Balearic Breakfast | Episode 179 | The Lighthouse...

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 179th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on June 11th 2024.

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About this show. – Balearic Breakfast is a celebration, a never-ending celebration. It has its cycle, though, and this cycle starts with the request line, which opens on Saturdays when Colleen asks us to submit songs we would love to hear on the show. Some of us are really taking this part of the journey very seriously: taking notes when listening to music, creating playlists where they keep their ideas ready or even making themed-titled requests (Hi Bert!)...

The requesting part is, firstly, a personal journey for all of us! Then, when it's "our time to shine", we post the songs we took the time to think about on Colleen's socials. And then starts the second cycle of the never-ending journey: the sharing! Oh boy, how much we love posting, commenting, and sharing music on Colleen's socials! For instance, on the last request post, I requested Men Tensel's "Sweeping in the Sweet Nectar, Watch Out" track, just to see that Victor Olteanu requested Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my Nightmare", the two tracks sharing a close tonality and atmosphere! That's fun to me, and that's how "broad" Balearic Breakfast's requests are!

Lastly, comes the show, where we discover with a touch of excitement and anticipation if our proposals made the final cut! And, of course, being with our dear Captain is the Supreme moment we all waited for and thought about when preparing our requests.

Today's episode was special because we knew Colleen had just returned from Ibiza, where she celebrated, for the first time, the release of her new "Balearic Breakfast Vol. 3" vinyl compilation last Saturday at The Standard from 6 to 11 pm!

After returning from her joyful musical journey, she quickly had to make time to get ready for today's 178th episode! Despite having to finish some of her notes during the show, she nailed it. Her commitment to these two hours with us is truly unmatched, and it is the reason for my dedication to this blog and our admiration for her!

As always, let's give our captain the mic before turning our spirits towards… The Lighthouse...: "This week’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud if you would like to listen back. Today’s show starts off very spacey and reflective and then takes twists and turns into acoustic folk, italo, soulful house and more. There were so many great requests this past week and there’s no way I can even get to half of them but fear not as they may make an appearance in the future – sometimes it takes me months ;).

A massive and heartfelt thank you to all who have supported my latest Balearic Breakfast Volume 3 comp on Heavenly Recordings. The response has been overwhelming. I hope some of you can make it to the record release party at NT’s Loft in East London this Saturday. It’s a daytime party from 3:30 to 9 pm and joining me are my friend Lee Zee and Zero 7 with a DJ set and its both indoors and outdoors with a great view of Londinium. We will also have vinyl comps and Balearic Breakfast tees with @ardneks artwork for sale (there are also some on the Heavenly Recordings bandcamp)."

Listen back to the 179th episode of Balearic Breakfast:

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THE PLAYLIST

(2024) Men Tensel – Sweeping in the Sweet Nectar, Watch Out

(2009) Portico Quartet – Isla

(2024) Isaac Alva – Valle de la Luna

(2021) Boozoo Bajou – Orfeu (Extended Mix)

(1977) Ashra – Deep Distance

(2024) Lady Blackbird – Purify

(1974) Mark Capanni – I Believe in Miracles

(1971) Labi Siffre – Summer Is Coming

(2024) DJ Pippi & Willie Graff (ft. Santino Surfers) – Island in the Sun

(2024) Lou Hayter – Frequency

(2018) Qvark – Mi Alzo

(2024) Stevie R & Parisinos (ft Ellivia)  – Egal (Massimiliano Pagliara Remix)

(2008) Suburban (ft. Ten) – Sky High

(1992) Was Not Was – Listen Like Thieves (Giant Club Mix)

(2024) Modula (ft Gino Soccio) – Che E’ Stato? (Pellegrino Rework)

(1997) D'Influence – Hypnotize (Masters At Work Remix)

(2024) Quiet Village – Reunion (Edit)

(2024) Hardway Bros (ft Sarah Rebecca) – 1979 (Glok Remix)

(2024) Ambient Jazz Ensemble – I Am the Black Gold of the Sun

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THE LIGHTHOUSE...

Dear Michael,

I'm writing to you once again. Who knows, maybe they'll give you this letter this time around. Maybe it will help you come back from the retreat you have secluded yourself into, far away from my feelings. In any case, even if I don't trust this will ever happen, it is the only thought that helps me to keep breathing here. Oh, you know where I am, don't you? Well, at least you think you know, because, sometimes, I really don't. It's so cloudy in here, always. It's often quite cold, too... Still, I must share with you what hapenned to me yesterday as I was lying on the cloudy and dark sky. I heard a door opening, a door... I was unaware that there were doors on the stairway to heaven... In any case, I heard someone enter my piece of the sky, and, suddenly, just as the door closed itself, a strong wind appeared, swirling, blowing, making me so scared, so uncomfortable, and these voices came to meet me. I started crying, and, on the dark surface of my walls, I saw this strange name appear: Men Tensel. Did you ever hear anything about him? I love his cinematic musical approach, which uses nature's sounds and very "Niemen-like" organs... As I tried to understand what was happening, I saw a spiral staircase appear, and I was thrown into what appeared to be... A Lighthouse... Me, the lost soul, the abandoned one, should I say..., lying here, in a lighthouse... A tower structure containing a beacon light to warn or guide ships at sea... And then, I heard the music, foggy, searching, coming to me in fearful waves and this lost Spanish guitar, reaching out to the darkest of skies... [Note 1]

What am I? Do you think you could tell me? Am I something that could guide anyone? Am I anything that could save anyone? Since I wasn't able to save you, I doubt myself so much. Am I a Lighthouse? I should be one... Am I an Island on which you could come and take a needed rest? I should be one [Note 2]. But it seems I am none of these, since I'm not here, within you. I'm there, absolutely lost, in the huge Balearic space that is this cloudy sky, waiting for my sentence to arrive; maybe your light will shine on me then? Although, thinking of it, being a vague idea is a valid option, as Portico Quintet shared in an interview, saying, "One has to start with an idea first and foremost. Then it becomes a process of realising that idea. The only way to get started is to simply begin - the work evolves from that point. I personally don’t think it is the start of a process that is hard, it is seeing the ideas through in a convincing way that conveys meaning."

For the time being, all I can see is the moon calmly shining down on me [Note 3]... And I guess, me lost here, in this now... Lighthouse... Well, it only makes sense that I totally surrender to nature's call [Note 4]... Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't let you know that while I was drifting away, I could still hear the music coming from nowhere, like a constant chant, something so light, so unique, like a flying bird over the ocean... I then remembered I already heard that melody a long time ago. Was it with you, my dear... And the Lighthouse kept on flying, its light pulsating, resembling the one on the 1976 "New age of Earth" album cover [Note 5]... and I felt the wind engulfing its windy hands on my body, right under my transparent shroud, right at the core of my most intimate self-being... And it felt good, so good. I was flying calmly, seeing oceans and rivers, letting myself go; it happens so scarcely since I'm always crying out to you... I heard that Voice again; the wind kept on hiding it from me though, but the melody came back so strong then; I think I cried when I heard the lyrics and these words; they never seem to tell the truth... This song [Note 6], it's so much me, it’s so much you, tell me, where are you, why can't I be purified by your presence, where should I look... Where...?

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But you know, Michael, I do Believe in Miracles [Note 7], I'm still youthful at heart, I'm still young inside. I found myself in the lyrics of that song, and I kept on flying above the ocean, embraced in a beautiful, positive moment... The Lighthouse even seemed to glow; I can't clearly remember as it may have been a dream, you know? But this moment really felt like my summer was coming [Note 8], like you were here, near, out from your captioned cell, close to entering my heaven, coming back to me. Isn't this a beautiful way of living? I hope one day you'll experience that, my dear. I'm here for you to experience that... As the pumping rhythm kept on playing, I knew the change in the weather was here to stay for a tiny fraction of my depression; I took it all the way up to my heart, you know? It was like an island in the sun [Note 9], and I was experiencing our past, our joys, our bodies in the sun making love endlessly, and you telling me how much you love me... Me tripping on your Frequency [Note 10]; do you remember that?

Feeling all of that was unbelievable to me; the transformation from the darkest depths to the brightest light felt surreal... Of course, I was always slightly worried, just a tiny touch, but the whole vibe felt so good... I felt so funky, just like on that Qvark track we used to dance on [Note 11]; it almost made me laugh from pleasure, like, for real, I didn't feel that good for ages! The beat went on seamlessly. I wish I could have known better what was happening there [Note 12], but I can't remember... The vibe was too strong for me... And you, you my dear, you were there with me, despite it all... Sky High [Note 13], do you remember that one? We used to share so many tunes together; we didn't care about anything else [Note 14] but only about the music... and you often talked to me about that radio DJ... Colleen... she was playing these timeless classics... [Note 15] I remember you were so in love with her that I was worried for my own safety! I wonder what she has become since the last time I heard about her... If only I knew... Maybe I should try to reach out to her somehow, someday... She could at least ease down some of my fears... Anyway, I'm so sorry, this letter is quite long, but you know, maybe this strange memory of mine could reach you, touch you; I'm so much trying to help you out... You really seem to Hypnotize me [Note 16], and I can't let go of you; I'm all yours... I wait so much for our Reunion [Note 17]; our perfect embrace is all I live for... You and I really should meet soon... just like in 1979 [Note 18]...

As I'm writing these last few words to you, I vaguely remember that, at some point, I lost consciousness... And I woke up here, lost again, lost but found, lost but hopeful that I'll get back to you... Hopeful because if you're only playing the fool, I am the black gold of the sun [Note 19]... And believe me, I'll find you...

Your Soul,

Michael...

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Footnotes:

{Preliminary note} Michael... is a lost Human Soul. She has been voluntarly abandoned by her human mate, and former lover, who decided he could not keep on living with being influenced by her constant highs and lows. Locked by the Heavens and waiting for her sentence, her journey takes a leap forward as she is thrown into the lighthouse... This text is a celebration of the Human Soul, and while listening to Colleen's show, I was able to write this short story where every song represents a part of Michael's tortuous but positive feelings... Original picture by Larisa Lofitskaya.

[Note 1] French guitarist, composer, and nature lover Men Tensel's EP, The Lighthouse, Parts 1 to 3, Enter the Void, was inspired by foggy nights alone in Scotland. The Dunnet Head Lighthouse, perched upon the northernmost point of the Scottish mainland, was the inspiration. But the music has a wide point of reference, as Tensel studied classical guitar in Paris, performed jazz and world music in the Caribbean, and flamenco in Seville. – Speaking of his EP, Men Tensel shared with me, "In the 3rd track of this immersive story [Sweeping in the Sweet Nectar, Watch Out], I mixed field recordings (the sea and the wind but also remixed callings of birds and sea creatures, and many other sounds) with percussions and the bass guitar, to create an uncomfortable and eerie atmosphere: the lightkeeper realises that something very strange is going on that night… Then I play the classical and flamenco guitar in a sweet way to fill you with mixed emotions. Like in a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (I hope)!"

[Note 2] When they debuted in 2007, Portico Quartet's album Knee Deep in the North Sea was nominated for a Mercury Prize. And this was their follow-up, also released on Peter Gabriel's Real World label. They're now on Gondwana Records. 'Isla' was produced by studio veteran John Leckie. His resume includes many people: Pink Floyd, Stone Roses, XTC, Paul McCartney.

[Note 3] Mexican artist, Isaac Alva performed at the "Triangulos de Luz y Espacios de Sombra, which is Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow" event in the early 1990s. I think he performed that song 'Valle de la Luna', which was never actually released. The event took place in Mexico in the early 1990s and welcomed in the spring, featuring a lot of kind of electronic, proggy, new age kind of musicians. And that scene was fostered at a market called El Chapo, a Saturday market where, in the 1980s, rock ephemera like records, tapes, magazines, and t-shirts, were sold, but also private releases of musicians' own music were traded amongst different people. And some of these songs are featured on this great new double album.

[Note 4] The German downtempo Dubtronica duo Boozoo Bajou, Florian Seberth and Peter Heider who have been around for about 25 years. Orfeu (Extended Mix) was featured on their fifth album, Finistère, which was released last year.

[Note 5] From Ashra's third album, which was called New Age of Earth, 'Deep Distance' was released in 1977. And that rose out of the ashes of Ashra Temple. Manuel Gottsching went solo, and instead of releasing music under his own name right away, went under the Ashra moniker. The German guitarist and electronic composer also released E2E4 just a few years later after that. Sadly, he passed away in December 2022. But I was lucky to do a Classic Album Sundays with him on E2E4.

[Note 6] Lady Blackbird has a new EP out called Slang Spirituals. Five songs she and her band recorded when she went back to LA in the midst of her tour. They laid down some songs at the studio East West, where the Beach Boys cut Pet Sounds. 'Purify' has a real Michael Kiwanuka vibe. And I was thinking that when I was listening to it this morning. And I found out that it was mixed by Ken Takahashi, who also engineers and mixes for Michael Kiwanuka because he actually works with the producer Inflow!

[Note 7] Mark Capanni with 'I Believe in Miracles'. He actually co-wrote that song with the producer Bobby Taylor, who produced the song for Detroit's The Jackson Singers. They released their single in 1973, and it was somewhat of a hit. Then Mark Capanni recorded his own version that year, but released his own version a year later in 1974. The record has been recently reissued.

[Note 8] Labi Siffre is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. 'Summer Is Coming' is taken from his second album, The Singer and the Song, which was released in 1971. Interestingly, Lady Blackbird played a cut, but she also covered It Must Be Love, which was a song penned and performed by Labi Sifre. Madness later covered it and made it into a hit in the early 1980s.

[Note 9] DJ Pippi, a legend in Ibiza, and a resident of Pacha, originally from Italy and Willie Graff, who was born to American parents in Ibiza. Their new album, Universal Language, from which 'Island in the Sun' is taken, is out now on Music for Dreams. This is a follow-up to the Follow Your Dreams LP. I had them up on my show. I guess it was last year. On this one, they have a lot of guest musicians, some from the Music for Dreams camp.

[Note 10] DJ, singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and producer Lou Hayter with the song 'Frequency'. It's a song about ESP, extrasensory perception, and it's the new single from her forthcoming album that's coming out on Greco-Roman. And it's a follow-up to her 2021 LP, Private Sunshine, released on Skint. She was also in the new Young Pony Club as well, and she's a great person, very knowledgeable about music.

[Note 11] Qvark with 'Mi Alzo', on the Italian label Early Sound Recordings. They also released Pellegrino and Zodiaco stuff. Qvark was a group of musicians from Milano who were jamming in a basement in the early 1980s, and they put out one EP in 1983. The demo recordings was released by the Italian label much later, in 2018. They found the demos and kind of cleaned them all up, and Early Sound Recordings did a great job on that.

[Note 12] Stevie R & Parisinos featuring the Swiss singer-songwriter Ellivia with 'Egal (Massimiliano Pagliara Remix)' sung in German, exploring the themes of detachment and yearning, reflecting upon the complex ebb and flow of human relationships. The remix is by the Italian-born and Berlin-based DJ and producer Massimiliano Pagliara.

[Note 13] 'Sky High' came out on Neophyte Records in 2008. Suburban is DJ Fencer and Suni, two Japanese artists.

[Note 14] Classic Danny Tenaglia remix (listen to the original version here), which is actually a cover of Australian rock band INXS's title song and fourth and final single from their 5th studio album. The song actually deals with the idea that since the media haven't been great watchdogs, it is important that there are people who champion the truth...

[Note 15] 'Modula (ft Gino Soccio) – Che E’ Stato?' came out on RKO Recordings. It's a Neapolitan interpretation of Gino Soccio's cult cut, Who Dunnit. The remix is from Pellegrino.

[Note 16] Masters at Work remix of the opening cut to D'Influence's 1997 LP London. I just loved them so much in the 1990s. And they continue through to the early 90s. To see a live performance of the original song, click here.

[Note 17] Quiet Village is the duo of Joel Martin and Matt Edwards, who also goes under the moniker Radio Slave. They put out an album in 2008, called Silent Movie. And then things went silent. For some reason, they were unable to use their name. They couldn't record or do remixes under that name. But they are back. They are having a reunion, which is why their new song is called 'Reunion'. And it's their first single on their new record label, The Quiet Village (more info here).

[Note 18] A cover of the '1979' Smashing Pumpkins song by Hardway Brothers featuring Sarah Rebecca. Speaking about the song, Billy Corgan said, "Sometimes, when I write a song, I see a picture in my head. For some reason, it's of the obscure memory I have. The memory that goes with this song is from when I was around 18 years old. I was driving down a road near home on a rainy night, and I was waiting at a traffic light. The song emotionally connotes a feeling of waiting for something to happen, and not being quite there yet, but it's just around the corner".

[Note 19] Under the Ambient Jazz Ensemble moniker is Colin Baldry, already featured during Balearic Breakfast. Often described as ‘storytelling', Ambient Jazz Ensemble's productions are "the painting of a scene not unlike the role of a film score". Taken from his latest studio album 'Spirit Dance', 'I am the Black Gold of the Sun' is more than just a cover; it is a reimagination: 'Lyrically it harnesses the freedom of being alive, the essence of the human spirit & the beauty of the natural world. My version attempts to reflect the lyrics’ wonder of humanity & nature, & as such I’ve attempted a large scale arrangement & a faster tempo to make it as celebratory as possible.'