TYCHO - Epoch

We'd left Scott Hansen and his project Tycho grappling with a refined post-rock full of sonic landscapes suited to the musician's various artistic attitudes (he's also a designer and photographer). With "Epoch" the scenario changes: a reunion with an old college friend brought Scott into contact with another world entirely: dance music.

This injection of energy, within music that is at times self-indulgent and melancholic, has certainly shaken off the overall monotony and claustrophobia. But this comes at the expense of inspiration and consistency, elements that haven't always been top priorities in the American artist's stylistic profile.

"Glider", "Horizon" and "Local" are perfect soundtracks for modern spiritual-urban meditation, while in "Slack" and "Source" the musician gives free rein to his most psychedelic impulses, seasoned with impatient guitar forays.

Rhythm is nonetheless the most innovative element of “Epoch”, often flattered by electronics, at times immersed in intriguing interplay between bass and drums, as on the propulsive “Division” and the crowd-pleasing title track.

Topping the American dance charts is neither surprising nor irritating: it's clear that an album like “Epoch” could strike a chord with the public imagination. The perfect calibration of electronics and post-rock has all the hallmarks of cultural contemporaneity.

In the end, it's aesthetics that wins out over substance, in a kaleidoscopic succession of harmonies and rhythms. A pleasant fusion of ambient, trip-hop, prog, psychedelia and balearic-dance, fleeting and evanescent in its charm.

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10/02/2017