Gig review - Tycho Brahe & Covenant
Ken reports: Ok folks - this would come close to being my favourite ever Tycho review, despite us playing virtually nothing on the night :-)
The night of burning dead stars begins with a near-epic bummer where one cannot help but feel for local synthpop stalwarts Tycho Brahe, who have to curtail their set in the middle of the second song due to a malfunctioning laptop. Frontman Ken Evans is however able to extract humour from the rather dour situation, brandishing his bass like a weapon and extorting "This is as hard as a rock, baby!" to the crowd's cheers.
Review appeared in Brisbane's Rave Magazine
Atlantic
Courier Mail
The latest offering from Brisbane's Tycho Brahe features something old, something new, but it's all pure, unashamedly '80s-inspired electro pop. The band, built around the nucleus of Ken Evans and Georgina Emery, take their inspiration from the likes of Georgio Moroder and Human League; indeed, the band's early cover of HL's Marianne has been dressed up for its inclusion here and fits seamlessly into the album. One of Tycho's most distinctive tunes, Avarice, released previously as a single, is also included in two versions. The latter is a remix, interesting mainly for showing how the '80s inspired sound has been adapted to the techno dance floor. This is the land of electric dreams made with layers of synthesised drum and effects. A guitar lead gets a look in on Free, one of the album's few slower tracks, where the counterpoint between male and female vocals is particularly effective. It's the dance-oriented tracks that really respond to the synthesised bass lines, though; the single Don't Feel That Way, Avarice and a resurrected Throwaway Fashion are highlights on a solid outing. - Jason Nahrung
Chain DLK
Italian site Chain DLK has a review of Atlantic online, with a four-out-of-five star rating. Ken denies the Fixx and Flock of Seagulls influences, though!
Tycho Brahe is an Australian combo active since early '90s. They named themselves after the 16th century self taught Danish astronomer because they also had a "do it yourself" attitude. Formed by Ken Evans and joined a couple of years after by Georgina Emery, the band found its definitive line up in 2004 as a four piece group thanks to Andy Walls and Francis Tohill. Thanks to this line up the band has been able since then to base their live act on real played music where keyboards were only a piece of the gear and not the main instrument. Musically the band is sounding like a blend of '80s pop wave, electronic and synthpop. Their song writing is based on rock wave and their main influences seems to be The Fixx and A Flock Of Seagulls with other different ones that differs from track to track. For example, tracks like "Military option" and "Marianne" remember late 80's Human League, the opening "It's not enough" sounds a little bit like Cosmicity mixed with early Howard Jones while the following "Don't feel that way" has a beginning that remember New Order. "Throwaway fashion" has something of Dead Or Alive but that is the tune which sounds more synthpop because of its danceable tune and because of the use of analogue synths without the add of guitar parts. ATLANTIC is the third Tycho Brahe album and even if they have so many '80s influences it's an error to think that they don't have their own style and attitude. Check "Empty days" and you'll realize that they aren't a simple pop band because that song gathers into its seven minutes length electronic intuitions a la Depeche Mode and cool melodies and the amazing thing is that you won't realize that is that long! Be sure to check also the ten minutes closing remix of "Avarice", a convincing blend of house, techno and synthpop.
Maurizio Pustianaz (on Chain DLK), Fri, 16 Jun 2006
Cassiopeia
A Different Drum
Tycho Brahe "Cassiopeia" - This is the debut release by a new synthpop band from Australia, and it is a strong debut effort! It has a lot of retro elements that remind me of bands like New Order, but at the same time fits quite nicely into the modern synthpop scene with a nice mix of aggressive, melodic, and mellow. It covers a wide range of styles quite effectively. Tycho Brahe is yet another very promising new band.
Rave music magazine
Kinetic Response
Tycho Brahe "Cassiopeia": Following in the footsteps of several great Australian electronic acts that have hit the scenes over the years; groups like, Icehouse, The Church, Real Life and Pseudo-echo, I find Tycho Brahe simply fabulous. The band actually comes from a couple blocks away from Savage Garden, but while Savage Garden sings sugar coated pop songs for the masses, Tycho Brahe retains the integrity of their roots. They are firmly ensconced in the 80's sound, but with a little more power to the vocals. If you have heard the band Monolithic you would know what I mean, they have a blend of vocals and music that is now being referred to as power-synth. The people who I have talked to about Tycho Brahe consider them a musical "find" someone for you to enjoy and cherish. You can hear a full MP3 of the band on the Kinetic Response homepage.