Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom

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Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom
The Caretaker - Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom.jpg
Studio album by
Released1 September 1999 (1999-09-01)
Recorded1997–1999 [1]
Genre
Length74:20
Label V/Vm Test
Producer Leyland Kirby
The Caretaker chronology
Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom
(1999)
A Stairway to the Stars
(2001)

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom (stylized as Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom and commonly shortened to SMFTHB) is the debut studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 1999, it consists of an influence from the horror film The Shining , manipulating songs from the 1920s to resemble the film's music. It differed from Kirby's earlier works in that it did not manipulate pop songs to create noise albums, as he did under the V/Vm alias. It rather slowed down big band records to create a hauntological atmosphere. However, the packaging was the same as other V/Vm releases. The album was met with positivity from music critics, who praised its hauntological themes.

Contents

Background

In the late 1990s, English musician Leyland Kirby started recording as V/Vm, releasing noise albums sampled from pop songs. [2] Controversial aspects, such as copyright concerns and recordings of pigs feeding, were a prominent part of the alias. [3] The alias was prolific, releasing in vinyl and CD on limited numbers. [4] In 1997, Kirby started working in a new project, with only a turntable and effects at his disposal. [1] In 1999, inspired by the haunted ballroom scene from the horror film The Shining , [5] Kirby released Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom. [6] Contrary to other releases, it was under the Caretaker alias, which was named after one of the film's characters. [7] The pseudonym started with the exploration of nostalgia but would later shift into themes of memory and its deterioration. This started with Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia (2005), which explored the disorder of same name. [8] The Caretaker's breakthrough album, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011) was inspired by a study about Alzheimer's disease. [9] Kirby's final release under the alias, Everywhere at the End of Time (20162019) is a depiction of the stages of dementia. [10] It uses the track "Friends past reunited" of A Stairway to the Stars , which is a much more clear version of the track that has the same name in this album, in its last six minutes. Though the original piece used in "Friends past reunited" has been identified, being the aria "Lasst mich ihn nur noch einmal küssen" from St Luke Passion, BWV 246, the exact performance used for the sample remains unknown, and an ongoing effort exists to identify it. [11]

Composition and style

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom samples records from the 1920s and manipulates them to resemble the music from The Shining. [4] [12] [13] The Caretaker's debut album, [14] [15] [10] it explores ambient, [4] noise, [16] choral, dark ambient, drone, industrial, [17] big band, [7] and experimental music. [18] The record is more noise-orientated than later Caretaker releases, often bearing resemblance to Kirby's work as V/Vm. [19] The tracks feature aspects such as vocals filtered through reverberation and vinyl crackle, with an effect of hauntology. [4] The original samples are slowed down, distorted, and echoed for an intent of creating a disorientation to the listener, with layers applied akin to films by David Lynch. [7] [17] It incorporates feelings of melancholy by time stretching waltzes and voices. [7] Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom has a much more prominent hauntological influence than other Caretaker records. [20] Along with releases by the Caretaker such as A Stairway to the Stars and Persistent Repetition of Phrases , it remains as one of his most prominent ambient records. [21] It is part of the Caretaker's haunted ballroom trilogy, spanning Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom, A Stairway to the Stars, and We'll All Go Riding on a Rainbow. [22] Sampled artists include Krzysztof Penderecki and Al Bowlly. [23] [24] Writer Adam Parkinson cited the album as a "sonic crystal, as the 'actual' music co-exists in close circuits with its 'virtual' counterpart, and we are listening to both a 'presence' and an 'absence'." [25]

Noise tracks include "One thousand memories", "Den of iniquity", and "September 1939", the last referencing the invasion of Poland. They have a style akin to Japanese musician Merzbow. [4] Many vocal tracks distort the voices so the lyrics are somewhat unregocnizable. [17] Some tracks resemble a hissing sound, like in The Disintegration Loops by avant-garde composer William Basinski. [7] Other vocal tracks include "Dream Waltz", "In the dark", and "From out of nowhere", whereby vocals and, in occasion, choirs, start panning. [17] "By The Seaside", while presenting a more coherent structure, has metallic screeches accompanying the instrumentals, rising and falling as the song progresses. "You and the night" has two vocals at different pitches creating the impression that there is a child accompanying the main singer. The band later plays with a distorted brass, thus increasing the song's deranged feel. [17] The record ends with "Midnight, the stars and you", the song used in the ending credits for The Shining. [23]

Packaging and release

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom was released after V/Vm's double CD AuralOffalWaffleTenPintsOfBitterAndABagOfPorkScratchings. Before AuralOffalWaffle, there have been several releases on vinyl records at the alias' record label, V/Vm Test. The packaging came in a zipped bag with photocopied paper inserts, akin to AuralOffalWaffle. [4] Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom was released on 1 September 1999. [26] [27]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [28]
Musique MachineStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom was praised due to its hauntological style. Brainwashed's critic Mark Weddle noted the album's simultaneous "a bit disturbing, a bit humorous and a bit beautiful" feel as "Loads of fun!". He noted its noise tracks as having sounds "that would make Merzbow jealous." [4] Duncan Simpson, writing for Musique Machine, felt the record's "unique listening experience [...] is just the trick" for fans of dark ambient/industrial music. [17] The A.V. Club 's Seal O'Neal stated Kirby's work at depicting memories as "the ghosts that torment us" was "like listening to death itself." [7] According to writer Corey Seymour from magazine Vogue , the title Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom "goes a long way in describing the music." [29]

Track listing

Adapted from Bandcamp and Brainwashed. [4] [26] The CD version features an interval between "Reckless Night" and "Thronged with Ghosts". [4]

Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The haunted ballroom"3:44
2."By the seaside"4:00
3."One thousand memories"1:25
4."Haunting me"3:48
5."A summer romance"3:05
6."Den of iniquity"2:45
7."Dream Waltz"3:29
8."A handful of stars"3:34
9."Request dance"5:09
10."In the dark"3:02
11."Reckless night"3:02
12."Thronged with ghosts"3:48
13."From out of nowhere"3:45
14."Friends past reunited"2:00
15."You and the night"3:12
16."Moonlight serenade"2:34
17."Disillusioned"2:41
18."The revolving bandstand"0:47
19."Garden of weeds"3:06
20.""Excuse me" for ladies"0:59
21."In days of old"2:14
22."September 1939"1:57
23."Thanks"3:25
24."The haunted ballroom"3:20
25."Midnight, the stars and you" (untitled on the CD release)3:29
Total length:74:20

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<i>An Empty Bliss Beyond This World</i> 2011 studio album by the Caretaker

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<i>Patience (After Sebald)</i> (soundtrack) Album by the Caretaker

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<i>Everywhere at the End of Time</i> 2016–2019 album series by the Caretaker

Everywhere at the End of Time is the eleventh recording by the Caretaker, an alias of English electronic musician Leyland Kirby. Released between 2016 and 2019, its six studio albums use degrading loops of sampled ballroom music to portray the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Inspired by the success of An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011), Kirby produced Everywhere as his final major work under the alias. The albums were produced in Kraków and released over six-month periods to "give a sense of time passing", with abstract album covers by his friend Ivan Seal. The series drew comparisons to the works of composer William Basinski and electronic musician Burial, while the later stages were influenced by avant-gardist composer John Cage.

<i>Everywhere, an Empty Bliss</i> 2019 compilation album by the Caretaker

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<i>Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was</i> 2009 studio album by Leyland Kirby

Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was is the debut studio album by English musician Leyland Kirby, released on 1 September 2009. With his ongoing aliases at the time, Kirby produced a melancholic album that explored thoughts of the future. He produced Sadly at an agitated time, when he would not work but rather drink with various girls. The record was first issued as three full-length CDs and would later be repressed as six vinyls with artwork by Ivan Seal. The release received moderately positive reception from music critics. Some criticized its length, while others praised its emotional sound.

<i>Well All Go Riding on a Rainbow</i> 2003 studio album by the Caretaker

We'll All Go Riding on a Rainbow is the third studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2003, it was the last of Kirby's "haunted ballroom trilogy", which spans his albums influenced by the film The Shining. It features looped melodies and vinyl crackle to create the ambience of The Shining's ballroom, with its artwork emphasizing this style. We'll All Go Riding on a Rainbow was met with positive reception from music critics, who praised its haunted ballroom ambiance. However, other critics felt that the album's length was an issue. Kirby's next album as the Caretaker, Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia (2005) would abandon the haunted ballroom concept and install themes of memory loss.

<i>A Stairway to the Stars</i> 2001 studio album by the Caretaker

A Stairway to the Stars is the second studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2001, it was created after one of Kirby's pop manipulations as V/Vm gained attention. Following Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom, A Stairway to the Stars features new genres such as darkwave and elements such as reversed vocals. The record was met with positivity from music critics, who praised its ambiance. It is regarded as Kirby's best album in his haunted ballroom trilogy, which spans his first three releases.

<i>Persistent Repetition of Phrases</i> 2008 studio album by the Caretaker

Persistent Repetition of Phrases is the seventh studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released on 1 April 2008, it was his first record to cover themes of Alzheimer's disease. The album was also the first Caretaker release to present looping of short segments within tracks. It marked Kirby's change of record labels from V/Vm Test to History Always Favours the Winners, which he felt might have helped with the record's success.

<i>Take Care. Its a Desert Out There...</i> 2017 studio album in tribute of Mark Fisher by the Caretaker

Take Care. It's a Desert Out There... is the eleventh studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released on 8 December 2017, Kirby composed it after the death of his collaborator, Mark Fisher, who died by suicide on January 13, 2017 at age 48. Consisting of a single title track throughout its 48-minute runtime, its proceeds would be donated to the mental health charity Mind. Kirby's initial intention would be to give the record to attendants of his performance at the Barbican Hall in London. However, due to a high demand, he decided to release it on his YouTube channel.

<i>Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia</i> 2005 studio album by the Caretaker

Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia is the fourth studio album by the Caretaker, an alias of musician Leyland Kirby. Released in 2005, it abandoned the haunted ballroom aesthetic of the previous albums and explored memory loss. Divided into six CDs, it consists of seventy-two drone tracks combined to create an almost four hour long release. It was compared by several critics to other musicians, including Merzbow, Boards of Canada, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

<i>Eager to Tear Apart the Stars</i> 2011 studio album by Leyland Kirby

Eager to Tear Apart the Stars is the second studio album by English electronic musician Leyland Kirby, released on 3 October 2011. Following his own name debut album Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was, Kirby continued exploring a more personal side of his music, though one that differs from his work as the Caretaker. Kirby produced the songs without using any samples, mostly creating piano tracks from synthesisers. This style of sound drew comparisons to the work of composers Harold Budd and Roedelius, though the record's press release claimed Kirby has his own oeuvre.

References

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