Cool Hunting

Back in 2003 when I first received the first Idol Tryouts compilation from Michigan's Ghostly International label in Ann Arbor I was in a musical lull.

I was stuck between a love for all the ceaselessly innovative but increasingly anonymous sounding electronic stuff coming out and fond memories of the more idiosyncratic pop and rock I grew up with as a kid in the 1980's. It was the post "bubble" era and Idol Tryouts presented the tension between the faceless exuberance of technology fetishism and the cult of personality of rock and roll directly without too much fanfare or liner notes. It simply sounded out a rift in the zeitgeist few of us could articulate but we all knew and were trying to evaluate.

Fast forward to 2006, Idol Tryouts 2 further exploits this notion with 2 discs, Avant Pop and the obscurant SMM. Where the "Avant" disc measures the platonic shifts of electronic styles and seismic rock currents, the SMM disc dives into longer deeper ambient spaces. Both discs are like a mini-adventure into the Ghostly world.

Idol Tryouts 2 is available from Ghostly International.