Tycho – Awake Remixes

An uneven if enjoyable compilation...

Tycho’s ‘Awake’ emerged last year, an album imbued with a remarkable sense of space and atmosphere. Wearing its influences well – Boards Of Canada, down tempo IDM – the record nonetheless had a warm identity of its own, one rooted in melody and suggestion.

Prime fare for guest producers, ‘Awake Remixes’ is a nice opportunity to re-visit Tycho’s work. Typically broad ranging, the compilation acts both as a signal of the producer’s respect within electronic spheres but also as a sign of just how malleable his work can be.

Com Truise kicks things off, steering the title cut into a glitzy dancefloor direction. Christopher Willits hits up ‘Montano’ before Dusty Brown delivers a typically idiosyncratic take on ‘L’.

There’s a breadth of sound here that makes ‘Awake Remixes’ both fascinating and slightly uneven. Not quite retaining the cohesion of the original – it’s a compilation, after all – we find ourselves moving between deeply independent voices, and the affect can occasionally be jarring.

That said, there’s more than enough here to make ‘Awake Remixes’ worth exploring. Baio does his burgeoning reputation no harm with a slightly Balearic take on ‘Plains’ while Bibio’s guitar-effect take on ‘Spectre’ is a true meeting of minds.

Ending with a dancefloor flourish on Few Nolder’s ‘Montana’ re-work, ‘Awake Remixes’ is a nice between meals snack for Tycho fans, and a curious introductory point for those new to the Ghostly producer’s work.

6/10

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