Tycho "Dive" / Pitchfork 7.0

With a belly (still) full of food, I return to work (having watched ZERO football games over the holidays, thank you very much). And to what? A post-turkey day notice regarding a 7.0 Pitchfork review of Ghostly International's 2xLP/CD for Scott Hansen, better known as TYCHO (& as graphic artist ISO50, fyi)!!!…read on (so long as the tryptophan has worn off):

"Scott Hansen, aka Tycho, is a fairly well-known graphic artist, and you can hear his design skills at play in his music. Like a particularly crisp logo or font, his songs have a good sense of scale and proportion, and it's clear that a lot of work goes into them. Take a look at his artwork and you'll have a good idea of what his electronic compositions sound like, too. Nostalgic, 1970s-inspired imagery, a heavy sense of tranquility and faraway longing, all tied together with a pretty sleek modernity. Several of these elements have been sort of beaten into the ground in indie music over the past few years, but with Dive, Hansen manages to pull them together in a way that still feels compelling."

"His attention to detail goes beyond highlighting individual instruments. It's there in the way Hansen simply builds a song, merging all the synth wooshes and percussive ripples to find a natural arc. 'Daydream', for example, starts out fairly simple with twinkly guitars and a sturdy, knocking beat, but the song's pulse quickens as it progresses, and by the end you've got something heady enough to live up to its title. Because Hansen clearly wants this to be a deep headphone experience, those subtle shifts go a long way in holding your interest. And in terms of the imagery he builds-- fields, pastures, calming oceanic scenes-- it's all there, and it's pretty easy to set your brain on 'relax' and conjure up those natural landscapes."