I don't usually look for or expect any sort of personal connection when it comes to electronica music. Maybe it's because there's usually a lack of relatable lyrics or human-sounding music, but the vast genre of electronica is more suitable for immersing myself in sound rather than trying to pinpoint parts of the music that I can connect to on a deep level. Perhaps that's why
Past Is Prologue is such an astonishing record; for one thing, Tycho, its mastermind, isn't even a musician at heart as he essentially recorded this album to complement his 2006 collection of digital art and photographs, for which he is more known for around his home in San Francisco. Pictures of birds, clouds, and ghostly drawings layed the backdrop for what seemed like destiny for Tycho, as he decided to create music to go along with his art. Regardless,
Past Is Prologue has an air about it that resonates familiarity and comfort, a textural landscape of electronic arrangements and beats with haunting female vocal samples and lullaby-esque sounds that is analogous with the album's title, as the music seems to recall memories of the past that suddenly are in plain view again in the present moment.
As wonderous and beautiful this album is, Tycho essentially uses the same formula for his songs throughout
Past Is Prologue which makes the album a difficult listen to get into at first and not varied enough to become a classic. Soft, airy beginnings slowly give way to layered explosions of color and clouds towards the end of the tracks, as Tycho uses keyboards and xylophones to create dreamy soundscapes in which the listener is submerged in sound and melody. It's a sound that is more perfected by the likes of Boards Of Canada and Autechre; while their electronica delves into more ambitious and unconventional territory, Tycho uses a rather basic electronica template to build his songs off of and the result is an album that is not fully realized, yet shows that the artist has extreme levels of potential. "Sunrise Projector", "Dictaphones Lament" and "The Disconnect" are all strong tracks within the threads of the album's context, however on their own would sound too alike for their own good. However title track "Past Is Prologue" would do fine in just about any situation, as a rave-like tempo beat constantly pounds away under swirls of euphoria and frantic melodies.
It all comes together nicely in a neat little package of layered electronica made by a man that is relatively unknown yet has an ear for melody and texture. While
Past Is Prologue certainly by itself doesn't propel Tycho into the upper echelons of eletronica artists, it's still a wonderfully fresh and strikingly relatable and comforting affair that shows that Tycho may have a magnum opus in him yet. Simple yet immersive,
Past Is Prologue should be a must-get for any electronica fan.
