Balearic Breakfast | Episode 255 | Unfolding Uncertainties...
- Jan 20
- 15 min read
Updated: Jan 24
Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 255th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on January 20th, 2026.
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Coming back from a few weeks of vacation, Colleen presented this new Balearic Breakfast episode live from the record room, for our utmost pleasure. As we shall see in the listening experience section of this post, today's episode was one of the strongest Colleen has done for quite some time (of course, as she stated, the first part of the show is introspective, but it is also much more than that!). Furthermore, the visuals that the music conveyed were also quite stunning and continuous, I should say. But more about that later on...
There’s only one radio show where you can hear Japanese ambient techno slide into the Grateful Dead . This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features loads of new releases including two new vinyl test pressings (thank you lovetempo and Mukatsuku), the radio premiere of Christopher Berg’s new Hird single & an advance promo from Test pressing and Alex Kassian.
The first half of the show is quite introspective and includes a classic Brian Eno track that soundtracked our trip to Lanzarote (no prize for guessing correctly) and a song from my most played album of 2025 – ‘Whispers of Rain’ by Alina Bzhezhinka & Tulshi (kind of like spiritual jazz meets Basic Channel).
Last night my daughter and I went to see/hear Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt at The Moth Club and it was absolutely sublime – an intimate performance in which they played some of their solo work, Everything But The Girl tunes, covers (like the Cole Porter one on the show) and a song from their son Blake’s Family Stereo. My first gig of the year and it was truly inspirational – loved every minute of it. Think I’m going to reread Bedsit Disco Queen on my flight to Japan.
And finally, rest in paradise Bob Weir. Thanks for listening.
Listen back to the 255th episode of Balearic Breakfast:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Colleen heads back to one of her favourite countries in the world and to some of her favourite clubs in the world. See you in Japan! Matane!
Saturday, 24 Jan: Precious Hall
Sunday, 25 Jan: BOARS
Friday, 30 Jan: @dj_bar_bridge_shinjuku
Saturday, 31 Jan: @woal_music_life Gunma
And I should also mention I'm doing two parties with and North America, Friday the 13th of February at Le Bain, and inside this time, not outside like in September. Great view over the Hudson. And we'll be at the Toronto Standard Time on Valentine's Day, so heading up to Canada.
A reminder about the London Loft, our invitations have gone out for our next party on the 8th of March. And if you want to join the friendship train, head over to loftparty.org.
Now, as I'll be away next week, I'll be streaming remotely. We have an interview with and a mix from Another Taste, the jazz-funk band from the Netherlands on the Space Grapes label. And we also have a mix from Angel Mel of Eavesdrop Collective, the collective of women DJs who play at our Love Dance and Tent at We Out Here, and who do so, so, so much more.
THE PLAYLIST
(1992) Brian Eno – Lanzarote
(2025) Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi – Child's Play
(1982) Everything But the Girl – Night and Day
(2025) Alice Russell & Amanda Whiting – I Am (Acoustic Version)
(1993) Peter Bardens – Sea of Dreams
(2026) Léna C – Elle, Dani...
(TBR) Opal Sunn – Liquid Phase II
(1972) Arthur Verocai – Na Boca do Sol
(2026) Joel Sarakula – Hands of Love (Monsieur van Prat Dub Remix)
(2026) Bangs & Talbot – Keep Love Moving On
(2025) Slowly ft. Mahina Apple – Turn Up the Night
(TBR) Lovetempo – Thinking About You
(2025) Chicco – Shigomase (Opolopo Tweak)
(2025) Ayala – Melodia (Cee EIAssaad Remix)
(2026) Coflo & Emmaculate – Salutations
(TBR) Sade – War of the Hearts (Field2Factory Retouch Mix)
(TBR) Hird – Moving Forward
(2026) Nate08 ft. Benni Ola – Waiting (Dam Swindle Remix)
(2025) Yasutaka Sato – New Era
(1980) Grateful Dead – Lost Sailor
THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE
It took me a few minutes to feel today's show. I was surprised when this happened, although I am quite accustomed to it... Looking back, it's not the fact that emotions came through so quickly to me that stopped me in my tracks but the fact that, once again, Colleen's show came knocking on my life's doors...
I always thought that when you love Someone, you have to stay on the side, no matter what happens, no matter what is said or done. Your role, as a lover, as a friend, as a supporter let's say, is to take the good times but also the bad ones, should they arrive... And you should always accept the hard times in Silence, with Resilience, with a light distance, for only distance will help you to get through the storm... Don't try to answer, do not justify yourself, these dark clouds are only here to test your strength and your devotion... The more you will try to fight them, the more you will try to counter them, the more they will keep on knocking you down to the ground... Stay on the side, watch the fury, the incomprehension, the mistakes unfold, try to understand, maybe you've been prepared for them to hit you, maybe, if you're the sensitive kind, you already were observing things from a distance, knowing this dark moment could become a reality...
Brian Eno's Lanzarote perfectly depicts these dark moments, these infuriated rivers... You can almost hear the screams, visualise the lost mind yelling, trying to keep things somewhere in between the chaos... And Lanzarote is also an unfolding musical piece, one that keeps on revealing the horror that was waiting to explode... When the second track started, Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi's Child's Play, I already had found today's post title. I was just uncertain about the word's order... Unfolding Uncertainties or... Uncertainties Unfolding... As I try to keep Colleen's positive thinking in mind, I kept the first option, as I thought the second one was "passive/aggressive" and a desperate representation of the battles we all have to face one day or another... Listen carefully to Child's Play, there's also that same sense of discovery, there's the same battle somewhere, the same unfolding although it seems to be more open, but the magic is strained somehow as the dreamy sound of Alina's harp is confronted to the cold electronic waves...
As Colleen said, the first hour of today's episode keeps these eerie feelings alive and well... A lot of other songs selected by our dear Captain have that same revealing sonical aspect (even in the second hour)... Of course, it's the case of Everything But the Girl's Night and Day, even if the feeling is lighter, the story of a love affair unfolding should remind you of something... Dreams are somehow dangerous in their uncertainties... And the sonics of that version aren't what I would call "free and happy", there's something more in there... A kind of darkness somewhere... Fear is never too far, it reaches out to you with Alice Russell & Amanda Whiting's acoustic version of I Am which is named after the titular and thematic track, and is a song that allowed Alice to articulate something that she had long felt but hadn’t fully understood: “I had started therapy soon after my first child was born, and it opened up a bigger understanding of myself and some relationships that had shaped my emotional landscape.” Dealing with themes of generational trauma, healing and life’s darker side, ‘I Am’ acts as a liberating beacon, showing that we can all be our biggest lovers and advocates, “finding our own power, clear boundaries, and doing the work on ourselves to love so much more deeply.”
Do you Feel me now?
Unfolding Uncertainties...
As if we were watching a movie, Colleen then plays Peter Bardens' Sea of Dreams. There's a Constant tension in there; someone is freeing himself from a life he no longer wants. There's a battle... Also, did you notice how much Nature is present in these first few tracks? Léna C's Elle, Dani... acts as a transition, still keeping the unfolding element alive and well, and of course, as Colleen presented it during the show, the themes of grief and loss add to our reflections... Opal Sunn's Liquid Phase II is another example of the musical kaleidoscope we experience today. It's a revolving track, it turns round and round, but never stays with the same visuals... With Arthur Verocai's Na Boca do Sol you may think the skies will somehow become lighter... However, it's not entirely the case, as this stunning song boasts a soundstage that few songs of that era had. It is such a modern track, keeping the unfolding element incredibly present...
The first hour of the show ends with Hands of Love (that keeps a light worried mind if you listen closely) and with Bangs & Talbot's shiny Keep Love Moving On. Usually, when you unfold uncertainties, they tend to disappear...
MORE ABOUT THE SONGS
Lanzarote from Brian Eno's 12th studio album, 1992's The Shutov Assembly, and that was named after the Russian artist Sergei Shutov, who had gifted Eno a painting, the artist telling Eno that he often listened to his music while he was working. So Eno put together some tracks he hadn't yet officially released, songs that were part of audio-visual installations from around the world in the previous decade, and he thought he would just give it to the artist, but he really liked the assembled works, so hence he released The Shutov Assembly.
Now Eno also has a link with Lanzarote. In 2001, Eno performed an improvised concert with Peter Schwalm inside the crater of the Volcan del Cuervo as well, and this track for me is very evocative of the island. We just spent a couple of weeks there in Lanzarote, which is part of the Canary Islands off the west coast of Morocco and the Western Sahara. I've been there a few times now, I've just fallen in love with it, and the environment is really like no other. Black volcanic rock, very few trees, the only trees like palm trees or really big cactus-type trees. This time of year there's a little bit of rain, so back and forth between showers and bright suns, so lots of rainbows, and UNESCO also declared it a biosphere reserve, and it should be protected, it's so otherworldly.
This one is from the London-based Ukrainian-Polish harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and Tulsi, who is an Ibiza-based Scottish producer and mastering engineer, real name John O'Rogers, and he's known for his dub techno ambient electronica sound. Now, last summer they released this album, Whispers of Rain on True Thoughts, which is the album I definitely played the most in 2025, over and over on my headphones, also at home, gifted it to a friend, so I'm kind of obsessed with it, and I realised I never really played a track from it on the show. It's kind of like spiritual jazz meets basic channel, and that can only be a good thing, right? So they describe the album as delving into the architecture of memory and human emotion, using rain as a central metaphor for life's cycles, the cleansing of loss, the blossoming of renewal, and the profound inner strength cultivated in moments of serene introspection. Alina Bzhezhinska and Tulsi with Child's Play on Balearic Breakfast.
Last night, I got to see this act perform, Everything But The Girl before that with their 1992 cover of Night and Day. And that song was written by Cole Porter for the musical Gay Divorce. And it was originally performed by Fred Astaire. It's a standard part of the Great American Songbook as within three months of the show's opening, more than 30 artists had covered the song. Now, I just particularly love Tracy Thorne and Ben Watt's version. And they performed it last night as their opening song at an intimate show at the Moth Club in Hackney. They've played a of sold-out shows there. I think it's only like 150 cap. It's tiny, great sounding room. I think there's another one tonight. I'm sure it's sold out. Not sure if they're doing any more, but maybe sign up for their mailing list because it was stunning. It was a selection of their solo work, Everything But The Girl tunes, their son, Blake Watt, who has his own act called Family Stereo (Ed. Note: For an interview, see here).
He was playing, beautiful voice, plays folk guitar. And it was really poignant because I went with our daughter, and she's the one that found out about it and got the tickets. And she said, I hope they play Night and Day. And voila, that was the opening song. So I really suggest that you try to catch them at the Moth Club. I'm hoping they'll do more. They did loads of different shows over the past few months in 2025. So you may get lucky.
The acoustic version of I Am, and the original version is a title track from Alice Russell's 2024 album, but this acoustic version is stripped back and performed with harpist Amanda Whiting. Alice Russell, of course, is just a stellar soul singer. She has a string of solo albums and collabs with Basamba, Quantic, and more, and her 2024 album, I Am, she calls the most personal of her career. It was written after the passing of her father with a baby on the way. So life, loss, and grief are big themes on the album. And if you ever get a chance to see, hear her perform, make sure you do.
Sea of Dreams by Peter Bardens, the English keyboardist who was one of the founding members of prog band Camel, and he also worked with Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Van Morrison, along with recording 11 solo albums. And the song we just heard was Sea of Dreams, that's from his 1993 LP Further Than You Know, and thank you to Dominic Mesmer for that request, finally got to it.
This next one is a new one from French producer and DJ Léna C. And it's from her forthcoming EP Stimuli. And this track was originally sent to Crazy P's Daniel Moore in 2023. After the Crazy P lead singer invited Lena to feature one of her tracks on an upcoming compilation curated by the band. And sadly, that never came to fruition as Daniel passed in September 2024. At the time, Daniel and Lena were both living in West Yorkshire, where they became friends and Daniel supported Lena's musical endeavors. And following Daniel's passing, Elle, Dani... this song was reworked to reflect a deeper sense of saudade, the untranslatable Portuguese term describing a mixture of loss, nostalgia, melancholy, and love. Celebrating the memory of a remarkable human while holding the grief of their loss.
Liquid Phase II, a forthcoming three-part composition from Opal Sunn, which is Alex Kassian and Hiroaki Oba. And that's coming out on test pressing. And that's a follow-up to the three-part Elastic series released at the end of 2024. But they've been releasing music as Opal Sunn, you know, earlier releases were more beat-oriented, but I think going back to about 2017 or so. But I kind of like this more spacey, liquidy manifestation myself. And Rick Van Veen on the chat picked up it was Alex Kassian right away, even though the song isn't even out yet.
Na Boca do Sol by Arthur Verocai from his 1972 eponymously titled debut album. And after releasing that samba solo record, the Brazilian singer, songwriter, and guitarist didn't release another album for 30 years, as his release didn't really make an impact at the time. So he started making jingles instead. But earlier this century, DJs and crate diggers started picking up on this album and it got a cult following. So it's a little bit like the Sugar Man story. Anyways, I had to play this as our daughter Ari has been playing the album over and over and she is excited that he is headlining We Out Here. So this album was on in the car in Lanzarote and at home over the holidays. She also played it on a radio show. Ari's pirate material, So that's a shameless plug from her mother. And of course, if you're going to We Out Here, be sure to see Arthur Verocai perform on the main stage. We're all looking forward to that.
Too Slow to Disco are back with a new comp of Sunshine Grooves that will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. We had label honcho DJ Supermarkt up on the show this past autumn, and he put together a great mix and told us the story of how he got into the Californian sound from his studio in Berlin. Anyways, he's put together the Sunset Manifesto volume two, and it's coming out in February, and you can pre-order on Bandcamp. And I love the whole thing, but especially this one, a Monsieur Von Pratt dub remix of Hands of Love by Australian soulful pop soft rock artist Joel Sarakula.
Keep Your Love Moving On, a single from the forthcoming album Smoke and Aces by Bangs and Talbot, coming out on Acid Jazz this week. Chris Bangs is a DJ and producer, produced Galeano's debut, produced Paul Weller, and he really helped pioneer the Acid Jazz movement back in the late 1980s. In fact, I think he coined the term Acid Jazz. And that's his project with keyboardist Mick Talbot, the other half of the Style Council. And Talbot's also played with Dixie's Midnight Runners and Galeano and Candy Staton, amongst many others. So Bangs and Talbot's latest effort is a follow-up to 2022's Back to Business. And again, the album Smoke and Aces comes out this week.
Turn Up the Night by Japan's Slowly, with Fukuo Kodiva, Mahina Apple, from the forthcoming third album Two Steps Ahead by Slowly. And this single's also on 7-inch on Flower Records. And Slowly is Masato Komatsu, who's been releasing records on Flower for the last two decades, including last year's Two Steps Ahead, which features a load of collaborators, including Apple. FYI, the B-side of the 7-inch features a beautiful remix by producer Takuya Matsumoto.
Loving that one. It's a new one from Love Tempo, Thinking About You. And Love Tempo is a lonely hearts disco five-piece from Brooklyn. And band leader Mattie Safer sent me their forthcoming album on vinyl. Thank you, Maddie. The album is called There is a Light, and it's Love Tempo's debut album and will be released on the 17th of April. Safer was also in the Brooklyn band The Rapture, also in Poolside, currently leading Love Tempo. And he'll come up on to Balearic Breakfast for an interview and mix ahead of the release of There is a Light.
This one is a forthcoming EP from Canopy Records, who officially licensed two 1980s African disco tunes, one by Nigeria's Spirit Koneksan, and this one that we're listening to by Chico. And the EP features remixes by Arup Roy and Opolopo, and it's coming out this week. This is Shigomase. The original is kind of like early South African house, and this has been given a tweak by Sweden's Opolopo.
Southern Italy's Ayala with Cee ElAssad's remix of Melodia. And that's a remix of a cut on Ayala's six-track EP, Where Have You Been? The remix came out last month on Casablanca label and sold, and I'm just loving it, and can't wait to play that one out in Japan, bringing it with me for sure.
The San Francisco DJ, producer, and movement artist, Coflo, with Illinois producer and DJ Emmaculate, who also runs Terry Hunter's T-Box record label. They're both doing a lot of great things, and they've come together on a new double-sided single coming out this week on the Swedish label Kataleja Musik, with the cut Infinite on the flip.
Before that, Sade, a remix of War of the Hearts by Field2Factory. And that is Adrian Loving, the Washington, D.C. based DJ, music, and scholar, musician, I should say, and scholar, and a very lovely person as well. He also released Inner Temple's Travelscapes, Volume 1. And the original is from Sade's 1985 album, Promise. And Sade Adu's birthday was on the 16th of January. So happy birthday, Sade.
Hird with Moving Forward. That's the forthcoming single by Hird, who is the illustrious Christopher Berg, producer, songwriter, musician, DJ, and friend. He's worked with so many Swedish pop royalty, including Robin, The Knife, Fever Raised, on programming for Depeche Mode and Massive Attack. And he's produced a lot of singles under Hird. He released the album Moving On over a decade ago, and it's been a while since he's released the music as Hird, keeping busy with his other activities, including helping us out as an audio obsessive with our London Loft Parties.
Ahead of that, we have the Damn Swindle remix of Waiting by Nate08 and LA singer-rapper Benni Ola. And that's coming out this week on Need Want Records. And Nate08 is a Mumbai-based musician, producer, DJ, and bassist whose real name is Nathan Thomas. And he's released two albums on the Need Want label, including last year's 27.
Yasutaka Sato with New Era. And actually, he's going under the name Virgo there. So that's New Era by Virgo from more ambient techno classics from Japan. And that's a follow-up to last year's System for Zodiac. And Virgo is Yasutaka Sato. He's released some records at the end of the 90s and loads of releases over the last couple of years. And New Era is out on Mukatsuku Records in April. Love that label too. That's Nick Weston from Juno. And thank you for sending that over to me, Nick. I love that one.
Now, before I go, I want to pay tribute to a musician who had a significant impact upon my life with his band, The Grateful Dead. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, Bob Weir, who sadly passed the next realm earlier this month. And when he was 16, he met a 21-year-old Jerry Garcia, and they immediately started jamming, jammed together all night, and decided to form a band.
First, Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, then became The Warlocks, and eventually The Grateful Dead. And their impact upon music, it just cannot be overstated, especially upon American music. I did go to see them in the late 80s, 1987, March, opening of the Spring Show in Virginia Beach, just after, you know, Jerry Garcia nearly passed away in July of the previous year. So the anticipation and the vibe was just off the hook, and I was just completely, completely blown away. And if you want to find out more about Bob Weir, there's a fantastic documentary that was made just over a decade, decade ago. It's called The Other One, The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir, and you can find that on Netflix.
And also, we should also mention the other Dead, Grateful Dead members who've transitioned, Phil Lesch in 2024, Jerry Garcia, of course, over 30 years ago, and Pigpen. So if you're a Deadhead, leave me a comment on the socials when you listen to this. Deadheads unite. This is from the 1980 Grateful Dead album, Go to Heaven. And this is a song that was co-written by Bob Weir and features him on vocals. The Grateful Dead with Lost Sailor.
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