Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom samples records from the 1920s and manipulates them to resemble the music from
The Shining. The Caretaker's debut album, it explores
ambient,
noise,
choral,
dark ambient,
drone,
industrial,
big band, and
experimental music. The record is more noise-orientated than later Caretaker releases, often bearing resemblance to Kirby's work as V/Vm. The tracks feature aspects such as vocals filtered through
reverberation and vinyl crackle, with an effect of
hauntology. 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. It incorporates feelings of melancholy by
time stretching waltzes and voices.
Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom has a much more prominent hauntological influence than other Caretaker records. 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. 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''. Sampled artists include
Krzysztof Penderecki and
Al Bowlly. 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'." 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. Many vocal tracks distort the voices so the lyrics are somewhat unrecognizable. Some tracks resemble a hissing sound, like in
The Disintegration Loops by
avant-garde composer
William Basinski. Vocal tracks include "Haunting Me", "Dream Waltz", "From out of nowhere", "Friends past reunited" and "Thanks", whereby vocals and, in occasion, choirs, start
panning. Other vocal tracks such as "In the dark" and "You and the night" have two vocals at different pitches creating the impression that there is a child accompanying the main singer; another track, "In days of old" has dramatic pitch changes throughout the song. "By The Seaside", while presenting a more coherent structure, has metallic screeches accompanying the instrumentals, rising and falling as the song progresses. The record ends with "Midnight, the stars and you", the song used in the ending credits for
The Shining. ==Packaging and release==