In The Mix: Carlita
Carlita is a more low-key figure in the music world. However, her work is astonishing. She’s easygoing and knows what she’s doing. House music can be a hit or miss, but Carlita always gets it right. Her set in Rome, Italy, for Cercle proves that she is worthy of more attention. Everything is perfect; there is no detail left unattended. Carlita thinks about her audience and has worked very hard at her craft. She uses house music, electronic music, and jazz composition elements in her sets. A lot is going on in her sets. Still, her audience should commend her ability to keep it creative and energetic.
The set is fun. The groove starts at a medium pace and relies on repetition. During this set, there are clear distinctions between the different parts of the set. The first nine minutes were an introduction, so Carlita took this time to make the audience feel comfortable and settle them in. The opening is light and warm. The drum track has all the essential elements, including a kick drum, snare drum, hi-hat, and a shaker. Although this part is good, Carlita takes it to the next level when she transitions to the next section of the set. To some, what Carlita does may seem easy, but it is far from that.
Carlita continues with the house beat from the introduction for 11 more minutes. At this point, people don’t know what’s coming next. Carlita replaces the loud kick-drum with a softer, well-defined one. The composition of the drum line is almost the same, apart from some added percussion. The tone of the set is relatively light and uplifting. Carlita uses samples to her advantage, and her arrangement game is spot on. Because repetition in a DJ set is inevitable, sometimes it can get boring. Yes, Carlita uses repetition but she is also the queen of surprises.
One would never expect a trumpet line to come in out of nowhere. At minute 27, the set takes yet another turn. This time it is purely groovy. Carlita knows how to blend genres. After her mix of “Belo Horizonti” by The Heartists, she swings the set back to classic house music. It is important to acknowledge her mixing skills here again. Some parts of the set are bass-heavy, while others are treble-oriented. Regardless of what she does, Carlita can consistently successfully execute her visions. The bass-heavy songs do not overshadow the other elements of the music. It simply gives the set more rhythm. It is impressive to hear how perfectly the kick drum sits during her mix of “Show Luv (Extended Mix)” by Arno Cost and Norman Doray. Following this mix, Carlita chooses to slow things down a bit. For the next 20 minutes, she focuses on making the audience interested in what she will do next.
At minute 57, Carlita takes the set back into a groovy tone. Her mix of “Georgia” by LP Giobbi was experimental and quite enjoyable. Again, it is impressive. Not many DJs can incorporate different genres of music into their sets, as ideally as Carlita. “Georgia” slowed down the set. Carlita gave the audience many moments to cool down. The most notable mix of the set was “ID” by Mind Agent. The transition was seamless, and it felt somewhat otherworldly. It was different than what Carlita had been playing for the rest of the set. She also took the liberty to experiment with sound and rhythm during this mix. This moment of experimentation lead into 1:22, the climax of the set. Although the set was already very high energy, the last 20 minutes of the set were packed with energy and emotion. Everything was nearly perfect about this last part of the set. Carlita took her time and left it off on a high note. Her final mix, “Cinecittã” by Carlita, DJ Tennis, and Alex Metric, was an elevating song. Her audience stuck around, cheering her on at the end. She truly did make an impression with this set. It is evident that she put a lot of time and effort into this set and that it genuinely does show her best work.
