“Listen keenly,” advises MC Kwasi in a gusty introduction to Mr. Scruff’s fifth mix/compilation LP, which can also be called his twelfth album if you count the all the studio work in his 25 years in service to sound. DJ Kicks represents a strange new dimension in mix-master music, as it combines tunes like a random hour of MTV from the early years on VCR tape on fast-forward with modern high-def acoustics. The vibes come fast with a distinctly retro flavor, heavily influenced by the ’80s at times, but also wandering back a century to catch a feeling shift.

The overall mood of DJ Kicks swerves hard to the positive lane. Think of the grooviest teatime with decent drugs and nothing to do in the evening but chill it off and that’s the scene DJ Kicks flows smoothest in. It’s eclectic, yes, but worldly as well: lots of languages and lots of voices allow this album to represent the best of non-Brexit UK society. The kind of post-imperial inclusion that makes The Great British Bake Off so pleasant stands hand in hand with Mr. Scruff as he takes the listener out to meet all his weirdo friends.

DJ Kicks does suffer from the same problems as many other compilations; some parts drag and some parts kick, but it’s a pain to try and skip around. Whole sections of the album have absolute ear command but the listener has to wait to get there. It’s a long album too, and right around the one-hour-and-ten-minute mark, there exists a tone of wanting to check the Soundcloud playlist to see who’s next.

But while it’s not perfect, it is different, and new, and fun, and cool, and wacky, and highly likable. Mr. Scruff is a scientist and shouldn’t be admonished for conducting experiments – it’s what his kind does by their nature. And if the hypothesis is that by mixing up lots of new, old, and in-between records you can produce a solid work of art, then The Royal Society may as well open its halls to a new member.

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After releasing their Grammy-nominated album, Weather, in 2019, Tycho returns with Simulcast. While Simulcast is its own album in its right, it serves as an extension of Weather, giving fans a new perspective on some of the old while mixing in a little bit of the new.

Simulcast starts off with a newer version of the previous album’s title track, “Weather.” This version of “Weather” is much more simple and cheerful than its previous version. It not only provides a brilliant glimpse into the overall mood of “Simulcast,” but given the fact that the previous version of “Weather” was also the very last song on the previous album, the new version of “Weather” also provides a link to the previous album.

“Alright” and “Outer Sunset” follows “Weather” and are two new songs that help build upon the mellow mood on the album. These songs are followed by another remake from “Weather,” “In The Woods,” which matches the same level of simplification that was applied to the new version of “Weather” (the song) thanks the lack of distortion of sounds despite the presence of the distorted vocals and wind sounds looping in the background.

“Easy,” which was also present in the previous album, didn’t have much of a difference from its previous version. However, it served as a proper tie to “PCH,” which is perhaps the most unique song on the album. Unlike most of the songs on Simulcast, “PCH” is upbeat and has a strong French house influence. “Cypress,” however, slows things down and provides the perfect segue way into the last song of the album, “Stress.” While the title might make this song seem like it is on the somber side, the music itself is not. While “Stress” is slow and mellow for the most part, the song becomes louder and busier towards the end, thus ending a rather peaceful album on a chaotic note.

Simulcast may seem like a bonus album to a certain extent given the remixes of some of the songs from Weather. However, Simulcast stands strong on its own. It gives the listener a new perspective into Tycho’s artistry, something of which will keep fans on their toes for years to come.

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Last week Tycho performed a cool end-of-the-summer evening show at Central Park’s SummerStage. Upon entering, the venue was lined with promotors offering an odd combo of freebees: hangover cure tablets, granola bars, and ice cream sandwiches. The space let in a breezy evening air that paired perfectly with L.A. duo Poolside’s opening act, which saw the crowd through a laidback city sunset.

The audience filled in significantly as we awaited the headliner. Tycho’s Scott Hansen stepped on the stage all dressed in white and jumped into his accessible track “A Walk” from the 2011 release Dive. The night sky set a perfect backdrop to his visual accompaniments of crashing waves, southwest desert scenes, and kaleidoscope colors. Flashing lights flanked the stage, blinking and shifting between rainbow hues in rhythm with the beat, illuminating both the artist and the clouds of vape smoke floating over the crowd.

The highlight of the show proceeded once he introduced his special guest, Saint Sinner. Her white-blonde hair glowed against the light and she serenaded us with Weather hit “Pink and Blue” as well as the more mellow track “Japan.” Between songs, Hansen beamed, admitting that playing to us in Central Park was a “dream come true.” No doubt, Tycho’s California vibes add a dreamy quality to any scene. That night at Hansen’s show, the dream was the low-fi calm of Tycho’s live set reverberating out from the heart center of otherwise busy New York City.

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Tonight, everyone came to see the same artist yet had different artist expectations. But Murphy is certain of who he is. He spent four years traveling the world alone with a microphone and a suitcase, seeking inspiration, recording vocals when inspired. That time was also spent on self-examination, a “process aided by his reading of Joseph Campbell’s theories of the artist’s shaman-like role in modern society.”

Murphy was on a journey of self-discovery and came home a changed man with a new album: Run Fast Sleep Naked – “An album equally informed by constant questioning and steadily arriving at fragments of truth.” It is all very spiritual and poetic and rightfully so, Murphy spent some time in the Buddhist community of Koyasan meditating daily and drawing inspiration from the serene surroundings. That experience gave birth to the track “Sanity” and gave Nick a refreshed perception of self. The album was eventually recorded in the famous Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La (Def Jam Records) and the rest is history.

“Hello, my name is Nick,” he said with a leveled, relaxed voice to the full room at the Danforth. Murphy then spoke a bit to the location, his songs, being present here and not being present here tomorrow. Quite frankly it was a bit of a rumble that went around in circles stressing how all songs are written by him. A charming unraveling of a kind. “Thank you all for selling out this show.”

The first time we saw Chet Faker in this room he was alone, wearing a crisp white dress shirt, humbled by people’s presence. Today he is Nick Murphy, crystal clear of his newfound self (new to the audience that is). He performed more effortlessly, raw, with an air of neutrality, detached from the audience. The introductory speech ended with a bit of an “if you don’t like my songs, oh well” sentiment which pretty much sums up his visible attitude for the night. Today, he is more confident and himself, baring his soul through these new songs, letting people into his world and mind, sharing journal entries on Instagram. It’s a quieter kind of caring and not so much about the fans but about the music.

Accompanied by a four-person band on stage, Murphy had his usual spread of instruments from live to electronic. Some of the new songs are played with a violin bow, others were elevated with a saxophone played by one of the band members. The stage was crowded with instruments, decorated with a vase of flowers on the piano and a few other accessories sprinkled throughout. Nick played through a mix of tracks from Run Fast Sleep Naked to Built On Glass and even a few songs from his Work EP he produced with Marcus Marr in 2015. After a brief break, he came out to play “Believe (Me)” for an encore, solo on the piano, later joined by the full band to wrap up the show with “Sanity.”

A few of the songs took a whole new life. “Yeah I care” had a grimy, noisy band sound with loud guitar riffs. Ad the end of the song Murphy stepped away from the mic shredding the guitar, “Ok. Sometimes you just gotta let that kind shot out,” he commented. “Birthday Card,” on the other hand, had a very fast-paced dance music vibe. It was that rougher and more electronic sound Murphy is promising to bring to his set at Amsterdam Dance Event. It all makes complete sense now. Thank you and good night.

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