Dive

Tycho, Tycho | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 8, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ghostly Int'l
• ASIN: B005ILYN5E
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Scott Hansen, better known as TYCHO & as graphic artist ISO50, spent nearly a decade since his last effort before dropping "Dive" on an unsuspecting public. It pays tribute to Tycho's prismatic past but spends most of it's time pointing to the project"s not-too-distant future. All versions come in slightly different variations of art!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fair progression in minimal / ambient music, with embedded souvenirs from clear inspirations. December 17, 2011

By greygraygrau

Format:Audio CD

The new album "Dive" by Tycho is a good listen. It's relaxingly upbeat, oceanic as the cover art suggests, and fairly dense in atmosphere. I enjoy it quite a bit being a fan of Scott Hansen's overall artistic oeuvre, as well as big fan in the minimal electronic music genre, reaching back into stuff like late-80s Orb and coming into contemporary independent artists from Europe and Canada (Nulleins, Daniel Stefanik, Pheek, et al.) The tracks are a blend of traditional electronic elements and sounds identifiable as traditional analog instruments. Actuality or not, it's a juxtaposition of traditional music-making and chill-out beats.

Enjoyable as the album is, it is a touch homogenous. The album plays like a long form EP, and if you're a Boards of Canada fan, "Dive" has a very "Trans Canada Highway" feel to it, perhaps in a Pacific Coast Highway state-of-mind. Many of the same elements are repeated throughout the tracks and the tempo is consistent. The above editorial review for the album even says the album "pays tribute to Tycho's prismatic past but spends most of it's [sic] time pointing to the project's not-too-distant future," which is a satisfying explanation if what we've been presented is a sort of 'intermediary' effort for Hansen to get back into the saddle.

Again, this is laudable effort. Subsequent listens reveal a more nuanced approach to each song's composition and breed a longevity for one's interest - the album certainly has staying power. It is certainly exciting to see where Tycho will jump from here. He has demonstrated an understanding of the genre's chroma from the past decade, let's hope he's able to morph this knowledge into a new kaleidoscope in his next effort. "Dive" suggests so.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tycho's Greatest Achievement Yet November 25, 2011

By gabrielacamacho

Format:MP3 Music

To understand and appreciate the music of Scott Hansen's Tycho, you have to know his, or better yet, their story. Scott Hansen is a San Francisco, California based musician who has built a reputation on his passion for meticulously and beautifully created design, photography, and music. To author his design and photography work, he goes by the alias of ISO50 and similarly, author his music creations, he goes by the alias of Tycho. After spending time as a freelance designer and several other agencies, including Adobe, he broke off on his own to focus on his own design and music. Hansen has said that his main goal in working on his own is to not be influenced by the trends that he believes constantly affect what is being created in the design world. Furthermore, in all creative aspects, Hansen veers towards the side of naturalistic and free-flowing minimalism. With his design work, Hansen as ISO50, has created a signature style distinguished by rustic and sun-drenched characteristics. As Tycho, Hansen has always worked to transform flowing melodies into arcs to create music that resembles rolling sonic landscapes that fall into the sun. Hansen's design style perfectly serves as a background and partner for his musical creations.
While he did not break onto the electronic music scene until 2002 with "The Science of Patterns" EP, his 2004 Sunrise Projector and 2006 Past is Prologue albums have allowed him to rapidly create a tremendous following. In 2008, Tycho even a legitimization to his musical creations when he was named as one of URB magazine's "Next 100" artists to watch.... With his music primarily being a very carefully composed creation mixing electronic and swirling melodies into beautifully harmonic arcs with a flair of natural and earthy sounds, Tycho has been able to build his persona and signature style in the musical world very quickly. This newest album is by fair Tycho's greatest achievement in the musical realm of electronic music fusing with ambient sounds and soothing rhythms.
Dive is definitely a very specific type of album composed of a very specific genre of music. Its listener should not expect to turn to this album in hopes of finding uppity songs to dance and sing along to at a party. Instead, Dive should be sought out for its soothing, well paced, and dream-like qualities that should be more appropriately called walks through electronic clouds than just songs. The other significant characteristic of this album that is a definite nod to the style of Tycho is the similarity of each song to each other and the very clear recurring theme that persists throughout the entire album. It's very clear that Tycho wanted to make an album that could easily be played as one continuous song to tell the story of an adventure through a very serene world, where only nature and peace exist. While each song is without a doubt very similar and doesn't steer away from the one theme that persists through all of Dive, each song absolutely has its own personality and unique qualities. The title track, named after the album, is a great single that brings up the tempo a bit and wakes up the listener without disturbing the coherence of the main mood of the entire album. Very true to the use of electronic music mixing to create melodic and harmonic music, each song adds a different chapter to the story.
Without a doubt, each track is a testament to what Tycho has been able to accomplish in the few years he has been creating music. For this album especially, Tycho began releasing very meticulously created singles for three years while he was able to hone in and perfect the sound he wanted to create for Dive. One of the things he did with this album that was new to his music portfolio was the collaboration of his electronic creations with live instrumentation. After four years or really working to create the final piece he had been striving for, he released Dive in 2011, finally ending the wait his fans had been long waiting for. And without a doubt, that hard work and immense talent is seen in every song and every noise that Tycho was able to create.
For a person who truly believes there is a time and mood for every type of music, I think Dive triumphs in creating such a specific sound and experience for its listener. Not only does the goal of Tycho come out so clearly and seemingly effortlessly, but listening to this music can be no simpler put than calling it 12 songs of rhythmic therapy. While some may doubt the creative level of this album due to the almost nonexistent variation from song to song, to understand Dive, one must understand the mission of Scott Hansen in creating Tycho's music. With an aim to create ambient noise that allows creative energy to run free while still being true to the craft of electronic music, Tycho does not work to create pop singles or one-hit wonder songs. Anyone looking to listen to an album that flows with no distractions and rests solely on the pure melodies and noise of naturalistic electronic music will be taken aback and truly inspired by Tycho's creations in Dive. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant melodies, wonderful tones, enjoyable listening. May 17, 2012

By Chipper F

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is possibly one of the best electronic albums you'll hear. If you like music with depth, this is it. So much electronic music is pretty simplistic...beats loop while the composer uses techniques like phasing the sound or dropping parts of the beat out to build energy or emotion. Tycho actually uses music to build his music. He introduces melody lines at the perfect time to add depth to what is already a full, rich sound and it works. And the tones that he selects are simply sweet to hear...nothing harsh anywhere. Many remind me of the great tones of the old analog synthesizers which, frankly, I think still sound great today. So for a relaxing, enjoyable listen that won't give up all it's treasures in one or two spins, check this out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Melodies April 18, 2012

By Healthy1

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

The melodies on this compilation take you on a sweet, relaxing and positive journey. I think that some people that first listen to Tycho might be expecting to be taken on a rapid thrill ride or be blown out of their chair. I would say that Tycho's success lies in the fact that there is no attempt to do these things. The tracks are comprised of simple, minimalist, blissful, melodic tunes that are enjoyable and refreshing to listen to. I have played these tracks probably over a hundred times and I'm still not bored. In my opinion, the vast majority of music today is either sad and depressing, unmelodic or angry and aggressive. So it is a treat to have found Tycho. It is a nice positive counterbalance :)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Falling in Love September 3, 2012

By Philip Atherton

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Music like this doesn't come around very often.

Sadly, you eventually get to an age when you've listened to so much music that there is very little that sounds fresh.

Tycho definitely has influences from music like Ulrich Schnauss and Board of Canada, but what he manages to create from these kinds of influences is something so original and so beautiful that you don't think about who he sounds like for very long. After a couple of listens, this music just becomes purely Tycho's sound.

I saw Tycho perform in Phoenix last night, and it was like falling in love. I know that sounds absurd, but I really can't think of any other way to describe it. When you're standing in a dark room, your chemicals change, and the volume of the music paired with the images of slow-motion waves on the screen behind the musicians makes you feel like you're only half awake. This was probably the best way for this music to be heard.

There isn't a bad song on this album. There isn't even a mediocre song on this album. Listen to the full-length versions on Tycho's SoundCloud page, because the 30 second samples don't do the songs justice. And even though the songs are calm and gentle, there is so much emotion in each song that this album needs to be played as loud as possible. It's meant to be lost in.