Thursday, June 4, 2009

yes darling but is it balearic?

Many people would easily argue that the whole balearic movement was a nothing but a bunch of djs that after the haziness of the acid era decided to change their drug of use and choose some rather cheesy songs from their record bag to spin tho the ''chilled'' ravers of Ibiza.It's true that many records that wouldn't been even touched in other circumstances found their way onto the decks of any aspiring balearic dj.From the teutonic ecstasy of the Hacienda fueled by the use of acid and the the heavy motoric rhythms of early house anthems like Nude Photo,the transition to the beaches of the white island and the blue eyed pseudo soul of Chris Rea, was quite a violent one.The diversity of the newly born genre was so wide that in many occasion the results were quite hilarious.As in every musical movement it's hard to tell apart the trash from the real gems.At some point almost everything could fit under the balearic tag as long as it was received with a warm embrace by the Ibiza crowd.British House legends like Terry Farley and Danny Rampling found themselves playing records by Phil Collins and the Gyspy Kings while being applauded by bunch of sweaty club goers bathing under the Mallorca sun.Of course what sounded cool under the Mediterranean sun could be disastrous back in the UK Going through a Guardian article on the Balearic resurrection that has been sweeping around Europe i couln't keep from laughing when i found out that Terry Farley was almost mobbed after playing Phil Collin's Two Hearts at a Brighton club.The heavy contrast between ''hardcore'' Balearic anthems like Nitzer Ebb's Join The Chant and the cheesiness of tracks like Chris Rea's Josephine living under the same flag is proof enough that Balearic was a movement that broke even the most solid boundaries of music in a way that was never achieved before.Maybe the white painted houses,the sun and the cool breeze of the Mediterranean and maybe the fact that you could DJ wearing only your shorts were reasons enough to make the Balearic Beat grow up on these shores.The story behind the Balearic beat is a long and adventurous story that has been covered in many ways on this blog.The bottom thing is Balearic is sheer fun.It can be eclectic,cheesy,House,Indie,AOR,60's,Folk.Disco,Italo, or whatever you want it to be.Balearic is you alibi to mix almost anything you want in mix as long as it is Balearic.What is really Balearic though is still a mystery to me and maybe that the best part of it.Today's post is by the Greek semi god Vangelis with a song that i decided that sounds really Balearic to my ears and even if you still argue forever about that it's really ok with me.

Vangelis - intergalactic radio station

5 comments:

plux said...

This song is a great spaced out tune!!!!Love it since the first time I heard it years ago!!!

h. said...

has this been issued on vinyl? no luck on the german or us pressings, at least according to discogs...

Arthit said...

A friend of mine asked me many moons ago what is balearic? Isn't it a bit like bossa nova? Me: [speechless]

plaidmusic said...

it's only on the cd version of the album..

h. said...

ah, thought so myself. an incredible tune nevertheless.