Nachtamt - Enhanced Awareness EP

Recording info

Release number 10 introduces us to the music of Nachtamt. This is his debut release and he is another one of Estroe's Music Advice Agency talents.

Nachtamt first met Estroe in 2013 as he was looking to get advice on producing music with Ableton Live. It meant that in their first session together Estroe had to 'endure' Nachtamt's extensive library of FastTracker productions, but after a few more sessions she would begin to hear the potential in Nachtamt's Ableton creations.

The sessions with Estroe would drive Nachtamt to create more and more music which eventually lead to Estroe
signing two of his exquisitely evocative tracks to Rosedale Records.

The idea behind Nachtamt's original mix of 'Enhanced Awareness' is to depict levels of awareness and how people perceive the world, and how things may not be what they seem at first glance. The track starts with a springy bassline while gentle aqueous percussion materializes gradually as if delicate raindrops are beginningto fall on the surface of a small stream. Like a floating leaf, one is carried along in the flow. High metallic synth sounds shimmer like moonlight through trees and dance delicately with the emerging carillon of chiming melodies as the whole semblance of the track transforms into something a little less gentle, but more gloriously lush.

MUUI's remix of 'Enhanced Awareness' explores Nachtamt's idea further and deeper. It opens with a mood of apprehensiveness. A continuous single note hangs uneasy in the mix as distant and reverb soaked bass synths lurk, brooding in the shadows like a menacing figure. Short, sharp melodies hide almost from view while the chattering percussion which occasionally surfaces is like a paranoid thought - or like nervous eyes watching...

The question is, who is hiding from who?

The original mix of 'A Minority of One' contemplates a quote from George Orwell's '1984' in which the main character, Winston, considers whether or not he is mad for believing the truth even when no one else does.

'Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.' The staccato orchestral stabs and almost militaristic rhythm of the percussion is obedient, like the citizens of 'Oceania', they work away throughout the track while the introspective but defiant sounding lead captures the idea of a solitary mind beautifully. Estroe's remix of 'A Minority of One' starts off with sombre pads and atmospherics. The loneliness of the overlying melody and it's introspective nature portray the 'Minority of One' theme perfectly. Once again, as in the original, orchestral stabs announce themselves. Unsubmissive they stand out, on their own, reinforcing the original idea further. However there is a different feel to the remix in that the mood is more reflective and while quite melancholic, there are periodic moments of optimism, like Winston has slowly accepted the nature of his thoughts.