by Hannah Lintner

Jenn Cohen | August 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

Photo Credit: Ryan Levander

Tycho, an ambient, electronica-music project, played at the Aggie Theater on June 28. The band is the project belonging to artist Scott Hansen, who creates the synthesized sounds. On stage, he plays guitar, while simultaneously controlling the programing of his equipment. Hansen is joined onstage by Rory O’Connor on drums, and Zac Brown on bass. The instruments add a completely new layer to the pre-created, overlapping mechanical melodies.

The unique aspect of the show is Hansen’s photographic and design works. Dreamy cinematography is projected upon a huge screen at the back of the stage throughout the set. The short films give a sense of sepia-toned tranquility and nostalgia to the music. The musicians’ shadows are projected sharply against the soft film. The images, ranging anywhere from bright oceanic shots to the interactions of two young children, go gorgeously with Tycho’s musical blends. The serene scenery fuses elegantly with the music, painting the imagery throughout the audience’s eyes and ears.

The California artist brought a large crowd to the Aggie Theater. His ambient music encouraged a relaxed, yet incredibly focused crowd. Mesmerized, fans danced methodically to the peaceful electronica. Everyone was very kind and polite; none of the typical drunken angry concert folks occupied the theater on the pleasantly warm Thursday night.

Tycho creates a unique sound that Hansen has orchestrated perfectly. Hansen focuses on densely layered synthesizes, yet there are hints of folk laced throughout his songs. Acoustic guitars can be found hidden inside of his melodies, giving the songs a dynamic touch. Tycho has brilliantly achieved the creation of peaceful electronica. Hansen uses subtle shifts to entrance his audience by slowly building them up throughout the piece. The complicated songs feel soft, allowing the crowd to simply immerse themselves in sound. The mystical music could be the soundtrack to a dream, the kind of dream filled with wonder, discovery, and exploration.

Scott Hansen created his Tycho project in San Francisco, California in 2002. In the past ten years, Hansen has released seven singles, one EP, and three albums. His most recent album, Dive, was completed in 2011. Dive, which was the focus of his June show, does not contain his previously typical dance music tracks. PopMatters, an international critic magazine, named Dive the third best electronic album of 2011, commenting that the “heavy processing and multicolored aural flourishes unwind here and for the duration, yielding playback that’s refreshingly reluctant on returns.” Hansen is also known as ISO50, the artist name for his photographic and design works. He gets most of his inspiration from the style that began in the Bauhaus movement and flourished in the 1960s. Hansen’s prolific interests in both music and visual art mark him as a significant figure in America’s creative force.