Simulcast

なにものにもかえがたき珠玉のノスタルジア
澄み渡るエレクトロニカの至宝ティコ最新アルバム早くも完成!!!

いまやエレクトロニカ～ポスト・ロックのトップ・アーティストとして絶大な人気を博すスコット・ハンセンを中心としたプロジェクト、ティコがグラミー賞にもノミネートされた前作からわずか半年で最新アルバム『Simulcast』をリリース!!

カタログ史上はじめてヴォーカルを大胆に導入して新境地を切り開いたその『Weather』とは双子作として位置づけられる本作は、同じインスト曲を軸にヴォーカル曲を再構築、さらに未発表曲を追加してアルバムのストーリーも新たに描き直したこれまでもファンを魅了してきたオール・インスト作品で、先行シングル「OuterSunset」を筆頭に生音と電子音がまろやかに溶け合う中でブレイクビーツが躍動し、ノスタルジアを強烈に呼び覚ますティコならではのシグネチャー・サウンドが展開する珠玉の全8曲を収録。

2020年には設立30周年を迎え、ボノボやフローティング・ポインツ、復活を果たしたザ・シネマティック・オーケストラの活躍も目覚ましい＜Ninja Tune＞より世界同時発売。

Weather was Tychos first album to be centered around lyrics, with guest vocalist Hannah Cottrell (Saint Sinner) adding a more relatable touch to the groups already accessible brand of atmospheric electronic pop. Simulcast takes the same material and makes it more open to interpretation, removing the lead vocals and expanding on the instrumental ideas of the album. Three of the songs on Weather were already instrumentals (with just a few vocal traces by Cottrell), and they reappear on Simulcast without alteration. Otherwise, the track list is rearranged, and the other five songs are reworked and given new titles. This isnt a dub version, nor did Tycho mastermind Scott Hansen merely just snip out the vocal tracks. Here, he adds more guitar and synth melodies which seem to sing out in the same way as on older Tycho albums. The tracks stretch out a little bit longer, and in some cases there are more active rhythms. Outer Sunset adds slapping drums to the previously beatless Skate, while Alright takes the lazy beach drift of For How Long and leads it closer to the dancefloor. PCH adds a dark enough hue to Pink & Blue so that it registers as a different song than the original, even though the music is essentially the same. The last two tracks, Cypress and Stress, respectively take Japan and No Stress as the launching pads for mildly psychedelic mind journeys, stretching them farther out and retaining a few brief lyrical phrases from Cottrell. Simulcast could be thought of as the more background music version of Weather, but even without lyrics, its still meant to put your mind in motion. Both versions are equally worth the roughly half-hour it takes to listen to each. ~ Paul Simpson