Spooky - Tales of the Unexpected 4

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  • After repeated listens to Tales of the Unexpected, it didn't really inspire me to say much. That though, says a lot... It's neither nails-down-a-blackboard bad, nor text-all-your-buddies good, but rather an efficient transition from A to B without any real spark. Take a couple of expensive cars for an analogy: the one which, without ballyhoo, gets you round the corners, stops you efficiently and transports you comfortably at speed is, on paper, just as good as the second car. That second car, though, does all that with a rocket up its ass—twitching just enough to give you a sense of action, pushing you to really get involved in driving it attentively. That forced engagement makes it stand apart; it's what makes you love it. Tales of the Unexpected is Robert Redford to Jack Nicholson; a gin and tonic to a tequila slammer; a Bentley to a Ferrari. It's just too programmed a journey: a tale of the...expected. There are artists included which should spice things up, Agoria, Sei, Justin Martin, Joel Mull, but the usual stand-apart sounds of those names are lost in the efficient mixing. It's like when you pull a lump of blue tack apart—the two pieces smoothly separate, steadily stretching to thinner and thinner strands until the final thread in the middle quietly disappears to nothing—but in reverse: There are no shocks or jolts, just melted sounds which too obliviously nestle next to each other. That suggests the parts are greater than the sum, and that's certainly true in places. The tight, jittery snares which ride atop the undulating up-down bassline of Dubshape's "Droplets" pitter patter their way into your mind and soul. Helmut Dubnitzky's remix of "Resthirn" is a tight, clicky affair with pent-up minimal kineticism which punches itself a nice dark hole in the otherwise sunlit sonics of elsewhere. And the blipping pulses and smoky vocals of Ben Watt's "Guinea Pig" also draw you in, allow you to take a breath, then help the mix push on when the 4/4 rises again after the delayed synth break. Not all the parts shine bright, though: The big room, trance-y overtones of D-NOX & BECKERS' tech house are too brainless, and the drifting melodies of King Roc's "DiscoVery#1" too pedestrian and wishy-washy. There's a prog precision to Tales of the Unexpected, but that's understandable coming from Sasha's prominent studio wingman Charlie May. You don't play a role in crafting epic soundscapes like "Airdrawndagger" and "Xpander" otherwise. It's understandable, too, that you'd expect a technically perfect, textbook mix which ticks all the boxes from a duo like Spooky, who have been at this for 16 years. But that's not enough to make this more than a couple of pleasant hours.
  • Tracklist
      CD1 - OUT 01. Agoria - Dust (Oxia Mix) 02. Sei A - Smile for Me (Chaim Remix) 03. Ante Perry vs Tube & Berger - Human You (Peter Jürgens Remix) 04. Joel Mull - Red Light of Dawn 05. Behrouz & Andy Chatterley - Lost in Translation (Timo Maas Mad Day Remix) / Lexy - The Return of the Skakavac 06. Lucca - Crank 07. D-Nox & Beckers - Beefcake (King Roc Remix) 08. Spooky - Bambou 09. Itamar Sagi - One Million Oaks 10. Christian Smith & John Selway - Push Factor (Oxia Remix) 11. Sian - Lemon Shark 12. Pole Folder - The Way (Spooky Remix) CD2 - IN 01. Chopstick + Johnjon - Birds (Liapin's Rework) 02. Flinsch & Nielson - Resthirn (Helmut Dubnitzky Remix) 03. Tiger Stripes - Hooked (Solomun Remix) 04. Willie Graff & Tuccillo - When the Sun Goes Down 05. King Roc - DiscoVery#1 06. Justin Martin - The Sad Piano (Jimpster Remix) 07. Tigerskin - Platin 08. Ben Watt - Guinea Pig (Vocal Variation with Julia Biel) 09. Dubshape - Droplets (Early Night Mix) 10. Spooky - Eypes Mouth (Lyme Bay Version) 11. Josh Wink - Jus Right
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