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,
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
"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
"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
division, an offshoot with its gaze permanently fixed on the dancefloor;
Dear
and
'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
production nuances. New jacks
Outputmessage
Kiln
-- two home-listening
Morr
-style tracks -- factor in, and so does the aptly named
Kill Memory Crash
. ~ Andy Kellman