After four long years of refurbishment, the historic Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall opened its doors again in July last year, providing a performing arts establishment that combines the grandeur of its golden days of yore and the permutation of intelligent acoustic engineering. And really, Secret Sounds Asia couldn't have picked a more perfect venue for San Francisco-based electronic and visual architect Tycho in his first visit to Singapore.
Though very much a solo music project of multi-disciplinary artist Scott Hansen, the latest Tycho effort Awake sees the man working together closely with other musicians in the craft of his electronic-inclined dream pop doodles, and it's with a live band that he strides on stage. Joined by Zac Brown (bass, guitars), Joe Davancens (synths, bass) and Rory O'Connor (drums, and of Nitemoves fame) they eased smoothly (velvety smooth) into their set with 'Adrift'.
Electronic music performances have a habit of being predominantly passive onstage with all the knobs needed to be turned, levels needed to be maintained, buttons and synth keys to be pressed. On stage, Tycho breaks away from all that static jazz. The element of a live band — and the presence of a very Whiplash-y Rory O'Connor — provided the much appreciated dynamism to Hansen's discography of wistfully pastoral melodies, bringing his oneiric tunes to life and the super-chill slice of the West Coast to the Victoria Theatre.
As good as the live performance was, it was still an inescapable fact that his simple yet effective swirly synth melodies tended to weave into each other too well for its own good — all the infinite reverb, delicate guitar lines and soft sonic tints tended to sound exhaustingly alike after some time. But thats where Hansen's skill as an accomplished graphic artist (under the moniker ISO50) comes into play.
Accompanying his abstract tunes were his abstract yet hyper-captivating visuals projected onto the screen behind the band, playing in perfect equilibrium with the whole dreamy aesthetic. Someone said that it all got a little irritatingly Tumblr-esque at times (think triangles, pastel color wheels, inverted triangles, double exposures, cloud textures, triangles, etc) but you can't argue that both music and visuals worked perfectly together; a live Tycho show will never be complete without the projection.
Though the permutations of the cosy Victoria Theatre made us feel like Tycho's performance was a grand installation art piece, things got a little awkward at times for the band, who probably aren't accustomed to playing to a seated audience. Dead silence in between songs prompted Hansen to call the audience "very respectful". Perhaps it was the whole newness of the Victoria experience that made us shy; if the show was held at the Esplanade, you would've put money on people rushing to the front of the stage or at least stand up to properly enjoy the performance. Old dame Victoria put the fear of God in us yesterday, but hopefully the audience would probably be bolder if ever they get another chance to see an alternative/indie act there.
It's unclear exactly how difficult it is to book the Victoria Theatre for shows, but the fact that one of Singapore's oldest performing arts venue is playing host to such an ultra-modern music outfit such as Tycho's is a huge dive into the right direction for the year ahead in the nation's cultural awakening.
Photos: Dominic Phua / Secret Sounds Asia
After four long years of refurbishment, the historic Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall opened its doors again in July last year, providing a performing arts establishment that combines the grandeur of its golden days of yore and the permutation of intelligent acoustic engineering. And really, Secret Sounds Asia couldn't have picked a more perfect venue for San Francisco-based electronic and visual architect Tycho in his first visit to Singapore.
Though very much a solo music project of multi-disciplinary artist Scott Hansen, the latest Tycho effort Awake sees the man working together closely with other musicians in the craft of his electronic-inclined dream pop doodles, and it's with a live band that he strides on stage. Joined by Zac Brown (bass, guitars), Joe Davancens (synths, bass) and Rory O'Connor (drums, and of Nitemoves fame) they eased smoothly (velvety smooth) into their set with 'Adrift'.
Electronic music performances have a habit of being predominantly passive onstage with all the knobs needed to be turned, levels needed to be maintained, buttons and synth keys to be pressed. On stage, Tycho breaks away from all that static jazz. The element of a live band — and the presence of a very Whiplash-y Rory O'Connor — provided the much appreciated dynamism to Hansen's discography of wistfully pastoral melodies, bringing his oneiric tunes to life and the super-chill slice of the West Coast to the Victoria Theatre.
As good as the live performance was, it was still an inescapable fact that his simple yet effective swirly synth melodies tended to weave into each other too well for its own good — all the infinite reverb, delicate guitar lines and soft sonic tints tended to sound exhaustingly alike after some time. But thats where Hansen's skill as an accomplished graphic artist (under the moniker ISO50) comes into play.
Accompanying his abstract tunes were his abstract yet hyper-captivating visuals projected onto the screen behind the band, playing in perfect equilibrium with the whole dreamy aesthetic. Someone said that it all got a little irritatingly Tumblr-esque at times (think triangles, pastel color wheels, inverted triangles, double exposures, cloud textures, triangles, etc) but you can't argue that both music and visuals worked perfectly together; a live Tycho show will never be complete without the projection.
Though the permutations of the cosy Victoria Theatre made us feel like Tycho's performance was a grand installation art piece, things got a little awkward at times for the band, who probably aren't accustomed to playing to a seated audience. Dead silence in between songs prompted Hansen to call the audience "very respectful". Perhaps it was the whole newness of the Victoria experience that made us shy; if the show was held at the Esplanade, you would've put money on people rushing to the front of the stage or at least stand up to properly enjoy the performance. Old dame Victoria put the fear of God in us yesterday, but hopefully the audience would probably be bolder if ever they get another chance to see an alternative/indie act there.
It's unclear exactly how difficult it is to book the Victoria Theatre for shows, but the fact that one of Singapore's oldest performing arts venue is playing host to such an ultra-modern music outfit such as Tycho's is a huge dive into the right direction for the year ahead in the nation's cultural awakening.
Photos: Dominic Phua / Secret Sounds Asia