Now Hear This! Tycho at The Ready Room

| Senior Cadenza Editor
who Tycho
where The Ready Room
when March 25, 8 p.m.

price $20

Known for his laidback post-rock soundscapes filled with ambient melodies and soft synthesizers, music producer and artist Tycho will be bringing his distinctive style to the stage at The Ready Room, a venue in The Grove, this Wednesday. Fans and first-timers alike are promised a show that fuses ambient chill wave with laidback instrumentation, a musical style that will make the audience feel like they are pulled into luxurious and colorful space.

Real name Scott Hansen, the San Franciscan artist originally started making tracks on his laptop over 10 years ago (he is also a visual artist under the name ISO50—he designs all his cover art and packaging). He’s been crafting his own brand of chillwave, with his 2011 album “Dive.” If you want a quick preview of Tycho’s style, just check out the first track from that album, “A Walk,” an ambling piece filled with the ambient sounds of children laughing and rushing waves. There’s no opportunity for a sing-along here, but it does promise a musical experience for the books. Every song is different yet fits and flows together perfectly, and this continuity will translate well from album to stage. His signature combination of old sound clips with a futuristic mix of electronica is instantly recognizable, always transformative and lush with detail and intricacy. His artist’s sensibility comes across loud and clear on every release, with tight production values fading samples in and out at just the right time, moments of music suspended before crashing into a new wave of percussion. Each track is its own point of bliss, but Tycho works best when listened to as a whole; the albums are carefully crafted to tell a story, and Hansen has often noted that he wants to recreate this experience as closely as he can when playing live.

Tycho’s latest release, “Awake,” took a turn away from the synths and delved into the world of live instrumentation, adding even more complexity to his songs and live performances. Opening up his act from purely solo performance, Hansen now has other band members who help him record and perform. “Montana” and “Awake” are stylistically emblematic of Tycho’s newer sound, incorporating sharp guitar riffs with his more typical sweeping soft percussions and echoing techno melodies. This balance comes alive in the live setting, the live instruments illuminating Tycho’s masterful combination of loop samples and synthesizer. This show should be at the top of your Wednesday night to-do list.

Brooklyn duo Beacon, known for fusing rhythm-and-blues sensibilities with electronic music, will be supporting Tycho.

Doors open at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and the event is all ages.

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