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| Tycho in Bologna, Italy |
A Review By: Troy Manley
Tycho, an ambient instrumental outfit based out of San Francisco, started as the brainchild of Scott Hansen. With a number of albums under his belt -
Sunrise Projector (2004) and
Past in Prologue (2006) - Scott released his third wildly successful album,
Dive, in 2011 with the help of guitarist, Zac Brown. Scott and Zac began touring as a live band with backing from Rory O'Connor on Drums and Joe Davancens on bass guitar, keyboards, and synthesizers. (Check out Rory's side-project,
Nitemoves) During live performances, Scott utilizes synthesizers, and rocks out on the guitar and bass, all while managing the visual programming of the performance; with Zac rounding things out on bass guitar and electric guitar.
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| Tycho in Hamburg, Germany |
While performing, all the guitars are played live by either Scott or Zac, and the bass is also played live with the exception of the song
Hours. Drums are played live by Rory, and the lead synths are also produced live on stage. Often times, Scott triggers samples with foot pedals while rocking out on his guitar. At every show they strive to maintain the intricate balance between the fluidity of a live show and loyalty to the sound of the album.
In 2014, Tycho released their 4th full length album,
Awake, and went on a world tour to support it, playing 33 shows in 13 countries. Lucky enough to catch 3 of those shows in 3 different countries - Hamburg, Germany; Warsaw, Poland; and Bologna, Italy - Tycho has solidified themselves on my list of top groups currently touring. Working their way through some of their best stuff, they casually busted out
Adrift, Apogee, L, Dye, Hours, See, Elegy, Past is Prologue, PBS, A Walk, and
Spectre before calling it a night and heading off stage. After the roaring crowds convinced them to return, Scott came up alone and played a bass heavy remix of
Awake by Com Truise - included below - before the rest of the gang would rejoin him onstage and nonchalantly go flawlessly into the original cut of the track. They would then finish up the encore with a favorite off their newest album,
Montana.
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| Tycho in Warsaw, Poland |
The crowd at all three shows were very receptive to what these guys were doing on stage, and rightfully so. They played with precision and tact every time while maintaining a high level of energy (well, as high as you can while playing ambient downtempo music) and did an awesome job switching up the flow of the tracks to keep the crowds engaged. After seeing these guys 5 times total - Red Rocks 2013 w/STS9 & Electric Forest 2014 being the 2 other shows - it's easy to say that anytime these guys come around again, a certain someone will be in attendance.
If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and check out their newest album - included below - and if you dig it, support the band by picking it up
HERE and going to a show when they come near you. All in all, I give this tour an A++ rating. 10/10, would attend again.
Check out a video of "See" from their show in Hamburg, Germany below.
Here's the remix mentioned earlier.
Here's their newest album, Awake.
This past Sunday, The Magic Stick of Detroit had the pleasure of hosting two Kansas soul brothers, Mark (Drums) and Matt (Guitar and Production) Hill, more commonly known as The Floozies. Doors opened at 8pm and the music promptly began with Filibusta’s live band, which included Troy Probst, Max Pohlmann a.k.a Kaisah (Trumpet) and Mike Fitz a.k.a Goodness Gracious (Guitar). One of the first things that I noticed upon my arrival, was tons of people dancing, which I almost never see so close to doors opening at a show. Not just a handful here and there, but a full floor of dancing shoes the entire night! I went up to the super friendly bar staff to get a drink and met tons of good vibin’ people on their way into the venue. So much energy and love was in the air.
Filibusta kept the music flowing while the melodic harmonies of the horn and guitar danced over top of his grooves. As the set was nearing the end I began to hear excited chatter amongst the crowd about Russ Liquid. This was my first time hearing any of Russ Liquid’s music and, after the set he played, I’m not sure how that is even possible! He had some of the saxiest feels and smoothest transitions I have ever heard, especially while continuously going back and forth between the controls and the horn; a most excellent execution. Russ Liquid connected with the crowd like separated friends at a music festival who reconnected hours later at the most bumpin’ set of the night. His energy never let up and he put the crowd in just the right place for The Floozies to take the stage.
After a long night of grooving, the once strange crowd fizzled out with five times as many friends as they walked in with. I left with new mates, tired feet, a smiling face and a camera full of memories. I would like to thank The Floozies for having me out to cover such a wonderful event. Kaisah’s manager AudisBliss was nice enough to invite me on stage to grab some snaps during the Filibusta set, so a big thanks to him as well. It’s always soul warming to attend such a positively energized show when it’s so cold in the D. You can catch The Floozies March 4 at Cosmic Charlie’s in Lexington, KY next!
Last Wednesday night Trill Clinton and Cameron Oakley rang in the New Year with a bang! Their dynamic back to back techniques set the bar high for any supporting act. Blasting some of the best music in the genre, they continuously keep you going.
PawS got it popping with a nice trap flavor, dropping that grimey bass and snare music. PawS represents Denver, a.k.a. the glitch-hop Mecca, rather well. PawS has played at Beta, The Church, and Vinyl showing off his skills all over town. Next up was Decadon, and he went all out mixing into trap, dubstep, breakbeat, and more. His set was a lot of fun and he represents the more versatile side of Denver. Decadon would debut new music at Parade of Lasers, with a single he calls "Bury The Ratchet."
Muse puts on one of the best live performances in the rock genre, so I had to share a live video. They are a very complete band, some songs are so rich with a musical story it's almost like watching a film, just all audible. This song "Hysteria" come from the album Absolution. I love this bass line it's very difficult to play and it's completely vital to the song, normally the drummer keeps the beat but not on the song "Hysteria" everyone follows the bass. Muse really blew up in America when the song "Knights of Cydonia" hit every rock radio station back in 2006. Every Muse album is a masterpiece, they are a very well established and highly skilled group of friends with fame all over the world and rightfully so, they rock!
