in his bedroom as if he were orchestrating the order and intensity of memories in your brain. Rarely does music reach inside you and touch you as deeply as Tycho’s does, nor do many songs leave such a lasting impression.

Tycho’s ambient, downtempo electronica slides inside your ears, down into the little electronic receptors in your brain and it ignites them. Not loud enough to demand attention, yet not soft enough to fully ignore, Tycho seems to find all the right sounds to tweak all the right places in your head and soul.

Yeah, that sounds stupid. But his music does exactly that. I’ve used his tracks to miraculously get out of a creative rut. I’ve used it to relax to after mind-splitting events in my life. I’ve used it to cool off from over-heating. The music just gets to you, and somehow provides a lot of what you’re needing at that moment.

The music itself isn’t revolutionary. It features familiar combinations of electronic sounds and scapes, the type of stuff you hear before concerts or at modern coffee houses or independent record stores. But he’s got something else in there.

My favorite track is “Dictaphone’s Lament”, and it’s a good sample of what I’m talking about. On top of many layers of atmospheric backgrounds, electronic melodies, and downtempo beats, Tycho’s got loops of old recordings of his grandmother and himself as a three-year-old boy. Phrases like “and how old will you be on your next birthday?”, with the boy exclaiming “four!” loop through the song, with assorted other vocals from this old tape. Depending on when I listen to this track, I feel either nostalgic for my own childhood, excitement for my own sons, or motivated in life generally.

Check out Tychomusic.com for full audio streaming of this record.

For those familiar with Tycho, the new tracks don’t disappoint. The lead track, “From Home”, starts out so quiet and calm, only to break into a steady beat that though it differs and changes, seems to permeate the entire record. Subtle sounds and voices are layered in not unlike the hundreds of Photoshop layers he uses to create his visual digital creations.

“The Disconnect”, the second new track, is vintage Tycho. Soft and slight sounds and rhythms repeat over several appealing vocal loops, that over the driving beat continue to lick those brain sensors.

The remixes, from Tycho’s tour-mates Dusty Brown and and Nautilis (the Chachi Jones remix was featured on the last cd), bring two different sides to Tycho’s originals.

Both increase upon the beat a bit, with Dusty Brown bringing this enchanting female vocal to “A Circular Reeducation” that is at once haunting and sensual. If you’ve wondered how Tycho could sound in the dance hall, this is it; yet, Dusty keeps with the steady, pensive feeling of the song.

The Nautilis take on the former title track, “Sunrise Projector”, introduces Tycho to a touch of industrial. Layers of fuzz are thrown down on top of the original melodies, laced with a futuristic track of what can only be drunk-with-funk chanting robots. I love it.

He does leave off a few tracks from Sunrise Projector that any true Tycho fan will want to grab. As well, some earlier work can be found on an EP The Science of Patterns, both available on his website.

This entire record will continue to demand airtime as long as I’m at the knobs. For aural inspiration that continues to deliver no matter how many times its played, Tycho’s Past is Prologue comes highly recommended.

9.5 stars.

- Tychomusic.com
- iso50.com
- Buy the CD
- Buy the MP3