Vol. 1-Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International

Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ghostly Int'l
• ASIN: B000094Q2T
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,307 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From URB Magazine

(Ghostly International) In case you haven’t been paying attention, the thriving young minds of Ghostly International have been not-so-quietly making the case for higher education translating into a higher level of listening — and living. Formed in the idyllic college town of Ann Arbor, MI, Sam Valenti IV and crew have built a fresh new electronic lifestyle and the requisite soundtrack. Flagship artist Dabrye (aka Tadd Mullinex) conjures up dreamy compositions that echo Prefuse 73 at his most soulful and Aphex Twin at his least cantankerous (represented here by the bliss-hop of "Making It Pay"). Simultaneously, the label champions electronically savvy indie rockers like Midwest Product, who contribute the quiet, Tortoise-meets-Four Tet pulse of "Laundry." URB Next 100 head Matthew Dear delivers warm minimal techno on "Some New Depression." Fellow Next 100 alum and sonically dexterous Todd Osbourne drops cool micro-house with the chippy "Daylight," while my new favorite act Dykehouse revive shoe-gazing guitar glory on the euphoric "Map Ref." Outmessage’s atmospheric epic, "Bernard’s Song," is a sleeper surprise. Ghostly International is among the new vanguard of electronic music, picking up where labels like Mo’Wax and Factory left off, bringing a singular aesthetic that encompasses a panorama of essential sounds. Like the label that spawned it, Idol Tryouts is nothing less than brilliant.

SS

Product Description

Following up one of the few excellent neo-electro/disco compilations would've been a thankless task for any label. However, Ghostly International proves to be more than up to the challenge with Idol Tryouts, their second various-artist full-length. Unlike Disco Nouveau, which went outside the label's stable for all but one of its tracks, Idol Tryouts keeps it strictly in-house. This showcases the mix of IDM, abstract hip-hop, pulverizing industrial-electro, and minimal tech-house Ghostly and its Spectral subsidiary have been cultivating since late 1999, and it also previews some upcoming projects that will extend the label's stylistic reach. Bookended by two tracks from Dabrye's "Payback" 12" -- including Prefuse 73's def(t) Megamix of One/Three highlights -- the filling is all but completely filler-free. Dykehouse's cover of Wire's "Map Ref. " is closer to My Bloody Valentine's version than the original, casting a pulsating gauze over a bassline that could be skipping up a freshly minted vapor trail. Charles Manier's "At the Bottle," reprised from the Disco Nouveau: Addendum 12", features the type of battering rhythms and multiple lines of careening keyboards that only Manier can provide. Matthew Dear, Osborne, and James Cotton represent the Spectral division, an offshoot with its gaze permanently fixed on the dancefloor; Dear and Osborne's tracks are minimal house productions that are deep and dubby, while Cotton's is easily the most manic on the disc (that synthetic cowbell is out of control). Organic/synthetic indie alt-dance exponents Midwest Product chip in with two of their most moody yet optimistic songs yet, the second of which is a Telefon Tel Aviv remix with contemporary hip-hop production nuances. New jacks Outputmessage and Kiln -- two home-listening Morr-style tracks -- factor in, and so does the aptly named Kill Memory Crash. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the future of music, June 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Vol. 1-Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International (Audio CD)

I was SOOO sick of the same trance/house/techno year after year that I had to totally diverge away from the bumping club scene...

Then one day I heard about this label, Ghostly, because they are from the Detroit area...and were apparently starting a whole new branch of electronic music. I started to see articles in urb, rolling stone, entertainment weekly, etc..so I checked them out. some of the tracks on this album may be too intelligent and experimental for the average music listener, but every track could be classified as a different genre--it's that diverse and creative. Dykehouse has alternative in him, dabrye-hip hop. and matthew dear has the minimal techno tracks that famous djs all around the world are playing. The CD is AWESOME--and they are on the rise...as a music fanatic, I HIGHLY recommend the artists on this compilation.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boring, limited electronica, January 29, 2009

By 

H. Nguyen "Monkeyox" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vol. 1-Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International (Audio CD)

I bought this CD based on one good track that I heard on Pandora -- "Laundry" by Midwest Product. It's a great track, but nothing else on this record measures up. Slow, disjointed rhythms, repetitive unimaginative synth work, no melodic centers to most of the songs, and a distinct lack of theme or direction for the collection. A waste of $. I should have listened to more samples before I bought. Other than Midwest Product, the only good thing about this CD is the very cool graphic art.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars pretty good stuff, September 2, 2003

By 

robert shuller (brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vol. 1-Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International (Audio CD)

Idol Tryouts a pretty good record for the up and coming
Ann Arbor MI label Ghostly International. The only complaint is some of the music sounds a little generic. But that should soon change with new groups added to the label like Twine, James Cotton and Kosik.