I love Spectral Sound. As the sister/brother label to Ghostly International, it puts out more dancefloor orientated material, which, if I'm honest, is what I'm after. Having reviewed Ghostly International Tryouts Volume 1 last time around and being a little disappointed, I was hoping for a better effort from this compilation.
It's fantastic.
Pulling together hard-to-find stuff is always a sure fire way to appeal to the trainspotters out there and, let's face it, techno has enough of them, in their anorak, stan smiths and terrorist chic facial hair. Techno has always been about a refusal to compromise and give in to the mainstream making it difficult to get the message across without being considered a sellout.
Spectral, it must be said, are a definite URB/XLR8R favorite and have a current media darling in the shape of Matthew Dear (who along with his alias Audion is all over this compilation). However there is more to this label than the one person in the glare of the spotlight at the moment.
With artists of the caliber of Peter Grummich, Osborne, Geoff White, and Hakan Libdo (aka The Vanisher) you're guaranteed detroit/chicago-influenced house and techno. This is a solid compilation made all the better by the inclusion of a fantastic mix CD (by Ryan Elliot) which manages to put 33 tracks together in about 70 minutes, which is one of those compilations that will see you out of the house and greet you on the way back home.
If you still have people who "don't get techno" or who think its "just boomp-boomp-boomp-boomp," play them this.
