Tycho (Scott Hansen) is back to give us a deluxe version of his album Awake, released earlier in the year. The original album is an amazing landscape of dream pop mixed with a little dash of post-punk. The bass is so prominent and heavy throughout the tracks, that it could musically be what Joy Division may have turned into, had Ian Curtis not been lost to us so soon. The deluxe version presents us with the Awake album in it’s entirety, and then gives us remixes of four of the best tracks on the album, and who doesn’t love remixes right? It’s always interesting to see another artist put their style and influence together to reinvent a song.

Com Truise put his magic into the lead track “Awake”. He slows it down, and that’s what he’s known for. He calls his style “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk”. It’s the perfect description of what is heard in this. I’d call this remix of “Awake”, “slow-wave”. It flawlessly combines the best parts of 80s style synths with the present. The song took me to another place while listening. I imagined driving in the rain, and the sun is peeking through the clouds and shines down like a beam of love. There’s no traffic, you’re hitting all the green lights and this is playing through the speakers, it’s a perfect moment in time.

Bibio takes a stab at the track “Spectre” and pretty much deconstructs it, removes the bass, turns it lo-fi and then warps it. When listening, try to disconnect yourself from the bass heavy sound of the original. It starts off reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s intro on “Only Shallow” but not as aggressive. Then it changes and twists into something that might remind you of the Peanuts theme song, except not in tune, and then played backwards. It’s whimsy and minimal but yet dark underneath.

Beacon brings vocals to their remix of “See”. As a fan of Tycho and this album, I always wondered what these songs would sound like with vocals. Now we get a glimpse of that and it’s amazing. Beacon puts their spin on the track and gives it an R&B electronic feel mixed with a constant dreamy background. They made it sound sultry and moody and they kept it nice and full of bass. It could be argued that this is the best remix of the four.

Last but certainly not least, Christopher Willits ends out the last track on Tycho’s Awake (Deluxe Version) with his remix of “Montana”. It starts out twisting and winding through ethereal sounds then crescendos into window rattling bass beats with ambient sounds filling the space all around them. Then, Willits slows it all back down and fades out into the heavenly abyss. This track feels spiritual and passionate and is a perfect way to finish the musical
journey the artists paved with their remixes.

Sharmaine Lindahl