TYCHO Live at The Masquerade 09/14/12

Posted by William Haun on Friday, September 21, 2012

I knew of artist Scott Hansen long before I discovered his music under the alias TYCHO. My admiration was of Hansen’s skills as graphic designer and photographer ISO50. His poster & t-shirt designs are legendary and a constant source of inspiration.

Someone introduced me to TYCHO’s music and described it as a “more chill Boards of Canada.” An apt description since it does mix ambient melodies, downtempo old-school synths, and samples of organic sounds and voices. In seeking out more of his tunes, I discovered that TYCHO and ISO50 are both Scott Hansen.

The brilliance of TYCHO’s live show is that his auditory and visual art are inseparable. As his blissed-out tunes swept over the crowd at Atlanta’s Masquerade they were entranced by his gorgeous video projections behind the stage.

Footage of a beautiful woman roaming across wind-swept sand dunes. Slow motion macro clips of ocean spray smashing against shoreline rocks. Recognizable graphic elements from his design work were layered on top and faded in and out. Hansen even made the over-used kaleidoscopic work to great effect – turning that cliché into gorgeous compositions of color shapes. (see a short video clip from their set below)

The band’s multimedia presentation was enthralling enough that the lack of banter and interaction with the audience was hardly noticeable. Fans left the band’s fourth Atlanta show in a joyous daze and ready to mark the next TYCHO on their calendars. I recommend you do the same.