Tycho Brahe – s/t
4.27.18 by Ryan Masteller

The REAL Tycho Brahe would never jam like this. This imposter, releasing a self-titled tape on Cleveland noise stalwart Mistake by the Lake, is all like, “Listen to me, my synthesizers rip through your psyche like supernovas rip through the space-time continuum!” Besides being totally wrong about what supernovas do, Fake Tycho Brahe also didn’t lose part of his nose in a sword duel in the dark, like Real Tycho Brahe did in 1566 at the University of Rostock in Germany. Look it up. Real Tycho Brahe also observed an actual supernova in 1572, but everybody thought it was some sort of strange heavenly light occurring between the moon and Earth, because of “celestial immutability” (freaking Aristotle). Real Tycho Brahe dropped some KNOWLEDGE on those fools, “De nova stella,” setting the record straight for, like, decades. But yeah, Fake Tycho Brahe, you just keep making your synthesizer music. We don’t need any new advancements in science or anything. [*Eyeroll*]

Ha, OK, look, I’m not really some sort of stickler for accuracy here. I’m writing about music after all; I’m not aiming for publication in some scientific journal, because let’s face it: research isn’t exactly my strong suit. So let’s focus on Fake Tycho Brahe for a second, because once I got all that junk out of my system, that crummy thirty-thousand-foot history lesson, I realized that this tape is an absolute gem, a stunner, a completely appropriate addition to the catalog of the city that brought you Emeralds. This vibe cycle of oscillations and melody permeates the brain and unlocks all sorts of potential avenues for understanding. Maybe Real Tycho Brahe was listening to the modular lute equivalent of this back in his day, inspiring him to write “De nova Stella.” Maybe Fake Tycho Brahe is pulling a fast one on us by including what looks like a supernova occurring among a forest on the j-card art, suggesting either that he’s in on the reference or just a fan of X-Files-related phenomena. Either way, smash sound and science together into cassette tape form, and you’re in for some far-out elliptical mind-blowery with this thing.

Let’s face it, both Tycho Brahes are real. Grab one of these 48 (or 50 – MBTL isn’t clear on that) tapes while you can, as well as a copy of “De nova stella” (in Latin!) from the fine company Amazon.com.