The theme for today’s selection is “Subdued Club Music”. That said, maybe “Subdued” isn’t giving the big bassline enough credit.
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About once a month for the last year or so, I wake up in the night with what I understand to be night terrors. These small episodes can best be described as “waking nightmares”. More common in children, they actually started for me in adulthood. Although quite shocking at the moment, I tend to get more entertainment than terror from remembering that I did something ridiculous the night before(like searching the room for giant animals).
Night terrors can be terrifying, vivid and yet fleeting. The tracks compiled for this mix all fit that description as well. Some of the tracks(the untitled ones) are less fully-formed compositions, and more of a coagulation of electronic elements. These will never be released singularly – they will only be available as part of this mix.
You will be terrified. You will be thrilled. When it’s over, you will have no idea what happened. This is Night Terrors.
Karl D Presents – Night Terrors(Download – Right click and select “Save As”)
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This track got shelved on several occasions. At one point, it got deleted entirely before completion, because I didn’t think I could make it work. After doing so, the melody kept coming back to me, so I found a way.
There were several directions I ultimately wanted to go, which led to the inclusion of the Kraftwerkian electro break near the middle. At one point during production, this variation might have built the entire song, but a little variety gives this track a robust character.
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The title is pronounced like Alicia Silverstone would in the movie Clueless.
Spacey breaks characterize this cinematic track. Also, the “Shitty Strings” make a reappearance here, to great effect. Two variations in the main melody maintain a feeling of dread throughout the song.
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The title is Latin, and might as well be called “The one that has a name I can’t remember”.
This production is raw, dirty, and admittedly busy. At first I wanted this to sound cleaner as a whole, but I think it sounds good with a little dirt on it. The contrast between the general grit of the track with the clean, ethereal synth providing the chords was very interesting to me. That kind of contrast has been fundamental to several key productions of mine over the years, so this track in a way felt like a “return to my roots”.
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This mix of “Momentary” is the next track to be included in the soon-to-be available “Electronic Monk” EP. Like the last two remixes, a drastic change in tempo changes the feeling of the track.
The track has the same overall structure of the D&B original, but changes were made to the bass, drums, and FX which all contribute to the change in flow of the track. The vocal sample that is included in this mix was originally meant to be in the original, but I felt the minimalist approach to the original mix worked best. It definitely pumps up the excitement in this mix!
Karl D – Momentary(Dark Breaks mix)
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This post includes one of a few songs that I considered compiling as part of a concept EP with “Toxin“. After careful consideration, I decided to make them random beats instead.
Here we have the prestigious return of the “Shitty Strings“, along with some underwater-sounding sound FX and synthesizers. I really like the technical melody, flow, and patient pace of this track.
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This quickly came to me one day, and it came out pretty much as I expected. The cut up drum loops and the big bass that comes in about halfway is what this track is all about.
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