Customer Reviews

Vol. 1-Idol Tryouts-Ghostly International

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

How this album got 5 stars in URB magazine is beyond me. Don't get me wrong this is a good cd but worthy of classic status?!-hardly.

Idol Tryouts certainly does have its inspired moments though. Telefon Tel Aviv, remix of Midwest Product's "genuine display" doesn't stray far from the work on their album Farenheit Fair Enough(which is a good thing considering that album is absolutely essential). Outputmessage contributes a song that sounds like Richard D. James-era Aphex Twin and Osbourne's track is an example of moving and unpredictable melodic techno. my favorite track on the album is by a trio i have never heard of before named Kiln. THeir song includes dynamic timbres and lush and affecting harmonies that simmer in my mind as i write this; if this song is any indication i will be looking forward to hearing more from them.

The rest of the album is a mishmash of melodic glitchy hip hop beats, lilting minimal techno and unfortunate electro.

my main complaint with the album is the inclusion of some of the tracks. Charles Manier, Kill Memory Crash and Dykehouse all give additions which are unnecessary and annoying. THe Dykehouse in particular is weak. His song is an attempt at post-rock with an electronic edge but comes off as contrived and fake as any song i have heard in recent memory. THese songs are also especially irratating because these are butted up against some truly nice material.

All in all, judging by the musical output and extremely endearing artwork by Michael Segal, Ghostly International is definetly a record label to keep an eye on and Idol Tryouts is a worthy purchase.

outputmessage is on this CD, which makes it an excellent choice. I haven't listened to the CD itself, but I've heard much of outputmessage's stuff, and they're really really great. Check it out.