Super selections and wonderful words by Balearic Mike.

A couple of weeks ago I had Jolyon Green join me on my 1BTN radio show, as a very special guest. I don’t usually have guests, so Jo’s presence made me up my game, and dig a little deeper into my record collection…

John Abercrombie feat. Jan Hammer & Jack De Johnette – Timeless – ECM Records 1975

The extra digging resulted in me playing this track for the first time in ages… which in turn meant the show ended up hitting the #1 spot in Mixcloud’s New Age chart. A first for me I have to say! Timeless is quite a lovely album. I was put onto back when I worked at Manchester’s Vinyl Exchange, by our resident beat-digger, Si G. He figured, quite rightly that the title track  was exactly the kind of thing I might be able to squeeze into one of those ‘Balearic’ sets. Jose Padilla played quite a bit of stuff on the ECM label at the Café del Mar, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard this on any of his tapes. I think it works perfectly in that space somewhere between jazz, ambient, new age, and experimental music. It’s a flippin’ gorgeous 12 minutes of gentle, undulating synths and keys, abstract, shuffling percussion, and gorgeous guitar work from Abercrombie, which isn’t miles away from Manuel Gottsching. It’s a bloody lovely track, and I would definitely play it in the buildup to sunset at the Café del Mar if I ever got the chance. My copy’s a original German 1975 pressing, and the laminate has started to peel off from the sleeve, but I think it only adds to the charm. I love the cover art. It’s always been fairly easy to find, and it was reissued in 2020 as well.

This is an absolutely slamming slice of French language, Canadian Balearic funk-rock…

Beauregard, Violetti, Ste Claire – Ce Soir (Je Sens Que Tout Peut M’arriver) – CBS Canada 1975

Pierre Beauregard, Denis Violetti, and Adrienne Ste-Claire made a couple of albums in the mid-70s, and Ce Soir (Je Sens Que Tout Peut M’arriver) is from the first of them. It was that softest of Soft Rocks, Chris Galloway, who sold me a copy of the LP many moons ago. The album is incredibly bad, and this track is #4 on the B-side, so you can appreciate how much shit Chris had to play though to discover this absolute diamond. The only other track of any note is the final cut, Faites Quelque Chose Pour Moi, which is a pleasant enough cover of LaBelle’s What Can I Do For You?… but honestly, the rest is so awful.

A couple of years later I discovered this great Canadian-only 7”, which actually is a different mix to the album. It’s a bit rougher, looser, and seems to have a bit more energy than the album version. It’s sparser too, with some nice breakdowns, and has the added bonus of an instrumental on the flip. Although why you would skip those fantastic French language vocals? I have no idea! You could use the two to make an extended 12” though!

The title translates as “Tonight I feel that anything can happen to me.” Blimey!

I have to say that, after all that talk of extra digging, this record is never very far away from my deck – it’s literally shelved right underneath – and I play it all the time…

Cirque Du Soleil – Gamelan (Cantoma Remix) – Cirque Du Soleil Musique 2004

Cantoma is the musical alias of Balearic legend, former Café del Mar resident, and Essex’s finest milk man, Phil Mison. I love Phil’s musical productions, and probably have just about everything that he’s ever released. This record is right up there as one of my favourites from his incredible back catalogue.

Cantoma’s music is so good because it manages to be several, seemingly contradictory or opposing, things all at once – pretty much the essence of Balearic really. It sounds simple, and yet, at the same time, sophisticated and complex. It’s often classed as ‘chill-out’ music – awful term – but you can dance to it. It sounds as if it was made on a hot, Mediterranean island, but Phil actually records in chiefly in London and Denmark. On this remix of Cirque Du Soleil, all those things are happening. It has a beautiful, Latin-tinged rhythm, with sparse woodblock percussion, warm synth pads, gentle plucked guitar, and wonderful dream-like vocal phrases. It’s a Latin dream “sueno latino” of a track. I can still recall when Phil gave me this promo. He handed it over with an almost apologetic air, muttering something along the lines of, “I’ve done this remix … it’s alright I suppose …”, in his usual self-effacing way. It blew my mind instantly and I play it constantly.

Discogs states that there were only 100 copies of this made. In that case I probably know 50% of the folks who own them. There are mint copies of this online for about €4. Madness! It should be €100!

“Mañana comenzará otro sueño…”

For more from Balearic Mike you can find him on both Facebook and Instagram – @balearicmike. 

Mike has a Mixcloud page packed with magnificent, magical, music, and you can catch him live on 1BTN, from 12 noon until 2 (UK time) every 1st and 3rd Friday.

You can also check out the super silk screen prints of “Balearic Wife” over at @jo_lambert_print