I’ve been thinking a lot about what art means recently. It’s not getting funded, and with that comes questions of what it is worth in a tangible and measurable way. What keeps coming back to me is its role in building our narrative, where it places us in our historic context and how it positions us for the future. Epoch, true to its title, is right now. Tycho’s album, announced just one day before its release, allows the moment to consume – it is expansive and visceral with acknowledgement of the power in the present.
Even Epoch’s release has been focused on the momentary. It came confidently, unperturbed by the mountain of other big-name albums dropped on Friday, brazenly unannounced and unexpected, save for two singles released earlier this year. It wasn’t. Now it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kuNshckRIU
Scott Hansen said of the record, “I’ve never been fond of handing in an album then waiting 4 months for it to be released. I wanted to be more connected to the people consuming the music.”
This investment in wide and deep connection sees him remove himself from the defined, so as to harness something more universal. The cover art was designed by Hansen himself, a graphic designer as well as a producer, and depicts a stark and removed sun, no longer specific to a place or time of day like in the trilogy’s other two albums, Dive and Awake. It speaks only to the present it occupies.
The contained album builds the perfect canvas on which to project a moment. The songs within it are visceral, determined and mature. They work best as a cohesive body, shifting only with the perfect precision Tycho has brought to all his music.
Opener, Glider, introduces this shift well. Beginning in a sparse and winding fashion, its ambience quickly slips away to make room for a more propelled journey through the soundscape, gathering momentum and shifting pressures as if reaching through the speakers into the physical realm. Allowing itself to take over the body’s responses; hastening breath, slowing heart rate, demanding to be perceived, the rest of the album delivers consistently.
Stand out tracks include Receiver which serves the purpose of the introspective scene in a film, slow and refracted but building to a deep and epiphanic release. This song showcases the entanglement Tycho creates between melodic and narrative structure, cementing Tycho’s position as the ultimate cross-disciplinarian, testing the boundaries of each art form, blurring the lines and enhancing through these shades of grey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g51nOfjKpQI
Another stand out follows seamlessly. The title track throws off any heaviness created in Receiver, and builds relentlessly to a dynamic and celebratory track; electric, euphoric and crammed.
Noteworthy Source is slow and full of space, with imperceptible stem builds leading to a release from what you can’t quite believe is the same song. Tycho seemingly uses it to show off about his ability to create breathability within depth.
Album closer Field has an acoustic element, which should feel weird, but is not out of place. The track is a testament to Hansen’s growth, harnessing the power of a band without compromising the clean precision of his own production. It throws back to the hidden melodies of Dive and Awake, acknowledging their place in the building of this moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pu6dxW2xLw
The ability to create harmony in ideas so inherently chaotic has always been Tycho’s marker, and this album has him expanding all those chaotic forms in an incredible and exciting way.
Truth told, I don’t know how this one will make me feel in a year. It’s one to write memories on. Keep it precious.
Tycho will be performing at Laneway Festival 2017:
Saturday 21 January: The Meadow, Gardens By The Bay, Singapore
Thursday 26 January: Brisbane Showgrounds, Bowen Hills, Brisbane (16+)
Saturday 28 January: Footscray Community Arts Centre and the River’s Edge, Melbourne
Monday 30 January: Albert Park Precinct, Auckland
Friday 3 February: Hart’s Mill, Port Adelaide, Adelaide (16+)
Saturday 4 February: Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle, Sydney
Sunday 5 February: Esplanade Reserve and West End, Fremantle
Words by Samantha Groth
Image: Supplied
As I write this, it’s Saturday morning, the day of our country’s federal election. If you’ve already voted, good on you. If you’re still waking up and looking for a few new tunes to get you up, you’re in luck. Here’s two fantastic new electronic tracks and a bangin’ video to kick off the weekend.
Squarepusher, MIDI Sans Frontières
One of my favourite producers ever is the mighty Tom Jenkins, aka Squarepusher. There’s no boundary he can’t cross, no mind he can’t blow, both as producer and insanely talented bassist. Today he has returned with a new song, and accompanying essay, written about Brexit. Unlike Brexit, Jenkins has opened the track up to “internationalist collaboration,” offering not only the track as a free download, but the stems and sheet music for all to indulge. Any submitted remixes will then be posted to his website.
“The referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU has had appalling consequences,” he begins. “It has amplified many divisions in society and in particular has helped to re-establish xenophobia as legitimate and acceptable.
“This piece of music was written in the aftermath of the referendum and I present it as the basis of an internationalist collaboration with sound makers irrespective of what kind of music they make, where they live, their background, their age -all are invited to participate. It is not offered as a substitute for progressive political action but as a complement to it. I put it forward in defiance of the bigotry threatening the fragile connections that exist between us all. I hope it will be an opportunity to reaffirm some of those connections amidst a very disturbing situation.” Read more here.
Much like Jenkins and many other musicians, Australian artists have also commented on our own current politics. Click here for more.
The track of course, is brilliant, as is its clever title. it opens on a warbled bass melody, while ambient layers begin to grow and weave themselves into a beautiful, atmospheric soundscape. Impassioned and remarkably emotive, I’m looking forward to exploring its remixes in the coming days.
https://youtu.be/2DAa4PEKtYo
Tycho, Division
Apart from a series of remixes earlier this year, wondrous electro-wizard Tycho has been almost completely silent for nearly two years now, with his last full release being Awake in 2014. Today, I’m really excited to share with you his luscious new offering, titled Division.
7/8 isn’t exactly a common time signature for most, but Tycho isn’t your average producer. Opening up to a deep bass and shuffling cymbals, the guitar-laden track almost has a mid-career Radiohead feel at first, before traversing through a series of more ambient instrumental phrases, shifting through moments of glistening shine, Explosions in the Sky-esque guitar plucks, ultimately emitting an uplifting rush of purpose and hope. Welcome back, Tycho – let’s hope this is the first of many new songs in 2016.
For those interested in exploring his processes, the artist has also shared a short documentary detailing “the Awake years,” which you can watch here.
Jamie xx, Gosh
This isn’t a new song per se, but a new video from Jamie xx, who delivered one of 2015’s most glorious electronic albums. Gosh was featured on In Colour, and today finds itself the soundtrack to a phenomenal new video directed by Romain Gavras. An incredible feat of gargantuan proportions, it reportedly features more than 400 extras and absolutely no CGI or effects.
It begins in a dark room, mostly filled with people wearing VR headsets. We meet our protagonist, with a breathtaking scene of him alone on a balcony. The film pans out and we see hundreds of others on windows, and hundreds more marching.
The clip was filmed in China, in a town called Tianducheng, known for its 354 foot high replica model of the Eiffel Tower. Gavras uses the town to full effect, with absolutely stunning backdrops and angles. The story begins to unravel, with the protagonist as the leader of an apparent movement. Hundreds of Chinese followers dressed in identical attire surround him in some of the most incredible synchronised movements I’ve ever seen on film.
I didn’t want this to end.
Greek-born Gavras is responsible for many similarly beautiful videos, perhaps most famously for M.I.A‘s Born Free and Bad Girls an,d Kanye & Jay Z‘s Niggas in Paris, as well as other clips from Justice, The Last Shadow Puppets and Simian Mobile Disco among others.
Image: Jamie xx