Introduction

Over more than two decades of activity, Scott Hansen’s Tycho project has accumulated a significant body of material that exists outside the boundaries of his nine official studio albums. Some of these tracks were performed live and never recorded commercially. Some appeared briefly on platforms like SoundCloud or the ISO50 blog before disappearing. Some were referenced in interviews as outtakes or shelved compositions. Some exist only as entries on setlist databases, mysterious titles that fans have never been able to match to any known release. And some represent entire earlier incarnations of albums that were later reworked into different forms, leaving behind orphaned tracks that belong to no current release.

This article catalogs every known piece of unreleased, rare, or lost Tycho material, organized by category. For each entry, the approximate date, context, current availability, and source of information are provided. Where hard evidence is thin, that is noted explicitly. The goal is to create the most complete reference possible for this parallel discography – the shadow catalog that exists alongside the official one.

I. The Sunrise Projector Orphans: Tracks Lost in the Album Transformation (2004)

The single most significant source of “lost” Tycho material is the transformation of Hansen’s debut full-length album. In 2004, Hansen released Sunrise Projector on Gammaphone Records as a 13-track CD. In 2006, Merck Records reissued the album in expanded and reworked form under the new title Past Is Prologue, adding several new tracks (including “From Home,” “Cascade,” and “The Disconnect”) while dropping three original compositions entirely. When Ghostly International reissued Past Is Prologue again in 2010 with additional remix bonus tracks, the Merck-era tracklist became the canonical version. The three Sunrise Projector-exclusive tracks effectively vanished from the active catalog.

“Overlook” (5:42)

  • Date: 2004
  • Context: Track 5 on the original Sunrise Projector CD (Gammaphone Records, catalog GM77)
  • Current availability: Not available on any streaming platform under its original album context. The Sunrise Projector CD is out of print and trades on the secondary market. The track has appeared on some streaming services retroactively under the Sunrise Projector title, but availability is inconsistent.
  • Notes: One of the longer compositions on the original album. A review on Rate Your Music described “Overlook” as one of the stronger tracks exclusive to Sunrise Projector.
  • Sources: Discogs release r346801; Rate Your Music

“Lapse” (5:20)

  • Date: 2004
  • Context: Track 6 on Sunrise Projector
  • Current availability: Same limited availability as “Overlook.” Out-of-print CD only in its original context.
  • Notes: Another substantial composition that was dropped during the transition to Past Is Prologue. Like “Overlook,” it represents a complete, finished track that Hansen chose not to carry forward.
  • Sources: Discogs release r346801; Last.fm

“Sunrise Calendar” (3:09)

  • Date: 2004
  • Context: Track 12 on Sunrise Projector
  • Current availability: Same as above.
  • Notes: Described by at least one reviewer as a remix or reworking of the title track “Sunrise Projector,” making it a structural variant rather than a wholly distinct composition. Its shorter runtime (3:09 vs. the title track’s 3:03) and its placement near the end of the album suggest it may have served as a reprise or coda.
  • Sources: Discogs release r346801; Rate Your Music

Renamed and Shortened Tracks

In addition to the three fully dropped tracks, several Sunrise Projector compositions were carried forward to Past Is Prologue with altered titles:

  • “PBS / KAE” (4:39) became simply “PBS” on Past Is Prologue. Whether the “KAE” portion was trimmed or simply renamed is not documented in available sources. The original combined title suggests the track may have been slightly different in its 2004 form.
  • “Phoenix Cylinder” (1:26) became “Phoenix” on the 2010 Ghostly reissue. The name was shortened, though the music appears to be substantially the same.

  • “You Should Be More Like Your Brother” (1:43) became “Brother” on Past Is Prologue. Again, a title shortening.

  • Sources: Wikipedia, Past Is Prologue; Discogs release r346801

II. PBS: The Track That Took 16 Years to Get an Official Variant Release

“PBS” occupies a unique position in Tycho’s catalog. Originally appearing on Sunrise Projector (2004) as “PBS / KAE” and then on Past Is Prologue (2006/2010) as “PBS,” it was a foundational track in the early Tycho discography. Hansen has described it as a centerpiece of the album, inspired by experimenting with a new synthesizer – the Novation KS4 – in January 2003 in Sacramento.

In 2022, Hansen released “PBS (Live Edit)” as an exclusive track on the Back to Mine: Tycho compilation (Back to Mine / DMC, September 30, 2022). This was the first time an alternate version of “PBS” had been commercially released. Hansen explained: “I typically stay true to the album version when playing songs live, but with ‘PBS’ I flipped the final part into a new space giving it a little drive and energy.”

The “PBS (Live Edit)” is also available as a standalone single on Apple Music.

III. The Unreleased Vocal Album (2003–2004)

In multiple interviews surrounding the release of Weather (2019), Hansen revealed that the 2019 album was not his first attempt at incorporating vocals into Tycho’s music. He had tried to make a vocal record in 2003 and 2004, working with unnamed vocalists. The project was shelved because Hansen felt the collaborations did not achieve what he was looking for.

Hansen told This Song Is Sick: “I actually tried to make a vocal record in 2003 and 2004. I tried working with some other vocalists, and I’m happy with the results. I’m sure it will come out in some form. But I was hoping to find somebody where I felt like it was a singular voice, and I could build a record around it.”

This unreleased vocal album represents one of the most significant pieces of lost Tycho material. Hansen’s phrasing – “I’m sure it will come out in some form” – suggests the recordings still exist and have not been destroyed. As of April 2026, none of this material has surfaced.

IV. Shelved Epoch-Era Material (2016–2017)

In the same interview cycle, Hansen disclosed the existence of unreleased compositions from the Epoch era that he felt strongly about and intended to eventually release. He specifically mentioned the possibility of adding vocals to complete these tracks.

Hansen stated: “I actually have some songs from the ‘Epoch’ era that I really feel strongly about and I know… that I want to put out.”

Whether any of this Epoch-era material was reworked into tracks that eventually appeared on Weather, Simulcast, or Infinite Health is not publicly documented. The material remains unaccounted for in the official discography.

V. The Parallel Instrumental Record (2018–2019)

During the creation of Weather, Hansen was simultaneously developing a separate body of instrumental material that was distinct from what would become Simulcast (the instrumental companion to Weather). Hansen explicitly differentiated between the instrumental versions of Weather songs and this other project.

Hansen told interviewers: “There’s another instrumental record I was writing in parallel to Weather, completely separate songs. That’s definitely something I’m excited to get to work on.”

Simulcast was released in February 2020 as a one-to-one instrumental companion to Weather. The parallel instrumental record Hansen described – with “completely separate songs” – has never been released. It remains unknown whether any of this material was later incorporated into Infinite Health (2024) or other releases.

VI. Infinite Health Outtakes (2024)

In his Grammy.com interview surrounding the release of Infinite Health (August 30, 2024), Hansen confirmed that tracks were cut from the album during the selection process: “We cut a lot of tracks for various reasons to keep this thing tight. It wasn’t because I didn’t believe in the song or I didn’t think it was the right statement.”

The specific titles and number of cut tracks have not been disclosed. Hansen’s phrasing suggests these were not discarded as failures but rather omitted for flow and cohesion reasons, which means they may be candidates for future release.

VII. “Only Love Will Save This Place” – The Demo Version (2020)

Before “Only Love” became the 2021 single collaboration between Tycho and Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), an earlier demo version of the track appeared on the benefit compilation Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy (September 4, 2020). The compilation was available for purchase on Bandcamp for a single day only, with all proceeds benefiting Fair Fight, a voting rights organization.

The demo was credited as “Tycho x Ben Gibbard – Only Love Will Save This Place (Demo Version)” – a different title from the final single, which was simply called “Only Love.” The compilation description explicitly noted that all tracks were “never-before-heard new songs, covers, remixes, live versions and unreleased demos.”

The final version of “Only Love” was released on July 13, 2021, with significant production differences from the demo. The demo version is therefore a distinct recording that documented an earlier stage of the collaboration.

VIII. “Adrift” – The Original 2008 Single Version vs. the Dive Album Version (2011)

“Adrift” was first released as the A-side of the Adrift / From Home single on Ghostly International (GI-117) in 2008. The version on the single is distinct from the version that appeared on Dive three years later. Hansen himself described “Adrift” as the first song written for Dive, indicating a long gestation period during which the track was substantially reworked. A contemporary review of Dive noted that “Not much is new here but the track is still as smooth and mellow as ever,” suggesting the differences are subtle rather than dramatic, though the production context and mastering are necessarily different between the 2008 single and the 2011 album version.

The 2008 single version of “Adrift” represents an earlier snapshot of a track that evolved during the Dive sessions.

  • Date: 2008 (single); 2011 (album)
  • Context: Adrift / From Home single (GI-117) vs. Dive album
  • Current availability: Both versions are commercially available – the single version on streaming platforms and Bandcamp; the album version on Dive.
  • Sources: Discogs – Adrift / From Home; ISO50 Blog

IX. “Coastal Brake” – The 2009 Single Version vs. the Dive Album Version (2011)

Similarly, “Coastal Brake” was released as a single (GI-130) in December 2009, two years before Dive. The Wikipedia entry for Dive notes that the original single version had “murky thump and surround sound sea effects,” suggesting the album version was remastered or remixed for inclusion on Dive. While both are recognizably the same composition, the sonic differences between the two versions constitute a notable variant.

X. Live-Only Tracks and Setlist Mysteries

“New Song” (2016)

Setlist.fm documents a track identified only as “New Song” in Tycho’s live performances. According to the setlist.fm song statistics page, this entry was most recently logged on September 22, 2016, at The Fillmore in Detroit, MI. The title “New Song” is a common placeholder used by setlist.fm contributors when a performed track cannot be matched to any known release. This track was performed during the period between the release of Epoch (September 30, 2016) and the writing of Weather, suggesting it may have been an Epoch-era composition being tested live, or an early sketch of what would become a Weather/Simulcast track.

No recording of this performance is known to be publicly available.

Unreleased Material Previewed at Golden States Festival (2023)

When Hansen curated and headlined his first Golden States music festival at Oxbow RiverStage in Napa, CA on July 15, 2023, the event was promoted with the note that Tycho would perform “a special set featuring songs from their discography plus unreleased tracks from their forthcoming album.” This pre-dated the release of Infinite Health by over a year, meaning attendees heard early versions of what would become album tracks – and potentially material that was later cut from the final tracklist.

No complete setlist or recording from this performance has been published.

Dive Live Tour Arrangements (2022)

In the summer of 2022, Tycho launched the “Dive Live” tour, performing the Dive album front-to-back to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Live performances necessarily involve different arrangements, extended passages, and transitions that do not exist on the studio recordings. Hansen’s comment about “PBS” – that he “flipped the final part into a new space” for live performance – suggests similar treatment was applied to other tracks. The “Dive Live” arrangements represent a body of alternate versions that have not been officially released as recordings.

XI. Burning Man Sunrise DJ Sets: Original Tracks and Unidentified Material

Hansen has performed annual sunrise DJ sets at Burning Man since at least 2014, each given a distinct title and later uploaded to SoundCloud. These sets are curated mixes combining other artists’ material with Tycho’s own tracks and, occasionally, unreleased edits or transitions. The known sets are:

Year Set Title SoundCloud URL
2014 Black Sunrise soundcloud.com/tycho/black-sunrise…
2015 Elsewhere soundcloud.com/tycho/elsewhere…
2016 Descent soundcloud.com/tycho/descent…
2018 Waypoint soundcloud.com/tycho/waypoint…
2019 Inversion Referenced in Conscious Electronic coverage
2023 Sanctuary soundcloud.com/tycho/sanctuary…
2024 Infinite Referenced on 1001tracklists
2025 (Documented) 1001tracklists

The 2016 “Descent” set was noted as including “original tunes from Tycho himself – including remixes of ‘Spectre,’ ‘Montana’ and ‘Epoch’” alongside tracks from Boards of Canada, Maribou State, Tourist, and Com Truise. The remixed/edited versions of Tycho’s own tracks used in these DJ sets represent alternate versions that exist only in these mixes.

Hansen has also released other DJ mixes on SoundCloud, including: - Palms DJ Mix (July 4, 2014) – a two-hour house party mix - DoLab Weekend 1 DJ Set (Coachella, 2017)

These mixes may contain original transitions, edits, or unreleased material, but comprehensive track-by-track identification of all original content within them has not been completed by the fan community.

XII. Pre-Tycho Material: Command Collective Era (1999–2003)

Before adopting the Tycho name and self-releasing The Science of Patterns in 2002, Hansen was part of a loose collective of electronic musicians in Sacramento, California called Command Collective. The group included:

  • Scott Hansen (later Tycho)
  • Dusty Brown (who would later remix Tycho material and contribute to Past Is Prologue)
  • Chachi Jones (who remixed “Send and Receive” on Sunrise Projector and Past Is Prologue)
  • Evan Schneider (a.k.a. Tha Fruitbat; also part of Hysteresis Loop and Two Playa Game)
  • Park Avenue (later known as Lifeliner)

Hansen described Command Collective as “a pretty loose deal,” clarifying that “it wasn’t like we were a group making music together. The reality of it was we were the only electronic musicians in Sacramento.” From 2001 through 2003, the collective held shows with live projections at venues including Espresso Metro, creating an early template for the audiovisual presentations that would later become a hallmark of Tycho’s live show.

Hansen began experimenting with music around 1999, using drum machines and samplers, progressing to keyboards and eventually guitar. His primary instrument during this period was an Ensoniq ASR-X Pro groove production workstation. Any recordings Hansen made during this pre-Science of Patterns period – individual experiments, collaborative Command Collective performances, live recordings from Espresso Metro shows – have never surfaced publicly. Hansen has not referenced the existence of any such recordings in interviews, though the extended period of experimentation (roughly 1999 to 2002) strongly suggests working recordings existed.

The dissolution of Command Collective was driven by the RAVE Act restricting underground shows, dwindling venue and promoter support for electronic music in Sacramento, and members’ lives diverging.

XIII. ISO50 Blog Exclusives and Free Downloads

Throughout the late 2000s and into the mid-2010s, Hansen’s ISO50 blog (blog.iso50.com) served as a primary channel for distributing free music. While most of the Tycho-specific downloads were promotional copies of commercially released tracks, the blog also hosted material with a less certain status:

Free MP3 Compilations (2009–2010)

Hansen curated at least three multi-artist free MP3 EPs distributed exclusively through the ISO50 blog:

These were curated compilations featuring various artists rather than exclusive Tycho material, but they demonstrate the blog’s role as a music distribution platform and may have included Tycho-adjacent or collaborative material.

Under the Mountain Compilations (2011–2012)

Hansen organized at least two “Under the Mountain” showcase events, both accompanied by free downloadable compilations:

  • Under the Mountain (August 30, 2011) – A free compilation for an ISO50/Moodgadget showcase at The Glasslands in Brooklyn, featuring exclusive tracks from Heathered Pearls, Jacob 2-2, Starfawn, Beacon, Teeel, D. Gookin, Andre Obin, Foxes In Fiction, and Mux Mool. Hansen DJed the event but was not a featured performer. – blog.iso50.com/25153/
  • Under the Mountain 2 (2012) – A second edition of the event and compilation. – blog.iso50.com/29428/

These compilations are no longer available for download through their original blog links, making the individual tracks on them effectively lost unless fans archived them.

Free Tycho Tracks Via ISO50

Known Tycho-specific free downloads offered through the blog include:

  • The Daydream / The Disconnect (320kbps MP3) – Direct download of the 2007 Ghostly single: blog.iso50.com/484/
  • Hours (Teen Daze Remix) – Free download, late 2011: blog.iso50.com/25468/
  • Little Dragon “Little Man” (Tycho Remix) – Free download, November 2011: blog.iso50.com/26161/
  • Free Tracks by Tycho + Mux Mool + Shigeto – May 2010, in connection with the Ghostly Horizon Line compilation: blog.iso50.com/15690/

While all of these were versions of commercially available tracks, the MP3 files offered via the blog may have been unique masters or pre-release versions. The download links are almost certainly dead as of 2026.

XIV. The Science of Patterns: The 2007 Bonus Track

When The Science of Patterns received its first digital release in 2007 (as 320kbps MP3 files), a fifth track was added to the original four-track EP:

“In the End” (4:32)

  • Date: 2007 (digital release; composition date unknown, likely 2001–2002)
  • Context: Bonus track added to the digital reissue of The Science of Patterns
  • Current availability: Included on all subsequent reissues, including the 2023 vinyl pressing and streaming release
  • Notes: This track was not on the original 2002 self-released CD. Its inclusion on the 2007 digital version and all subsequent pressings means it is no longer “lost,” but for the five years between 2002 and 2007, it existed as an unreleased composition from the Science of Patterns sessions. Whether additional tracks from those sessions exist beyond “In the End” has not been discussed by Hansen.
  • Sources: Discogs – The Science of Patterns (2007 digital); MusicBrainz

XV. “Forge” / “Boundary Rider”: The Instrumental-to-Vocal Pipeline

Hansen’s 2025 collaboration with Paul Banks (Interpol), “Boundary Rider,” provides a documented case study of how unreleased Tycho instrumentals can exist for years before surfacing. Hansen revealed that “Boundary Rider” originated as an instrumental demo called “Forge” that he had been developing for two years before sending it to Banks. The instrumental version was then completed and released as its own single, “Forge,” on March 4, 2026.

This pipeline – instrumental sketch existing for years, then spawning both a vocal collaboration and a standalone instrumental release – suggests that Hansen’s working archive contains many such instrumentals at various stages of development. The gap between the creation of the “Forge” demo and its eventual release as two distinct tracks illustrates how long material can sit unreleased in Hansen’s workflow.

XVI. Covers and Non-Original Material Played Live

Setlist.fm documents Tycho performing covers of other artists’ material during DJ sets and occasionally during live band performances. These are not unreleased Tycho originals, but they represent rare performances worth documenting:

  • “Olson” (Boards of Canada cover)
  • “Ready Lets Go” (Boards of Canada)
  • “Open Eye Signal” (Jon Hopkins)
  • “Gosh” (Jamie xx)
  • “Ragysh” (Todd Terje)
  • “Radio Caca” (Jackson and His Computer Band)
  • “Open” (Com Truise)
  • “In All the Wrong Places” (Ulrich Schnauss – also included on Back to Mine: Tycho)
  • “As You Fall (VIP)” (Throwing Snow)
  • “Clairvoyer” (Random Rab)
  • “Knowing We’ll Be Here” (Daniel Avery)
  • “Last Sunset” (Luis Lancaster – also included on Back to Mine: Tycho)
  • “A tout a l’heure” (Bibio)

These suggest Hansen’s personal taste and influences, with Boards of Canada appearing most frequently among the covers.

XVII. Summary: What Remains Unreleased

Confirmed Unreleased Material

Category Description Approximate Date Status
Vocal album Full album with unnamed vocalists 2003–2004 Hansen confirmed recordings exist; never released
Epoch-era tracks Songs Hansen “feels strongly about” 2016–2017 Referenced in interviews; unreleased
Parallel instrumental record “Completely separate songs” from Weather era 2018–2019 Referenced in interviews; fate unknown
Infinite Health outtakes Tracks cut “for various reasons” 2022–2024 Confirmed cut; unreleased
Pre-Tycho experiments Command Collective era material 1999–2003 No recordings known to exist publicly

Rare but Available Material

Track/Version Date Where to Find It
“Overlook” (Sunrise Projector exclusive) 2004 Out-of-print Gammaphone CD; intermittent streaming
“Lapse” (Sunrise Projector exclusive) 2004 Same as above
“Sunrise Calendar” (Sunrise Projector exclusive) 2004 Same as above
“PBS (Live Edit)” 2022 Back to Mine: Tycho compilation
“Only Love Will Save This Place” (demo) 2020 Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy (limited Bandcamp release)
“Adrift” (2008 single version) 2008 Streaming platforms; distinct from Dive version
Burning Man DJ set edits/transitions 2014–2025 SoundCloud (Tycho DJ Mixes playlist)

Material Referenced but Unverified

Description Source Notes
Additional Science of Patterns-era recordings beyond “In the End” Inference from Hansen’s description of months of recovery-period composition No direct evidence
Live recordings from Command Collective shows Inference from documented show history No recordings have surfaced
Golden States 2023 unreleased previews Festival promotion No setlist or recording published

A Note on Methodology

This catalog was assembled from the following source categories:

  • Discogs (discogs.com) – For verifying release histories, tracklists, and label information
  • Setlist.fm (setlist.fm) – For identifying live-performed tracks not matching any official release
  • 1001tracklists.com – For DJ set tracklist identification
  • SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/tycho) – For DJ mixes and streaming-only material
  • ISO50 Blog (blog.iso50.com) – For free downloads and promotional posts
  • Bandcamp (tycho.bandcamp.com) – For release verification
  • Interviews: Grammy.com, This Song Is Sick, PopMatters, Tape Op, Submerge Magazine, Impose Magazine, MusicTech, Origin Effects, NPR, The Great Discontent, Conscious Electronic
  • Wikipedia – For cross-referencing tracklists and release dates
  • Reddit – For fan community discussions (r/electronicmusic AMA threads)

Where claims are based on inference rather than direct evidence, this is noted explicitly. Fan-sourced identifications (particularly from setlist databases) should be treated as approximate rather than definitive.

This catalog was compiled in April 2026. For corrections or additions, cross-reference with the Discogs artist page for Tycho (discogs.com/artist/71827-Tycho-3) and the setlist.fm artist page (setlist.fm/setlists/tycho-33d71c05.html).