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

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 180th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on June 18th 2024. About this show. – Once again, our dear Captain was very busy a few days before today's show! On Saturday afternoon, the 15th of June, Colleen celebrated the release of the "Balearic Breakfast Vol 3" vinyl compilation, including Zero7 ( Sam Hardiker) and Flamingo Piers band members, and Balearic Breakfast Family's members (like Lee Zee, Mark Sanford, who came along with his son, or even our dear Bert François), and also John ( @film2046 on Instagram). Bert and John Kindly shared beautiful pictures with me of the event that took place at the @ntloft . The weather was not very Balearic, but judging from the pictures and videos shared on Colleen's socials, it was a moment not to be missed, climaxing on a song we all know... Today's show was an absolutely stunning, coherent musical voyage, and I really don't think I will need to explain the post's title to you, as a majority of the songs played perfectly present its philosophical message... All right, all right, maybe a tiny touch then! 🦁 As always, let's hand the mic to our dear Captain...: "This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features tributes to two recently passed talents: Angela Bofill and Francoise Hardy. Also featured are my forthcoming Cosmodelica remix of @bryonyjarmanpinto (coming out on @tru_thoughts on the 11th July) and a host of soulful and Balearic sounds. Thank you for your requests this week and don’t forget next Tuesday will be our Balearic Breakfast Pride special. Please suggest songs by artists from the LBGT community when I post the request line on my socials this Saturday. And if you are in East Anglia, this weekend I’m playing two sets at @firstlightlowestoft in Lowestoft – a Saturday evening set from 7 to 8 pm and then a Balearic Breakfast sunrise set the following morning on Sunday from 5 to 6 am. Join us to be the first Brits to welcome the sun during the summer solstice weekend on the most eastern point of the UK. And if you aren’t headed to Glastonbury and are looking for a last minute escape, we are hosting our @lastnote_party Summer party on Saturday, the 29th June on an olive farm in the beautiful mountains of Umbria in central Italy. For more info please contact infolastnote@gmail.com Have a great week and thanks for listening." Note: Colleen will be featured in DJ Emma's "Boogie Boulevard" show this very Friday, on 1BTN ! Listen back to the 180th edition of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 2019 ) Roseaux (feat. Olle Nyman) – Heart & Soul ( 1978 ) Angela Bofill   – Summer Days ( 1978 ) Angela Bofill   – Over the Moon and Under the Sky ( 1981 ) Angela Bofill   – Tropical Love ( 2001 ) Soulstice   – Wind (Fila Brazilia Mix) ( 1980 ) Rick James   – Summer Love ( 1980 ) Starship Orchestra   – New-York New-York ( 2024 ) Casinoboy   – Searos ( 2024 ) Charlotte & Reinhard   – Guardian of Sleep ( 2014 ) Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire   – Peace and Love ( NOL ) Copanema   – Se Voce Disse Que Vem ( 1981 ) Teena Marie   – Portuguese Love ( 1979 ) Southern Exposure   – On Our Way (John Luongo Mix) ( 2024 ) Bryony Jarman-Pinto   – Moving Forward (Cosmodelica Remix) ( 2023 ) Alfredo Linares   – La Musica por Dentro (José Parla & Phenomenal Handclap Band Remix) ( 2024 ) Balearic Jukebox   – Feel The Magic (Discoteca Dub) ( 1977 ) Norman Connors   – Once I've Been There ( 1991 ) Urban Soul – Alright (Club Mix) ( 1988 ) Francoise Hardy   – Partir Quand Même THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE This 179th episode of Balearic Breakfast is all about Love's strong (yet painful and somehow disillusioned) reality. Love can hurt, regardless of the people involved… Sometimes, Life makes it impossible for its wings to open in the wind’s inviting dance, and painful decisions must be taken... The opening song (by the French trio " Roseaux " , or Reed in English) [ Note 1 ] perfectly represents the yearning one feels when being in Love, the light pain, the Hope, the Need to be close to the loved one, the need to take care of the "Aura"... This feeling of belonging will stay present throughout the whole show, and is also greatly presented in Angella Bofill's songs [ Note 2 ] , the tonality really says it all here (and of course the lyrics)! Colleen takes a direct approach in her mix for Angella Boffil's second track [ Note 3 ] . This song was, of course, already featured in the show in the past, and we also feel here the escapism that takes place when someone is in love! Keeping the Soulful vibe alive, Colleen then plays the very natural-sounding "Tropical Love" [ Note 4 ] , taking us to a musical embrace like no other... The Lush atmosphere is enhanced by the following song, Wind (Fila Brazilia Mix) [ Note 5 ] , which keeps the soulful vibe as vibrant as ever, even somewhat bringing the worried feeling felt in the previous songs to the forefront... Rick James ' "Summer Love" [ Note 6 ] shares a very close rhythm with the previous song. W e still have all of the elements we already described here, with slightly more positivity in the air this time around, and we're really in for a lover's dancing moment with our dear Captain! In the next song, the very jazzy Starship Orchestra's "New-York New-York” [ Note 7 ] , the love groove is definitely lost, and strangely enough, the same feeling is present in Casinoboy's "Searos" [ Note 8 ] , which keeps the "walking" rhythm found in the previous track, vibrant. There’s something here, something driving the listener ahead no matter how bad the weather is... These two tracks go so well together when you think about it; listen back to the show, and you'll see what I mean... Colleen is always striving for musical unity when she works on her shows! The next song, Charlotte & Reinhard 's " Guardian of Sleep " opens up the sky [ Note 9 ]; although we still feel it's always quite low over our heads. This feeling does not change with the machine and dubby-like sounding number that is Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire 's " Peace and Love" [ Note 10 ] . You should be able to picture the show's evolution by now; from a yearning, we moved to a closer part of the relationship, only to be thrown into a more worried reality. What a beautiful and pictural musical path! The second hour of the show starts with Copanema 's " Se Voce Disse Que Vem" (you told me you'd be coming) [ Note 11 ] , which clearly is an invitation to the loved one! We really dig deep into the Lover's Soulful Truth, don't we?! Colleen really knows how to make the music flow. Listen to how beautifully she introduces Teena Marie's Portuguese Love [ Note 12 ] . What's not to love in this mix?! She enhances Copanema 's "Se Voce Disse Que Vem" with "Portugueses love's" dynamic introduction; well done, Colleen! Furthermore, the Soulful intention is so present here it reaches new heights! The "Drive" this 179th episode has is really something to experience; the road is so beautiful, full of twists and turns, with ups and downs. It is long, and you never know what is going to happen under that lover's sky! The loving car keeps on rolling on the mountain's road as Southern Exposure's " On Our Way (John Luongo Mix)" [ Note 13 ] starts! Do you see what I hear Musically since the beginning of this second hour? I feel we never touched such "large visuals" before this episode, it's really a show we could turn into a comic! Starting the last half-hour of the show with her own remix of Bryony Jarman-Pinto 's " Moving Forward" [ Note 14 ] , Colleen allows the listener to discover another emotion of the Lover's Soulful truth! As I wrote on the blog a few weeks ago (this song was featured on the last Balearic Brunch aired on NTS on June 1st 2024 ): " Even if it is being said that " Moving Forward " celebrates the deep sense of security and steadfastness Bryony cherishes with her partner while navigating parenthood together (read more about these changing times for Bryony  here ), this uplifting song has a broader meaning perfectly fitting today's show!" . I still think the same about this song right now! While Colleens slightly changes up the pace here, " La Musica por Dentro" [ Note 15 ] still very much showcases what's inside a lover's mind, the very Balearic tune perfectly embracing today's theme! And then, we're taken out of this world as Colleen blends the previous track with Balearic Jukebox's "Feel The Magic (Discoteca Dub)" [ Note 16 ] in an absolutely Perfect Mix. I mean WOW!! Taking us to the ultimate level, Colleen plays two songs that nicely go together: the joyful Norman Connors ' " Once I've Been There" [ Note 17 ] followed by Urban Soul's "Alright (Club Mix)" [ Note 18 ] , beautifully ending the show with Françoise Hardy's moving song "Partir Quand Même" (Leaving Anyway) [ Note 19 ] (a song about a woman who chooses her freedom over love's imprisoning grips...), fully closing today's "Lover's Soulful Truth" themed show... Footnotes: [Note 1] ' Heart and Soul' by French music project Roseau, featuring the vocals of Olle Nyman, who I believe is a Swedish singer-songwriter, has a couple of records out. And that is from Roseau's second album, Roseau II, released in 2019. [Note 2] Angela Bofill , sadly passed to the next realm last week. The singer songwriter was born and raised in the Bronx to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents. She studied music growing up, and she performed in New York City's All City Chorus, which featured the best singers from the city's high schools across the five boroughs. Angela Bofill got her break when Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen signed her to their GRP label, which was a smoking hot label in the late 70s and early 80s. They produced her debut album, Angie, which featured the single This Time I'll Be Sweeter , which was co-written by Gwen Guthrie. Her following album, Angel of the Night , had more success, and then she signed to Clive Davis's Arista label in the 1980s. She worked with Narada Michael Walden, The System, and George Duke and was one of the first visible Latina artists in the world of R&B. And what a voice she had, effortless, beautiful, a voice that has resonated with many of you. This is a song from Angela Bofill's debut album that welcomes in the solstice this week. Here she is with Summer Days. [Note 3] 'Over the Moon and Under the Sky' was reissued on Grooveline as a 12-inch with her version of People Get Ready, on the other side. [Note 4] Angela Bofill's 'Tropical Love' from her third album, 1981's Something About You . [Note 5] Soulstice 's 'Wind' features the brother and sister duo of Gabriel and Gina Rene, along with Andy Caldwell and turntablist Mei-Lwun Yee. [Note 6] The very talented, yet very complex, late Rick James with 'Summer Love' from his fourth album, Garden of Love on Gordy Records, a subsidiary of Motown. And that was the label that enthralled the young Rick James who idolized Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. It was James's following album, 1981's Street Songs, that brought him his greatest success with the massive Top 40 hit Super Freak. But Rick James' career and life were to spiral out of control in the following years. Still, he was a great musician, a great, great producer, and also a colleague and mentor to Teena Marie. [Note 7] 'New York, New York' by Starship Orchestra, featuring vocals by Joe Salter, produced by Norman Connors . In fact, some of the band members were frequent collaborators of Connors, playing on his albums. And also another group that Norman Connors put together called Aquarian Dream . [Note 8]  London producer and DJ Toby Tobias wears many hats, including that of Breaks producer Alphonse. He also goes as Casinoboy with a more mellow, shall we say, Balearic style. 'Searos' is his first release as Casino Boy on the Rimini, Italy-based label Duca Bianco in over a decade. [Note 9] 'Guardian of Sleep' is the title track from the latest EP by Belgian duo Charlotte and Reinhard , now out on Music for Dreams. It's a taster from their forthcoming album. And these two are also members of one of my favorite modern European disco house collectives, Reinsand, also on Music for Dreams. [Note 10] 'Peace and Love' by Canadian-born Berlin-based producer, sound artist, and music technology educator Deadbeat, born Scott Monteith , with the vocals of Paul Saint-Hilaire. The Caribbean singer-songwriter also goes by the name Tiki Man but had to stop using that name about 20 years ago after doing a great album with Rhythm and Sound, which is basically the guys from Basic Channel. [Note 11] Copanema 's ' Se Voce Disse Que Vem' was just sent over to me by the label head, Kenneth Bayer, and I'm really feeling it. It's one of his own projects, Copanema, fusing Danish artists like Trolls Hammer, along with Brazilian artists. So, Copa is for Copenhagen, and Nema is for Ipanema. Now, this outfit released one album in 2019, the double album Deixa A Música Tocar , and this one will be featured on their forthcoming album. [Note 12]  The inimitable Teena Marie with 'Portuguese Love' from her fourth LP, ' It Must Be Magic ' , fully written and produced by Marie herself, who was nominated for Best Female R&B Performance at the 1982 Grammys for that one. [Note 13] Southern Exposure , a one-off Canadian disco project led by Willie Morrison and Ian Dunter, who are also behind THP Orchestra, or Three Hats Productions. You may remember THP's 'Two for Love'. They did four albums, actually. But this project, Southern Exposure, was a one-off, and they released one EP called Headin' South , and we just heard the lead single remixed by Boston native John Luongo. Grooveline Records put out a great double CD of his remixes called ' Can You Feel the Force ' , which is named after Luongo's remix for A Real Thing. There's also remixes for Dan Hartman, Jacksons, Patti LaBelle, Johnny Mathis, Marlena Shaw, Melba Moore, Santana. Truly a stellar catalogue of remixes. [Note 14] Bryony Jarman Pinto is a gifted singer, songwriter, and musician who was born in London and raised in Lancaster. Five years ago, she released her first album, Cage and Avery, on the Future Soul label, True Thoughts, a really great label. She has a gorgeous sound that seamlessly blends folk, jazz, and soul. So I was absolutely delighted when I was asked to remix a single from her latest and second album, ' Below Dawn ' . It's an album that's a poignant reflection on pregnancy and motherhood. It's a really intimate album. I've remixed her forthcoming single, which will be released on the 11th of July. [Note 15] Alfredo Linares with 'La Musica Por Dentro', originally from his 1974 ' Mi Nuevo Ritmo ' studio album. The remix is by José Parlá and Phenomenal Handclap Band's Daniel Colas. Jose Parla is a Brooklyn-based painter who has a platform called Re-Latin. Alfredo Linares is a Peruvian-born Columbia-residing pianist and a bit of a cult figure in South America, who's also played with the Quantic Soul Orchestra. ' La Musica Por Dentro' came out on 7-inch on the Spanish label Mushroom Pillow last year. [Note 16] This is Balearic Jukebox , who are based in Brighton on the southern Riviera of England, with ' Feel the Magic' , a very non-Balearic shingle beach. Balearic Jukebox just released this on Bandcamp, which has three different very good remixes. [Note 17]  The multi-talented drummer, composer, songwriter, and producer Norman Connors grew up in Philly and once sat in for drummer Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance while he was still in middle school. He worked with Michael Henderson, Gene Karn, Phyllis Hyman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and had so many projects of his own, as I mentioned earlier in the show. 'Once I've Been There' is a cut from his 1977 album ' Romantic Journey '. [Note 18] ' Alright (Club Mix)' is a 1991 single from Urban Soul, who is Roland Clark . Such a great catalog of music. He has soulful house sounds. The club mix was remixed by two guys I used to see all the time when I worked at the New York record shop 'Dance Tracks' back in the 90s. Freddie Sanon from Shelter Records and Manny Diaz from Polar Records. Had a lot of great stuff like 'The Black Rascals' and 'Casio Air'. [Note 19] The late French singer, songwriter, actress, and icon Françoise Hardy rose to fame early on with her song Tous les Garçons et les Filles , and then her career spanned for over half a century, during which she released 30 albums. She was also a muse to fashion designers like Yves Saint-Laurent and Paco Rabanne and not only that, but she developed a career as an astrologer, and she wrote both fiction and non-fiction books. She is a multi-talented woman who'll be very missed but who made the most out of her 80 years. Sadly, she succumbed to lymphatic cancer, which she'd struggled with for the last two decades of her life, and she recently passed away just a few days ago. ' Partir Quand Même ', composed by Jacques Dutronc, is taken from her 1988 studio album 'Décalages'.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 181st episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on June 25th 2024. About this episode. – Just when you think the sun will shine down on you, something happens, making you think again about the world you live in. To say that some battles are harder than others is an understatement. You might think that in our times and age, it would be easier to say "I'm gay and I'm Proud". However, attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community differ globally, with certain countries displaying significantly less tolerance than others (click here for an insightful article titled " The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists "). And I came to think about it, but can you ask for such important recognition worldwide when there are still so many conflictual situations arising between people? As George Carlin once said, "We haven't learned to care for one another; we wanna save the planet?!" Let's just take a quick and easy example here. Let's say I have a different point of view from the one you defend in a conversation. Let's say I'm wrong, and I don't know it yet. Would you take the time to explain your point to me, or would you simply reject me from your life because I do not "follow your line"? Nowadays, I feel that communication-wise, we lack openness and humility, and many of us are defending our own points of view without trying to understand the hows and whys leading to different ways of thinking. And that's a shame. It's really a shame. We all must change the way we behave towards one another, and this starts by being able to discuss without bringing in judgment and rejection. The road is very long, but, as I like to say, there are people of goodwill... We need care, love, understanding and togetherness, and today's episode was all about this unity we're dreaming of... Let's stop building walls; let's draw prairies with blue skies filled with rainbows... " Today’s Balearic Breakfast was a PRIDE celebration and is now archived on my Mixcloud. It was a joyous celebration and we had the most attendees on the live stream in the show’s history. Thank you for all who participated! This Balearic Breakfast pays tribute to artists from the LGBT community. And as always, you delivered with the requests – there is a wide spectrum of songs and sounds – a rainbow of musicality. There are some of our favourite artists from yesteryear along with more contemporary artists, some new to my ear, as well. Thank you for delivering! And wishing a very Happy Pride to all of our Balearic Breakfast family members who are part of the LGBT community." Listen back to the 181st episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 2024 ) Bay Bryan – Drifting ( 2022 ) El Hardwick  – Avatar (Nailah Hunter Remix) ( 2024 ) John Grant  – Marbles ( 1984 ) Frankie Goes to Hollywood  – Do You Know the Way to San Jose ( 1981 ) Sylvester & Jeanie Tracy  – Here is My Love ( 2024 ) Meshell Ndegeocello  – Love ( 1992 ) George Michael  – Too Jazzy (Happy Mix) ( 1997 ) Diana King  – L-L-Lies ( 1990 ) Erasure  – Ship of Fools (Orbital Southsea Isles of Holy Beat Mix) ( 1983 ) Nona Hendryx  – Transformation ( 1979 ) Dusty Springfield  – Baby Blue ( 1983 ) Gwen Guthrie  – Peanut Butter (Larry Levan Mix) ( 2015 ) Smokey  – I'll Always Love You ( 1978 ) Brooklyn Dreams  – Music Harmony & Rhythm (Disco mix by DJ Bobby Guttadaro) ( 2024 ) Gossip  – Real Power ( 2004 ) Rufus Wainwright  – The One You Love ( link ) Wham  – Everything She Wants (Danny Krivit Re-Edit) ( 1977 ) Carl Bean  – I Was Born This Way ( 2022 ) Gus F (ft. Jimmy Somerville)  – Smalltown Boy (Sunset Mix) ( 1994 ) Terre Thaemlitz  – Raw Through a Straw ( 2023 ) Romy  – Loveher ( 1981 ) Patrick Cowley  – Sea Hunt ( 2024 ) Elkka  – Right Here ( 2004 ) Arthur Russell  – That's Us / Wild Combination ( 2024 ) Hi-Fi Sean (ft. Inaya Day)  – The Redemption ( 2008 ) Hercules & Love Affair  – Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix) ( 1987 ) Frankie Knuckles (ft Jamie Principle)  – Bad Boy ( 1977 ) Sylvester  – Over and Over ( 1970 ) Peter Wyngarde  – Neville Thumbcatch THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE (coming soon) Starting the show with Bay Brian 's new single " Driftin " , which he calls both a callback to his concept album of last year, The Meadow, and a planting of seeds for what is to come, Colleen perfectly sets the tone of this new Marathon show, celebrating Pride Month and solely featuring artists from the LGBT community. Featuring a wide spectrum of songs and sounds, a rainbow of musicality as Colleen so Rightly put it, this 180th episode of Balearic Breakfast features both beloved artists from yesteryear and more contemporary ones, including brand new releases from 2024! Keeping the "reflective" and, somehow, worried yet explorative vibe alive, Colleen then plays the following songs, crafting a beautiful introduction to this show, not resembling anything she proposed before: London-based multidisciplinary artist and musician Elle Hardwick identify as trans, non-binary, with their work exploring the queer world and also how we can heal on a damaged planet. Last year, they released an album called Eight Remixes, a collective reworking of Elle Hardwick's 2020 debut album, an idea they had in store from the start. " Avatar " , in Los Angeles-based harpist Nyla Hunter's version (she has an album, Love Gaze, of her own and plays harp for sound baths and meditation), certainly is a musical trip; American singer, songwriter, and musician John Grant , who now lives in Iceland, is the former lead singer of The Czars and has had an illustrious solo recording career. His sixth and most cinematic and opulent new album, " The Art of the Lie " (from which Marbles is taken), allowed him to work with Ivor Guest, who co-produced Grace Jones' "Hurricane" LP ; Frankie Goes to Hollywood 's " Do You Know the Way to San Jose " has already been featured during the show and is a cover of the Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, made famous by Dionne Warwick in 1968 (although she hated it), the song has been the city’s unofficial theme for fifty years; Sylvester is a widely loved and much-respected artist. On " Here is My Love " in duet with Jeanie Tracy, he shows off his low tenor baritone range, leaving his Falsetto behind. The 1981 studio album was a huge disappointment for the fans as it proposed new material being far away from Sylvester's flamboyant musical style " Too Hot to Sleep is not a disco album; it is more like slow funk and pop soul, something that is definitely OK on the background in a certain place but not actually very exciting ". Taking us gently through the show, Colleen speeds up the rhythm in this section but never forces the mix, always standing on the edge of falling; I love that when she does not force a mix like so many other DJs. She's not afraid to let Silence speak, it's so refreshing, always keeping the beat though... Here are some more information about the songs played during that section of the show: Meshell Ndegeocello has a new album coming out, "No More Water, the Gospel of James Baldwin ", which will be released on the 2nd of August, marking the 100th anniversary of the late author's birth. James Baldwin wrote some great books, including " Giovanni's Room ", a novel addressing gender and sexuality identities, which he wrote and he published around 1956. Meshell's album offers a transformative experience: part music, part sermon, part celebration and part call to action. "No More Water" promises to be a genre-defying, spiritually enriching journey that honours Baldwin's legacy and adds a unique musical perspective; George Michael 's Too Jazzy (Happy Mix) is the B-side to his Too Funky single, which he donated to Red Hot and Dance , a compilation that raised funds for AIDS awareness. George Michael was generous and an incredibly multi-talented artist with a golden voice, even duetting with Aretha Franklin (his "Songs from the Last Century" album is to die for...); La La La Lies is taken from Diana King 's second album, 1997's "Think Like a Girl", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Album chart. O ne of the most successful modern Jamaican artists who got their start appearing on Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 song Respect, King then hit the charts with Shy Guy, a top 40 hit. In 2012, King became the first Jamaican artist to come out publicly and was awarded the prestigious Vanguard Award at the Out Music Awards; Synth-pop duo Erasure is founding Depeche Mode member Vince Clark and singer-songwriter Andy Bell. Together, they released 19 studio albums, the most recent of which was 2022's Dayglo, based on a true story. Going back to a single from their third album, their breakthrough number one hit album, The Innocent, this track proposes a remix of their single "Ship of Fools" by The Orb (not Orbital ^^ - By the way, I love Colleen's mix right there, such a nice way to let the two tracks follow each other, what a groove... ); Nona Hendrix , formerly one-third of the LaBelle Trio, is a solo artist, author and an LGBT activist. Her single Transformation from her second album, Nona (a fun song she admitted), was produced by Bill Laswell's Material Collective, with whom she had recorded their hit Bustin' Out ( to me a WOW moment of the show because of the lyrics of the song... ); Dusty Springfield had 17 UK hit singles between 1963 and 1970, followed by a gap of nine years until she appeared again in 1979 with the number 61 hit Baby Blue written by the Buggles (Trevor Horn's group), whose single "Video Killed the Radio Star" reached number one the same week that 'Baby Blue' was released. Dusty was also a TV presenter who helped popularize black American music to mainstream audiences here in the UK. In the late 1980s, she had another hit " What Have I Done to Deserve This? " With the Pet Shop Boys. For the next part of the show, Colleen steps up the rhythm, playing the following songs: Larry Levan 's remix of Gwen Guthrie 's Peanut Butter – One of the most influential DJs throughout the 1970s and 80s, maybe even now as well, Levan of the Paradise Garage has had a rich Legacy. An in-demand remixer throughout the 1980s, his remixes for singer-songwriter Gwen Guthrie are some of the best, as she had Sly and Robbie and Wally Bataru recording with her at the famous Compass Point Studios. Island Records commissioned LeVan to remix several of her songs, and they came together on the Padlock EP, which features LeVan's extended grooves, his abstract arrangements and futuristic synths; Smokey (or John Smokey Condon), spent his youth partying with the John Waters crowd in Baltimore. He marched in New York the night after the Stonewall riots on June 28th 1969 , and then moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded with budding producer E.J. Eamons. Together, they created Smokey and released seven singles with gay themes on their own label, S&M Records, which have since been collated on the Chapter Music compilation, How Far Will You Go ? , including the Bowie-inflected synth work of "I’ll Always Love You"; the atmosphere of today's 180th episode really started heating up with Bobby Guttadaro's remix of Brooklyn Dreams' classic " Music Harmony & Rhythm " . Bobby Guttadaro , first a pharmacist, started DJing at Fire Islands, the Ice Palace in 1971, and then Manhattan's Le Jardin and Infinity, becoming one of the hottest DJs of the 1970s disco scene. He was also a beat mix and remix pioneer and was the first DJ to be awarded a gold disc for his work on Love Unlimited Orchestra's Love Theme. Once awarded DJ of the Year by Billboard, he sadly succumbed to AIDS in 1989; Keeping the fire burning, Colleen then chose Gossip 's ' Real Power ' from their most recent album (a celebration of creative expression and the power that came out of choosing family in the aftermath of collective and personal trauma), released in March this year, actually their first studio release in 12 years, produced by Rick Rubin. Gossip, an indie synth band formed in Arkansas, is fronted by Beth Ditto , who is also a solo artist, a fashion guru, an actor, an LGBTQ+ rights activist, and a style icon who's walked the runway for Jean Paul Gauthier; Rufus Wainwright , the American-Canadian singer-songwriter, is an artist from a very musical family, as his parents are musicians Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, and his sister is Martha Wainwright. ' The One You Love ' is from his fourth studio album, Want Two , which was released in 2004; The special Danny Krivitt re-edits " Everything She Wants " by Wham, a Balearic classic about a man trapped in a marriage (his wife never being satisfied with what he does). Wham filmed their video for Club Tropicana at Pikes Hotel in Ibiza! ; Carl Bean's " I Was Born This Way " is a gay Pride classic, first recorded by Valentino, released in 1975, then by Carl Bean in 1977 (only issued as a single back then). The Motown recording artist, who had a harrowing childhood , later became a minister and founded a network of LGBT-friendly churches called the Unity Fellowship Church Movement. On his passing, the church stated, "Archbishop Beam worked tirelessly for the liberation of the underserved and for LGBTQ people of faith and in doing so helped many around the world find their way back to spirituality and religion" . In the next chapter of today's show, we're diving deep into a more Soulful musical approach...: Bronski Beat's hit Small Town Boy (one of Colleen's favourites) was the first single from their debut album, The Age of Consent; the song tells the story of a young gay man who is bullied in his small town and decides to leave home, Colleen here plays a beautiful version of the song, entitled "the sunset mix' by Gus F, a musician, producer and DJ based on the beautiful island of Jersey whose edit was approved by Jimmy Somerville in person!; Kevin Davey shared with us a memory, stating that Small Town Boy was Gilles' Worldwide Festival closing tune for the midweek night and Theatre De La Mer went wild! It was then teased the rest of the week untl Gilles closing set! Raw Through a Straw by Terre Thaemlitz (aka DJ Springles) is an interesting composition: It's abstract yet uptempo and one that Colleen played at The Loft and which sounded great on David Mancuso's sound system (props to David Mancuso during this Pride Month); Romy 's " Loveher " , taken from her first solo album, ' Mid-Air ' (an album about celebration, sanctuary and salvation on the dance floor; dealing with love, grief, relationships, identity and sexuality and a love letter to the queer clubs where Romy found community and connection) , released last year, produced by Stuart Price (Madonna's producer) and Fred again, also featuring an appearance by her bandmate Jamie XX; Patrick Cowley   was one of the defining producers of the high-energy scene that was born in the San Francisco gay clubs. Working extensively with Sylvester , producing some of his greatest dance floor moments, he is also recognized as an electronic music pioneer. His 1981 single ' Sea Hunt ' , is based on the theme song of Sea Hunt, a television series that aired when he was a kid, the song being featured on Cowley's ' Megatron Man ' album; London DJ and producer Elkka 's " Right Here " is taken from her album Prism of Pleasure, which came out on Ninja Tune a few weeks ago in which the rising DJ and producer explores sensuality and queerness and a celebration of pleasure in all its forms - The track was written in the space of 40 minutes on the day of her father’s funeral. Speaking about the song she explained " It’s difficult equating an album about pleasure with something I wrote when I was in a very different headspace,” she explains. “But I wrote it in a time of extreme vulnerability… It’s about needing and wanting someone to be there for you, even if you’re going to lose them.” The result is a bubbling fever-dream of a song; all yearning piano and lyrics about longing. “It was pouring out of me, and I was like, I’m just going to follow this through. I needed this, and it just came – it felt quite special and spiritual. I’ll never understand that "; Arthur Russell' s " That's Us/Wild " came out on a posthumous compilation released a couple of decades ago by Audica Records and Rough Trade. The tracks were taken from Russell's unreleased 1985 album, Corn , and a later unfinished album for Rough Trade. Some of the songs like that one were meticulously reworked and rerecorded dozens of times by Russell up until his passing in 1992 ( click here to see more about the brand new book - click here for Colleen's event with author Richard King ); Hi-Fi Sean' s ' The Redemption ' , a collaboration with New York singer Anaya Day - also known as Sean Dixon, he was in the successful 1990s indie group The Soup Dragons. Moving to New York, he came out in 2001 , left his family and broke down. He then rebranded as Hi-Fi Sean and has been releasing some kicking dance floor crackers, including this one; Frankie Knuckles ' single ' Blind ' by Hercules and Love Affair . The song was written by Andy Butler and Anoni (of Anoni and the Johnsons who released her sixth album, ' My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross ' . And the Johnsons is a reference to Marsha P. Johnson, one of the prominent figures of the Stonewall uprising of 1969. He was a gay liberation activist and a self-identified drag queen, and a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front. He also co-founded the radical activist group STAR, which stands for Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, with Sylvia Rivera). In 1987, the late Johnson was an AIDS activist with ACT UP. Frankie Knuckles, the godfather of House, won a Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year back then; Frankie Knuckles ' (ft. Jamie Principle ) Bad Boy , the 1989 single. Another house pioneer, Marshall Jefferson, told ID Magazine in 1986, "Jamie Principle got us all into the music. He was the first one to record House and get played by Frankie Knuckles. But by the time he got a record out over three years ago, everyone had ripped off all his ideas. People have got national recognition copying his songs note for note. But he hasn't got a deal and no one's heard of him" ; Sylvester 's " Over and over " , a song celebrating the need for gay men to create bonds in finding friendships, and thus openly supporting the gay community, was played by David Mancuso in 2001 when he celebrated, with Colleen, the release of the Loft compilations on Nuphonic. Colleen ends today's 180th episode by playing quite an incredible tune: this cult classic Neville Thumbcatch is from the late actor Peter Weingart, who recorded a solo album in 1970 when he was riding high as the star of the TV series Department S (he also played the lead in the first gay British TV drama, a 1959 broadcast of a play called 'South' ). RCA wanted to record an album with Weingart, but he said no as he couldn't sing. So, instead, he proposed an album of his compositions and choice cover versions via spoken word... What an incredible way to end such an important show that got the whole Family happily dancing, and oh so perfectly summed up by our pal dancing_james "I am going to be in so much trouble when my wife gets home this evening... "darling why haven't the tasks on the to-do list been completed?" Me sheepishly looking at the floor "er, dancing to Balearic Breakfast, Colleen played longer than expected..."" 🤣🤣🤣 And I can tell you a lot of us got into this kind of trouble! 😂😂😂

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 182nd episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on July 2nd 2024. About this episode. – Recently, I've stopped trying to figure out why I consistently encounter a peculiar "Synchronicity" while working on the blog. All I do is let things happen and notice when they do... A few days before this very show, I saw a video that really shook me. In this video, Kyan Khojandi, French humorist and actor, asks Alexandre Astier, French author and actor, where his confidence comes from. Alexandre's answer is one to keep in mind here: " If you don't have confidence in yourself, that's the only thing that makes you go down. The only thing that differentiates people who do from those who don't is just a sense of legitimacy in doing. It means, I have the position of someone who makes, whether it's good or not, it's none of my business, whether people like it or they don't, it's none of my business, I have to do what I have to do, I have to do it with everything I can put into it, I have to do the best I can but if I do the best I can, if it doesn't suit you, it's okay, if you don't like me, don't look at what I'm doing, don't insult me, that's all. And you know what, there's something I want to say there. I met really Great people. You must have met some too. Do you know what they have in common? They're all kind. So when you read harsh words, they're just coming from someone that wishes he was great "... A few hours before hitting the desks at the great Last Note Party (held in Perugia, Italy), Colleen posted the Request line on her socials on June 30 st, 2024: " A lovely snapshot of the last week’s summer solstice weekend at @firstlightlowestoft  - turns out I not only love sunset sets but also sunrise sets! Must be the lark in me. I’ll post it up soon. Which brings me to…. What would you like to hear as part of your weekly Balearic Breakfast this Tuesday (10am-12pm BST on my Mixcloud Live and Twitch TV). Looking forward to@your suggestions as always and thanks for your incredible contributions to last weeks’ 3+hour Pride special - it’s now archived along with all of the other Balearic Breakfasts on my Mixcloud (please give a a follow while you’re over there). Now relaxing in Umbria before tonight’s @lastnote_party - photos to follow. Have a great weekend!" The Balearic Breakfast family answered with songs showcasing one commune element we've all been missing lately: sunny feelings! Today's show was indeed sunny on all fronts, as we'll discover together in the listening experience part of this post! What a great way to celebrate the 181st episode of our Beloved show! Onwards! Listen to the 182nd episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 1987 ) Orquesta de las Nubes – Vendrán Lluvias Suaves ( 1984 ) David Sylvian  – Weathered Wall ( 2024 ) Iraina Mancini  – Undo the Blue (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Reimagination) ( 2024 ) Feel Fly  – Sole (Versione Tramonto) ( 1984 ) Pellegrin El Kady  – Seiva De Carnaval ( 2024 ) Dan the Drums & Ronnie Turner (ft. Emma Noble) – JazzCazz ( 1986 ) Prince  – Mountains ( 2024 ) Barbara Hernandez  – All Nite Tonite ( 2024 ) Belouis Some  – Imagination (Orchestral Extended Version) ( 2024 ) Shunt Voltage  – Resistor (Cosmikuro Remix) ( 2023 ) Precious Bloom  – Teka Teki Asmara ( 2024 ) Galliano  – Pleasure Joy & Happiness ( 1980 ) Change  – A Lover's Holiday (Jim Burgess Mix) ( 1989 ) The Beloved  – The Sun Is Rising (Danny’s Love Is Mix) ( NOL ) Lindstrom  – Sirius Syntoms ( 1993 ) Black Rascals (ft Roger Harris) – Keeping My Mind ( 2024 ) Myrna Summers  – So Much to Live For (Joaquin ‘Joe’ Claussell Remix) ( 2024 ) Lea Lisa  – Poem for the Lost Souls (Kuniyuki Version) ( 2000 ) The Boyz from Brazil  – Land of Make-Believe (A Terra do Fazer Crer Bossa Novo Mix) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE (Coming soon) A calm, wavy, evolving and very Balearic sound comes to you, entwined with nervous electronic outbursts, decorated with a Spanish guitar... Welcome, a new day has just begun... Colleen always chooses tracks that open up the musical scene for every show. She, once again, perfectly does it here by playing Orquesta de las Nubes ' (the Cloud Orchestra), Vendra Lluvia Suaves , (Black Rains Will Come) from their 1987 LP Manuel del Uso Ario . Orquesta de las Nubes were a trio: guitarist Sonic Manipulator Suso Saiz, percussionist Pedro Esteban, and singer Maria Villa. Influenced by the sounds of ECM and Brian Eno, they were trying to develop a new kind of Spanish music that drew on the new music of Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich, along with the hypnotic music of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Extending the beautiful morning sunset visuals, Colleen then plays David Silvian 's Weathered Wall , taken from the former Japan's frontman solo debut album, Brilliant Trees , released on the 25th of June, 1984 (on which we found a track already played during Balearic Breakfast's first episode , Red Guitar). Even though Japan had disbanded, former band members Steve Johnson and Richard Barbieri both appear on the record, alongside a stellar array of other guests, like Hans Holger Zukai, Danny Thompson, the bassist John Hassel, Mark Gisham, and the late Urichi Sakamoto, who had collaborated with Silvian before. It was a well-received album. Sounds critic Carol Linfield wrote: "Silvian has grown up. He's left art school, gone through the gray, and come out in a spectrum of pastel shades that entrance and enthrall. Gone is the clichéd imagery that once haunted Japan. "'In its place is a solo artist who deserves more respect than his beautiful face often allows." In a beautiful interview that you can read here , David Silvain explains a few things about "Weathered Wall". – " I have never visited Jerusalem. Again, the album 'Brilliant trees' was written in a period when my belief system, my faith, came under attack. I wanted to see what remained when all pillars of support were removed. The pieces you mention are explorations along those lines. The narrator of Brilliant trees ultimately finds redemption in human love which for him is linked to the divine." Once again, when listening to Colleen's show, pay attention to the details. The rhythmic perfection meets us once again as the next track, a gentle and  promising  number, this time of singer, songwriter, and DJ  Iraina Mancini 's  Undo the Blue,  starts, allowing the listener to dive fully into this new morning. This "Beyond the Wizard's sleeve reimagination" is a new single . On the flip side is a Saint Etienne remix of her song Sugar High. You can hear touches of French pop, psychedelia, and some cinematic soul on there. Speaking about the very song in an interview, Iraina shared "I wrote this song about reinvention and fresh starts. Leaving the bad behind and seeing a bright shiny new you.“ Even through Silence, Colleen's soul shines. Do you hear the musical continuity here? Listen to the musical "pattern; I'm sure you'll understand what I'm talking about. Pure Beauty, right? Italy's   Feel Fly 's  Sole  (Versione Tremonde), or sun, came out very fittingly on the summer solstice on June 21st and oh so perfectly gave me the title of today's post, just a few minutes before Colleen actually introduced the track. Isn't this intellectual Synchronicity in its purest form right there? (.....) Feel Fly is Afro-Templum co-founder Daniele Tomassini, and there's just so much good music coming out of Italy right now. You know, from jazz, all that whole Napoli scene, and also kind of the further evolution of Italo disco, Italo house. As Colleen said, grazie per la musica! Following this blissful moment comes a track that I considered the Wow moment of today's 181st episode: a profound, visionary, freewheeling, incantatory and musical trip by Ricardo Pellegrin-Elkady, with Seiva De Carnaval . What's really interesting at that moment of the show is the "timing" element; you could almost draw a little storyboard in which every song would see the sun going up in the sky; what a beautiful musical progression right there! Ricardo came from Guinea-Bissau. Settling in Quebec in 1974, he became a pioneer of world beat in Canada, blending sounds from Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe. This incredible track is taken from Elkady's 1984 EP Sanguila . Elkady spent his life sharing the importance of Culture, fighting against analphabetism, sharing music that would always go beyond "folklorization" (he issued 3 albums between 1984 and 1995) and putting the respect due to the person on the forefront of his strongest beliefs ( read here ). Keeping her pulse tremendously perfect, never missing a beat, Colleen then plays the lovely cover of Casanova, the 1980 single by Coffee ( First release by Ruby Andrews, 1967 ), given here a jazzy and broken-beat twist by Dan the Drums and Ronnie Turner with vocals by Emma Noble (the track is out now on the wonderful Ramrock Records), beautifully followed by the incredible, and still funky fresh-sounding Mountains by Prince ! Colleen is such a musical delight right here!!! The funky and high-spirit reaching song Muntains isTaken from Prince 's eighth album and his last one with the Revolution "Parade", released in 1986, a year after Around the World in a Day, two years after Purple Rain, and alongside a load of other projects. Do you hear the rhythmic connection between Mountains and the Trinidadian disco number that is Barbara Hernandez 's All Night Tonight ?  It's another blissful Balearic musical moment we absolutely all love here on Balearic Breakfast! Issued on another one of Collen's favourite labels, Soundway, which reissues fabulous and often forgotten nuggets, also featuring upcoming stars like Australia's Psy Galaxy, this Cult Soca Disco 12-inch was produced by Leston Paul, initially released in 1984 , and now available in full vocal and instrumental versions for the first time in 40 years. Barbara was a backing singer for Kool and the Gang in New York at the time this track was recorded, and the session featured Kool and the Gang's horn section as well as a who's who of the Trinidad music scene for what would be Barbara's only solo release. Colleen perfectly ends the first hour of the show by playing two incredible songs, perfectly mixed by theway (once again, laughs!): the slow starter but definitely strong builder (laughs!) orchestral extended version of Imagination by Belouis Some , followed by The Cosmic Kudo remix of Resistor  by Shunt Voltage (Shunt Voltage's generator is featured on the Balearic Breakfast Vol. 3 compilation btw). I absolutely adore this last track as it does have these strong and sunny visuals attached to it! That track is so Mean, I really mean Mean! Another Wow momen t of this 181st episode for sure! Originally a hit from his 1985 debut album Some People , Imagination is about a British man's encounter with an extremely self-indulgent American woman and one that expresses the conflict between reality and dreams. The album was produced in New York City, and the video was directed by the late Storm Thorgeson, who designed many of Pink Floyd's album covers. It caused a little bit of controversy because it featured full-frontal nudity. Now that the sun is high in the sky, it's past 10 o'clock in the morning already, we can all have a proper Balearic Breakfast Party! And this is exactly what Colleen is going to propose us here in the second hour of today's sunny episode, starting with Precious ' Bloom, Teka Teki Asmara , oh so beautifully followed by the light "carnival-like" number that is Galliano's Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness , the "ha-chika boom boom" moment ending with the incredible A lover's Holiday by the Italian studio project that is Change ! Precious Bloom , a band from Jakarta in Indonesia, is comprised of record digger and producer Aradea Barindana and singer-songwriter Adinda Dwimadasari. With a penchant for 80s Indonesian city pop, the band released Precious Bloom last year. The album has a wide spectrum of sounds, including new beat and proto house, high energy, and even some bossa nova influences. Pleasure, Joy, and Happiness from Galliano's forthcoming album, Halfway Somewhere , is coming out on Brownswood Recordings on the 30th of August. It's a cosmic, uplifting take on Eddie Tricone's 2020 record. Rob Gallagher was inspired when he saw Eddie perform it at Clapton's Church of Sound and at We Out Here, and he felt a strange disco version trying to get out. The immaculate sounds of the Italian studio project Change with A Lover's Holiday , a single from their 1980 LP produced by Jacques Fred Petrus with backing vocals by Luther Vandros, who sang lead on other Change songs. The song was written by David Romany of High Fashion and the BB&Q Band, and it was mixed by the late DJ Jim Burgess , who that same year became one of the resident DJs at the newly opened gay club The Saint in New York City. For the second mini mix of today's show, we all love when Colleen does these, our dear Captain plays Danny Rampling 's mix of the beloved 1989 Balearic classic The Sun Is Rising perfectly followed "in da beat" by Norwegian producer and DJ Hans-Peter Lindstrom 's Sirius Syntones; lifting this incredible musical moment with a well-deserved tribute to the Loft, bringing us all to David Mancuso's home on East 3rd Street (in Manhattan's Alphabet City) with Black Rascals'  (ft. Roger Harris) Keeping My Mind , climaxing it in a craze and gospel cry with the incredible Joe Claussell's workout that is Myrna Summers '  So Much to Live For and ending it in a stunning mix with Lea Lisa 's Poem for the Lost Souls !!! Another Wow moment for sure (allowing us all to send positive thoughts to Rick's mom, who celebrated her 80th birthday today)!!! Sirius Syntones , a Norwegian producer, and DJ Hans-Peter Lindstrom 's new single on his own Fidelity label has a fun, uplifting and Italo house feel to it. Great for festival sets on warm summer days. Such a great arranger with a great ear! Black Rascals featuring Roger Harris' Keeping My Mind was actually Blaze, Kevin Hedge, and Josh Milan. The track came out in 1993 as a first single on Danny Diaz's label, Suma Recordings, and he released their productions and also one by the late DJ Camacho in 1996, called " Renegade ". Joe Claussell has become something of a powerhouse of Latin jazz house productions and can be here heard on Maryland gospel singer and a minister of music at Reed Temple AME Church Myrna Summer , who released 19 albums between 1970 and 2006, here with So much to live for . French DJ and producer Lea Lisa is a Lausanne-based artist. She released records on Wolf Music and Fonica, and now has a new one on German label Smallville. Here she is with the Kuniyuki version of her Poem for the lost souls . There's also a double 12-inch released last week. After such an INCREDIBLE SHOW, Colleen signs off by playing one last song, actually a cover of a song many of us treasure. A true Loft classic that really makes end meets (if you see what I mean (😜) here in a version by The Boys from Brazil (taking this opportunity to wish her friend, James Hogarth, a Happy Birthday!) . By the way, I almost forgot. Yesterday evening, as I was talking to my friend Ana, she told me, "I've read your last post on the blog. It's really good. I don't know how you do it." My answer came instantly: "I do it by dying every time." Remember, the sun doesn't think about the fact that it must shine. It Shines.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 183rd episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on July 9th 2024. About this episode. – Among the themes the Balearic Breakfast Familly loves the most, musically speaking, is the one of Change! We love it when Colleen offers us the opportunity to request songs dealing with change; there are so many possibilities and so many great songs to choose from! Lately, the winds of change have been blowing through Europe, with several Parliamentary elections happening in a close time frame. With these changing times, Colleen asked us on Saturday, June 6th, 2024, to request songs reflecting the era we're all going through: " Even the pillar boxes are getting in on the action The cuppa is a quintessential British rite and this morning as we drink our tea some of us are celebrating the end of 14 years of Tory rule. What the future has in store for us - who knows - we can only hope but at least there is change And yesterday was a new moon and that signifies new beginnings. So for this coming Tuesday’s Balearic Breakfast let’s spotlight songs about new beginnings and transformation. You always rise to the occasion when there is a musical theme and I look forward to your requests as always. " Following our exchanges on Colleen's request line, today's show was unique. We're going to see together how this episode translates the changing times! " This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud at https://shorturl.at/ESTT1   and the theme is change, new beginnings and transformation as thankfully here in the UK many of us are celebrating the end of 14 years of Tory rule. Change is coming and fingers crossed. Today’s show spotlights some of our old favourites – songs that have been played on the show before but hey – Balearic Breakfast has been going for nearly 4 years now so there is a repeat license in play even if I seldom do it. In any case, it’s good to hear some of these songs sitting next to each other as they take on a different meaning. And of course, there are other tunes that have never been played as well. So for now, sit back and enjoy a hopefully transformative selection of songs. " Listen back to the 183rd episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 2017 ) Phil France – Transition ( 2008 ) Low Motion Disco   – Things Are Gonna Get Easier ( 1971 ) Nina Simone   – New World Coming ( 1971 ) Gil Scott-Heron   – I Think I'll Call It Morning ( 2022 ) Jasmine Myra   – New Beginnings ( 1975 ) Lonnie Liston Smith   – Visions of a New World ( 1992 ) Incognito   – Change ( 1975 ) Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes   – Wake Up Everybody ( 2020 ) Buju Banton   – The World is Changing ( 2006 ) Dennis Bovell   – Pickin’ Up The Pieces ( 1969 ) Chicago   – Beginnings ( 1995 ) Vanessa Daou   – Autumn Perspective ( 1987 ) Pet Shop Boys   – A New Life ( 1983 ) Imagination   – Changes (Larry Levan Remix) ( 1988 ) INXS   – New Sensation (Nick's 12-inch Mix) ( 1992 ) Love Tempo   – Change for the Better (Yvonne Turner Freestyle Mix) ( 1999 ) Groove Collective   – Everything is Changing ( 2024 ) House of Spirits   – Times are Changing ( 2018 ) Underground Resistance   – Transition THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE (coming soon) Change is in the air, Politically but, more importantly... Musically. When you listen back to this very episode, take the time to listen to the structure of the songs, to the effects used, to their inner freedom. It's all crystal clear, and this structural unity is one of the strongest we ever had on the show. Even Colleen's mixes and the order she chose for the songs denote a never-felt originality; the show taking much more time to enter is transcendental atmosphere, shall I say. And it all starts with the opening song, which is Phil France 's " Transition "! Sound effects, electronic sounds melting into a beautiful string section, waving dynamics, impeccable mixing and mastering... A mesmerising track to start the show, indeed! As Low Motion Disco 's " Things Are Gonna Get Easier " starts, we clearly hear how well these two first songs go together! They're both very original, with a very close rhythm, and they have a close relationship sound-effect-wise! If you take the time to watch the waveform on SoundCloud, you'll also notice how they both gain Volume as time goes by! Clearly, there is an extension to higher grounds here, and despite Mixcloud's compressed audio spectrum, you can hear that rhythmic guitar's realism on the right! Colleen keeps the interesting flow intact by playing Nina Simone 's " New World Coming " , another song with an impeccable strange, unexpected evolving sonic and rhythmic structure! I love how Nina Simone's song "ends" Low Motion Disco's number... Being a DJ is not always about beatmatching, but also about making the song discuss to one another. Colleen really does that so perfectly, I never get tired of listening to her mixes when she lets her originality fly, it's always refreshing! Since we're flying high on the winds of change, there's no better moment than to play Gil Scott-Heron 's " I Think I'll Call It Morning ", one of the Wow moments of the show without a shadow of a doubt because we keep the freed musical structure the previous tracks all have but also I feel this track does a nice intellectual dialogue with Nina Simone's one. Yes, There's a nice conversation here, a leading conversation! Manchester-based composer, bassist, and producer Phil France was a key collaborator in the Cinematic Orchestra. Transition is taken from his album The Swimmer , first released on 26.2 Records and then reissued on Guantanamo Records in 2013. Five years later, he released the album Circle and, since then, he's done some film scoring. Transition, sonically captures the feeling of new birth and change. – Speaking of his album , Phil explained: " I’ve always been fascinated by water but had never been confident in it so I took some time and taught myself how to swim properly. It was at this point that I started to think what my album could be about, and I wrote the title track, The Swimmer . I was thinking about big blocks of sound, minimal and electronically influenced, that I could develop and shift through each of the compositions. So the reality of swimming - the focusing on breathing, the repetitive physical motion and the sense of improved well-being - were qualities I tried to capture in the music." The cover of the song 'Ooh Child' was made a hit in 1970 by the Five Stairsteps , known at the time as the first family of soul before passing that title on to the Jackson Five. Keni Burke of rising to the top fame was one of the siblings in the Five Stairsteps. So there's your trivia for the day. Things Are Gonna Get Easier is a cover version released on Eskimo Recordings back in 2008 by Swiss chill-out duo Low Motion Disco. And it was on their debut album, Keep It Low. – The band's name has a nice stoty to it : " ... we have developed a way to dance while not moving. We do it standing at a bar, or sitting on a sofa, in a car, wherever. While doing this, we groove and shake like hell, it just doesn't show on the outside. This technique is the basis of all we do. We call it 'low motion disco .'" New World Coming is a song that expressed hope when there was despair, when it was written by husband and wife songwriting duo, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (sadly, she passed away in june 2023), who originally penned it for Mama Cass of the Mamas and Papas. It was a hit for her in 1970. Nina Simone recorded it for her covers album, Here Comes the Sun , released in 1971. Gil Scott Heron 's "I think I'll call it Morning" is taken from his 1971 debut album, Pieces of a Man (more about his studio recordings here and a Biography there ), with the wonderful Brian Jackson accompanying him on keys (Brian Jackson will be performing again at We Out Here this year). It's an optimistic song, one that asks us to be more self-aware. Why should we subscribe to the world's madness? Instead, let's take that piece of sunshine and paint it all over our skies. – “You can’t just start screaming at everybody. Everybody knows there are things wrong with this planet. But in order to make it through all the things that are going to happen to you in your life, you need to maintain humor. It’s the most important aspect of yourself.” – Gil Scott-Heron in an interview with Wax Poetics, Pieces of a Man, p. 76 Jasmine Myra 's " New Beginnings " perfectly follows Scott-Heron's song. The rhythm is also very close yet less "direct". There's more groove on this side. In French, we'd say "c'est plus chaloupé" (it's more "choppy" if that makes any sense in English, laughs!). We still have these tiny rhythmic variations in how the instruments interact; what a beautiful sense of freedom Jasmine Myra's track has! Colleen perfectly respects that freedom by playing the very open-minded, "erected" Lonnie Liston Smith 's " Visions of a New World "! This track is an ode to freedom and originality in all of their forms. Listen to the groovy part, how it starts building and see how the main theme slowly and indirectly reappears... Mesmerising... From London-based saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Jasmine Meara on Matthew Halsall's forward-thinking Gondwana label. Jasmine released her second album, Rising (written and composed in the midst of personnal rather sad times), in May, a follow-up to her 2022 debut, Horizons (written and composed during lockdown). And it has firmly placed her as one of the rising stars of the UK jazz scene. The title track to keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith 's album and his working band, The Cosmic Echoes. 1975's Visions of a New World is a gorgeous album in the meditative soul jazz vein. Lonnie Liston Smith released a record on the Jazz Is Dead label co-founded by a tribe called Quest Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Entering another section of the show, Colleen then plays the directly groovy number that Incognito 's " Change " is, followed by our beloved Classic, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' " Wake Up Everybody ", both tracks sharing a close tonality/rhythm, it's all in the groove 😉. The next song, Buju Banton 's " The World is Changing " keeps that rhythmic unity (although its sonic structure is different, of course). Yet, the main ingredient, "the reaching out" if I can put it that way, is still present! Of course, the track's sonic and rhythmic structure is very original! Surprisingly, Colleen ends the first hour of the show with Dennis Bovell's "Pickin’ Up The Pieces " , a rather classical reggae number that suits the show for obvious musical reasons... Change, a single from British soul-funk jazz band Incognito, from their third LP, 1992's Tribes, Vibes and Scribes . A great song from Bluey and Crew that still resonates today. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes with Wake Up Everybody, the title track to their 1975 album , featuring lead vocals by none other than the late Teddy Pendergrass (it was composed by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen (!!)). And if you haven't seen the documentary about Pendergrass, if you don't know me, it is a must. It explores the rise of Pendergrass, who rose to fame in the 1970s and early 80s, until he had a life-changing accident , and then an incredible comeback against All Odds. – A new version has been recently recorded and issued with somewhat changed lyrics, listen to it here . Dancehall artist Buju Banton , a Grammy award winner, was unable to attend the ceremony to collect his award as he had just been convicted of drug smuggling and spent several years in a US prison before returning to his homeland of Jamaica and embarking upon his long walk to freedom tour in 2018. Two years later, he released his first album since his Grammy winning 2010 LP. It's called Upside Down 2020 and was released during the pandemic to critical acclaim. Picking Up the Pieces by British dub master Dennis Bovel l originally came out on Bovell's album All Over the World , but it's also featured on the double vinyl retrospective compilation, The Dub Master . Bovell has more feathers to his cap than just dub, having produced punk group The Slits first LP, and he was a founding member of UK kingpin Matumbi, UK reggae kingpin band, I should say Matumbi. He's also the architect behind the uniquely British Jamaican genre of lovers rock as well. He has an incredible story. The second hour of the show starts with an upbeat number, nicely contrasting with the previous cool cat, Chicago's " Beginnings " (and a Happy Birthday to Carmen Estrada!) , ending in a beautiful Balearic sonic bombamaganza, nicely followed by the strange kaleidoscope that is Vanessa Daou's Autumn Perspective perfectly blended into Pet Shop Boys's "A New Life " , Colleen keeping this wonderful mini mix together with Larry Levan's "incredible Changes remix " , ending it with the Rocky/Poppy bombamaganza number that is INXS' "New Sensation "! I Mean... W O W ! ! ! Wow, because of the rhythmic unity of the last five tracks but also because the Happy Bouncing moment took longer to arrive than it usually does in the show! Changes indeed!! Chicago's Beginnings from the Chicago Transit Authorities , eponymously titled debut album released in 1969. At first the single failed to chart, but then it became a hit like the album itself, which was a sleeper and didn't really make an impact until two years later when it reached the Billboard charts and then stayed on there for 171 weeks over three years. Chicago songwriter Robert Lamb said he was inspired to write Beginnings because of a Richie Havens performance. Vanessa Daou , the American singer, songwriter, dancer and visual artist whose solo debut album Ziplist released 30 years ago, put the words of Erika Jong to music. Jong wrote the feminist female sexuality novel Fear of Flying in 1973. Zipless was produced by Vanessa's former husband, Peter Daou , who many of you know as a keyboard player, who often collaborate with Danny Tanaglia. And the couple had collaborated as The Daou . Vanessa Daou's Zipless is set to be reissued . A New Life from the Pet Shop Boys, 1987 LP, Actually , which critiqued Martin Thatcher's government. Imagination with Changes, some British soul reimagined by a New Yorker. The original version is a single from their second album, In the Heat of the Night, which features another one of my favorites, Just an Illusion. Changes was given the Paradise Garage treatment and was then featured on their incredible remix album, Nightdubbing, which kind of followed in the footsteps of albums like Black Uhuru's Dub Factor , which featured remixes of past songs. The late Michael Hutchence and INXS with New Sensation , the hit single from the Australian band's sixth album Kick , was produced by Chris Thomas , a producer for the Beatles, Roxy Music, Pretenders, Sex Pistols and more. Kick was INXS' most commercially successful album, released a decade before Hutchence's tragic suicide . Today's second mini mix starts on the slower side with the very Balearic and clubby number Love Tempo 's " Change for the Better " ( The Yvonne Turner Freestyle Mix ) , followed by Groove Collective's  " Everything is Changing " , Colleen ending this simple yet effective mini mix by perfectly mixing in House of Spirits ' " Times are Changing "! Ending the show with the speedy Transition by Underground Resistance , it seems obvious that Colleen took a speed train for Change, allowing her to have Visions of a New World ... The 1992 single from Love Tempo, Change for the Better. Love Tempo was a duo of two friends of mine, Tommy Musto from Suburban Records who gave me my first production opportunity. He said he wanted to release my first record when I was working at Dance Tracks. And I actually sat beside him in the studio learning how to produce and produced my first song I ever wrote, actually, Ch'i, Mistaken, featuring Alison Crockett. The other part of this duo is another friend of mine, Yvonne Turner, another one of the originators of the house sound, who really never got her due at the time and is just now getting some recognition. I did an interview with her for the Love Injection fanzine. And also my friend Andy Beda wrote a great article about her for Pitchfork if you want to find out more. Another great live collective, Groove Collective with Everything Is Changing (the original album version) came out on Naked Music's 12 inch , but also some remixes by Swag and Jay Dennis. Groove Collective released some great records, including their debut album, which had What You Got with the Louis Vega remix. Out on Razor and Tape Reserve, Times Are Changing is a new one from Tom Noble , who is the owner of Superior Elevation Records in Brooklyn. He has a project called House of Spirits and has a new album coming out that collects the work of nearly 15 years of this modern retro soul that throws a nod to the Mizell brothers and Patrick Adams and bringing that into the future and recorded with all live instrumentation. Straight from Detroit, The Underground Resistance are put into light in Roland's Miny-Documentary. The Collective, which website is down but which Facebook is active with more than 1000 active members, remains a key figure of the Techno scene ( click here to discover more).

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 184th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on July 16th 2024. About this episode. – Between two DJ sets, Colleen managed to record and stream today's episode (coming from Berlin, where she played last weekend, Colleen was boarding this morning on to the Netherlands ^^), which was a beautiful and uplifting one! Welcoming her friend Andrei Sandu , Colleen let him play a few tracks from the ones he commented on in his book, "Mates' Crates' (which is out now and which you can order on Andrei's Bandcamp ). The show's second hour saw Colleen play tracks that undeniably uplifted the Balearic Breakfast's family souls! " This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and this week we have something a bit different. I handed the first hour over to my friend @andrei.matescrates  a member of The London Loft team, part of the @melt_my_heartz DJ crew (who are joining me in our Love Dancin’ tent at We Out Here) and author of the new book Mates Crates. In the book Andrei tells the stories behind 100 songs – personal anecdotes along with historical and musical connections. It’s a great book and even better, all of the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders and the Music Venue Trust . Head over to the matescrates bandcamp to pick up a copy. For the second half of today’s show I picked up the pace with more of a club set. I had an amazing time at heidegluehen in Berlin this past weekend (pure vibes!) and didn’t want to leave the club. As I’m playing in Blauwdruk tonight I wanted to keep the party going so I hope you will join me for a dance." Listen back to the 184th episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST Andrei Sandu Mates Crates Mix ( 1987 ) Ahmed Fakroun – Ya Farhi Beek ( 1989 ) Womack & Womack – MPB (Missin’ Persons’ Bureau) ( 1976 ) Gabor Szabo – Keep Smilin’ ( 1985 ) Ivan – Sue ñ os de Papel ( 1977 ) Average White Band & Ben E. King – Get It Up For Love ( 1978 ) Carly Simon – Tranquillo (Melt My Heart) ( 1977 ) Kimiko Kasai – Love Celebration ( 1980 ) Tata Vega – (I've Got My) Second Wind ( 1978 ) Elkie Brooks – As ( 1978 ) Don Beto – Nao Quero Mais ( 1977 ) Ornella Vanoni – Ti Voglio ( 1984 ) Jose Pinhal – Tu Es a Que Eu Quero ( 1983 ) Jean-Luc Ponty – Computer Incantations for World Peace Colleen Mix (2nd hour) ( 1986 ) William Bell – Passion (Froggy Mix) ( 2023 ) Fabio Santanna – You Can Do It ( 2024 ) Bustin Loose & Magnolia (ft. Catalina) – Paradise (Hot Toddy Remix) ( 2024 ) Joe Goddard & Hayden Thorpe – Summon ( 2024 ) Sven Hammond – It's Alright (Felix Dickinson Remix) ( 2024 ) Radio Slave (ft. Caged Baby) – Amnesia (Lindstrom Remix) ( 2003 ) Sandy Rivera – Changes (Ben Watt Lazy Dog Remix) ( 1997 ) Presence – Better Day ( 2024 ) Musclecars – Tonight (Louie Vega Remix) ( 2001 ) Kings of Tomorrow (ft. Julie McKnight) – Diamond Life (Dance Ritual Remix) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Since both of today's mixes are straightforward, leaving no room for further intellectual/philosophical analysis, we're just going to share some information about some of the songs, as we always try to do here on the Balearic Breakfast blog, starting with Adrei Sandu's mix: starting his mix with Lybian artist Ahmed Fakroun 's " Ya Farhi Beek" (reissued on 12" recently, click here for more info), taken from his 1987 studio album "Love Words" ("Mots d'Amour" in French), this very Balearic love song has a disco groove, typical of Ahmed Fakroun's musical influences , interestingly enough the album was recorded at the Parisian " Studio des Dames " recording facility where numerous other french artists recorded during the 70s/80s; Womack & Womack's 1988 Missin’ Persons’ Bureau is taken from their " Conscience " album " The tempo drops on M.P.B (Missing Person’s Bureau) which opens with rhythm section and guitars, with handclaps accompanying the vocal, with Cecil giving a gentle and thoughtful vocal. His voice is tender as he sings about a lover who’s missing. Meanwhile, the arrangement is slower, a mixture of soul and subtle funk. There’s a great guitar solo, which replaces the vocal. It’s accompanied by the rhythm section contributing elements of gentle funk, before Cecil and Linda combine wonderfully. Their vocals are perfect, gentle and thoughtful, delivering the lyrics brilliantly. Together with a slower, subtle arrangement, which never overpowers the tender and thoughtful vocal, this is a potent combination, resulting in one of the album’s best tracks" ; Gabor Szabo 's Keep Smilin’ is taken from his 1976 ' Nightflight ' studio album and his biggest hit, although this one is a cover of the 1974 song by Bunny Sigler found on his Keep Smilin' LP (Sigler produced Gabor Szabo's version!); 1985, from Ivan 's "Baila" studio album, " Sueños de Papel " is your sunny and funky track per excellence. Juan Carlos Ramos Vaquero (born 1962 in Madrid) was discovered by CBS producer Oscar Gómez, who made him record his first album in 1979, "Sin Amor". By 1980, he sold more than 5 million records (you may remember him because of his 1985 Fotonovela hit, which can be found on the aforesaid album) and collaborated regularly with José Luis Perales, with whom he got many hits (he was very popular in Latin America) before his career was put on hold because of his military service. His last album is the 2015 " Porque...te quiero tanto "; Average White Band & Ben E. King presents in their 1977 studio album an astounding cover of a song we all love , written by Ned Doheny, Stephen Michael Schwartz 's " Get It Up For Love " (of course already featured during the show) ; Carly Simon's " Tranquillo " (Melt My Heart), from her 1978 " Boys in the Trees " studio album (also the title of her memoirs ), can be found on an astounding double LP " The Ladies of Too Slow to Disco ", taking a look at the women who kick-started the female pop revolution in the seventies; Kimiko Kasai's 1977   "Love Celebration" from her "Tokyo Special" studio album was composed by Tatsuro Yamashita (who also composed Mariya Takeuchi's " Plastic Love "); Tata Vega 's (I've Got My) Second Wind (in duet with Motown Legend G.C. Cameron ) is taken from her 1980 studio album "Givin' All My Love" on Tamla records, this version being a cover of Al Johnson track, found on his 1980 "Back for more" studio album; Elkie Brooks ' 1978 "As" (found on her "Shooting Star" studio album) is of course a very nice cover of Stevie Wonder's song found on his incredible "Songs in The Key of Life" double LP&45 studio album (a Loft Classic often played by David and always bringing the dancers to their knees); Don Beto 's  "Nao Quero Mais" is taken from his 1978 studio album " Nossa Imaginação" ( featuring arrangements by producer Lincoln Olivetti and ultimately winning the Golden Globe award that very year ). Musically and soundwise, it is close to The Doobie Brothers' track ‘ Long Train Running ’ (it also made me think about Cerrone's " Hooked on You "), with a more soulful chorus section but a solid vintage disco-boogie style indeed; Ornella Vanoni 's " Ti Voglio" (I want you, in English) is taken from her 1977 studio album "Io Fuori" and nicely reflects the brilliant Italian Disco era with its Huge productions (contrasting with the singer's lifelong battle with depression that didn't stop her from releasing more than 40 studio albums!). A brand new edition of the song was issued in 2022 ; Jose Pinhal 's " Tu Es a Que Eu Quero " from his 1984 studio album is a bouncy number from the Portuguese singer who made a posthumous comeback in recent years; Jean-Luc Ponty 's 1983 " Computer Incantations for World Peace " , is considered by many musical lovers a Balearic Classic, Ponty's discovery of sequencers and synthesisers gave him the idea of working on another level with music as he explained in an interview : "What I was recording in that new sequencer gave me the idea to go for a totally different concept, to use these recordings as rhythmic backgrounds, sometimes without drums or percussion. I planned to record a new album in which I would play all the background parts with my synthesizers and add my violin later on in the studio. I also invited a few guests on different tracks, rather than record yet another band album" . Colleen's mix was nothing short of amazing! We were all impressed by the house/club atmosphere she created for us! I believe we all needed to immerse ourselves in the music, especially with the unpredictable weather we've been experiencing lately! Here are a few information about the songs played by Colleen: as Musician Sean McPherson wrote it, "From the early 1960s to this very day, Stax recording artist William Bell has crafted soul classics with a clarity, passion and grit that is truly unparalleled". " Passion " is taken from Bell's 1986 studio album, Colleen here plays the Froggy Mix from 1986; Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and producer Fabio Santanna takes us to the dancefloor with " You Can Do It " a very funky number from his 2023 album ASA; Bustin' Loose and Magnolia (feat. Katalin) " Paradise " (Hot Toddy remix) is on the 75th release special (The Express remixes five from Disco Express and other remixers as John Morales, The Reflex, and Dr. Packer). It's coming out this Friday on the Disco Express Bandcamp ; Hot Chip's Joe Goddard has just released his third solo album "Harmonics". It features many guest vocalists, including Alexis Taylor, Nell Doyle, also Alabaster De Plume, Fioris, Bibio Sound Machine, and a host of others, including former Wild Beast frontman Hayden Thorpe, who we heard on the song " Summon " (there's a Cosmodelica remix of a forthcoming Joe Goddard single in the pipeline); Dutch band Sven Hammond released six studio albums. The Felix Dickinson remix of their new single " It's Alright " is taken from their forthcoming seventh studio album, Cosmic Gold, on Marmalade Records, which will drop in early 2025; Radio Slave's (feat. Caged Baby) "Amnesia" originally came out last summer, but this is the Lindstrom remix, which just came out last month. Speaking about the song, Matt Edwards said " I’ve always romanticized about Ibiza in the mid to late 80s. Partying outside. Listening to that perfect mix of European dance tracks and 80’s extended pop mixes and ‘Amensia’ is a love letter to that era”; One-half of the Kings of Tomorrow, Sandy Rivera , did a remix of Colleen's first single, Loneliness. Here he is with his own 2003 single, Changes, given the remix treatment by Everything But the Girl' s , Ben Watt (the Lazy Dog remix); 1997 Presence 's  ( Charles Webster  on production duties and Steve Edwards  on Vocals –  remember Bob Sinclar's " World Hold On "?) " Better Days ".

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 185th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on July 23rd 2024. About this episode. – This 184th episode of Balearic Breakfast takes us to much higher ground than usual. The first part is very homogeneous, with many of the songs dealing directly or indirectly (musically and philosophically) with departure... The second half of the show sees the whole Family flying up there... Colleen posted the request line on her socials last Saturday morning, writing us: "Whenever I discovered a lady slipper in the forest as a child, it was a magical event. We were told to never touch these rarely spotted endangered orchids, so I was delighted to see so many on my last walk in the Middlesex Fells near Boston. And I’m looking forward to your musical contributions to the magical event we create together this coming Tuesday. Please let me know what you would like to hear on Balearic Breakfast on Tuesday from 10am to 12pm on my Mixcloud Live and Twitch TV." Some of the family members logically requested songs linked to flowers and nature, and we even laughed, as I didn't see that theme coming at all! But we eventually succeeded, as always, in proposing songs with a common theme: leaving Earth to experience new adventures! Before diving in today's show, let's give our Captain the final words: " This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud. Today's show features your requests along with new records and some old finds. The show also pays tribute to the late kora master Toumani Diabaté and celebrates the legacy of Larry Levan who would have turned 70 this past weekend. Thanks to all who joined on my Mixcloud Live for the stream and apologies to the Twitch TV users. As that platform didn’t sort out copyright clearances they are redirecting everyone over to Mixcloud and thanks to those that migrated over to join the family all in one happy place. Listen back to the 185th episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 1999 ) Toumani Diabate & Ballake Sissoko  – Salaman ( 1963 ) Cal Tjader  – Black Orchid ( 2024 ) Soul Revivers (ft Ash Walker)  – Holding it Down ( 2006 ) The Black Seeds – The Answer ( 2011 ) Brian Protheroe  – Pinball (Ashley Beedle Heavy Disco Edit) ( 1978 ) Townes Van Zandt  – Brother Flower ( 2024 ) James Alexander Bright  – Fall for You ( NOL ) Abba  – Eagle (Pete Blaker Edit) ( 1986 ) Gwen Guthrie  – 7th Heaven (Larry Levan Remix) ( 2024 ) Magic Words  – Wabi Soba ( 2023 ) AC Symphony  – Windy City Theme ( 2024 ) Odair José  – Nunca Mais (Siree Re-Edit) ( 1975 ) CoalKitchen  – Chained to the Train of Love ( 2020 ) Mogwaa  – Dancing with the Herons ( 2024 ) Flamingo Pier  – Mazunte ( 2024 ) Bernardo Pinheiro  – Expresso Amor ( 2018 ) Di Melo  – A.E.I.O.U. ( 1999 ) Armand Van Helden ft. Roland Clark  – Flowerz ( 2022 ) Real Lies – Boss Trick THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE The first two tracks ( Salaman and Black Orchid ) are real "openers"; they invite to a new voyage, new discoveries, and foreign landscapes through the use of specific instruments, tonalities, and unorthodox soundstage depths and sonic colours. Two Malian Cora masters, Tumani Diabate and Ballaké Sissoko with Salaman from their 1998 LP New Ancient Strings , which was a tribute to the album that their fathers had recorded together in 1970, as both musicians came from a familial line of griots. Tumani Diabate passed to the next realm after a short illness on Friday at the age of 58. He was the undisputed master of the Kora, the stringed harp that is the most important classical musical instrument in West Africa. He came from a cast of traditional musicians and griots that he could trace back 71 generations. He was also known for mixing ancient traditions with the modern sounds of artists like Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Pink Floyd. Diabate's 1989 debut album released on Joe Boyd's Hannibal label was the first ever solo Kora alb um. It also i ntroduced him to an international audience and he collaborated with many musicians, including American banjo players to Iranian fiddle players. He did for the Kora what Ravi Shankar did for the Sitar. May Tumani Diabate rest in paradise. – The album (remastered in 2024) was recorded in one night session at the 'Palais des congrès' on September 22nd, 1997 - Mali's Independence Day - (more details here ). Vibraphonist, percussionist, and pianist, Cal Tjader (who played along other greats such as pianist Dave Brubeck) had more of a Latin sound for the most part. But on his 1964 LP, Breeze from the East, he dipped into more quasi-Asian sounds . – The album " Brezze from the east " (with its cover presenting 'The Great Wave of Kanagawa', a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history) was recorded only 3 days following the assasination of John F. Kennedy (November 25th, 1963) and all of its tracks were arranged with bossa, go-go beats ornamented by Asian scales and percussion. Fun fact, this very album is one Tjader disliked as he shared in an interview with Harvey Siders which appeared in the September 8, 1966 edition of Downbeat : " Musically I'd have to say I've done some dumb albums. Like Breeze from the East . Creed would be the first to admit it didn't make it. He tried for a sound, and when I heard it, I went outside and vomited — figuratively, not literally." I love how Colleen "breaks" the relaxed vibe by playing the solid-sounding Holding it Down just before Black Orchid ends, then followed by The Answer in a tense rhythmic unity... Surprise is a critical element in a mix, and if you know how to use it, as Colleen said, you'll keep your listeners on their toes . These two raggae numbers are slow but open vibers! The Soul Revivers (which are Nick Manasseh, a DJ and also a record dealer as well and producer, and David Hill, who's also a producer, one of the owners of New Phonic Records), here evoking the spirit of Jackie Meitu with Holding it Down, featuring London keyboard maestro Ash Walker and singer Lynn Gerald. It's their latest 7-inch on the Acid Jazz label and follows their debut album, On the Grove. The Black Seeds have been releasing records for over two decades and had a hit with their Rocksteady song, One by One, when it was played on the TV series, Breaking Bad. Brett McKenzie from the Kiwi comedy duo, Flight of the Conchords , also used to be a band member of The Black Seeds. So there's another reason to listen to them. The very cosmic Pinball (Ashley Beedle Heavy Disco Edit) keeps the unexpected in front of our eyes, and though sonically we changed lands a bit, we still have a kinda reggae vibe in there, swiped by the next number in a gentle mix, allowing Brother Flower to really shine! Colleen, in today's show, is all about changing directions, emphasising the show's soul, bringing with Fall for You , a soulful element to the musical kaleidoscope, still keeping a somehow reggae presence. It's all about funkiness and openness, ending this incredible flying moment with an unexpected edit of Abba's Eeagles (the first WOW effect of today's episode!). Can you understand the musical core here while reading these lines? Brian Protheroe is currently known for narrating the Channel 4 reality show, First Dates. But in 1974, he had a hit single. Starting his career as both an actor and as a member of the early 60s folk group, Folk Blues Incorporated, otherwise known as FBI, he was, in 1973, playing the part of a pop singer in a play called Death On Demand, when a record exec heard that song that Prothero had penned for the show, Pinball . It became a summer hit, and Ashley Beedle did a great heavy disco edit. Brother Flower , from the late American singer-songwriter-guitarist Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt had a troubled life, afflicted by mental health difficulties and addiction issues, but he was a renowned songwriter penning the song Poncho and Lefty that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard made into a 1980s country hit. And the years between 1968 and 1973 were Townes Van Zandt's most prolific and impactful. He released six albums during that time, so it was his true classic era. James Alexander Bright has a new album coming out called Cool Cool (ed. he was on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Basement on Juy 25th ) , on the Athens of the North record label, his third solo album, following Float. He's hosting a listening party, an audience chat tomorrow, and you can find out more on their Bandcamp. – Speaking about his song, " Fall for you ", James shared: "You know when you've loved, to love is a magical thing. Whether it's an experience, an object, or a person; we've all loved and lost. The senses, vibration and elements have a wondrous strength and power. Love is the most powerful of all." Eagle by ABBA opens their 1977 self-titled album. Colleen wrote about it for the magazine, Crack , when they asked her and people like Jarvis Cocker, John Grant, and Smothers for their favorite tune by the Swedish Quartet. This song has a connection with Richard Bach's book, Jonathan Livingston's Seagull – speaking about the song , Björn said: "I was trying to capture the sense of freedom that I got from reading that book" – very, very 70s, and its soaring melodies. Pete Blaker saw Ask Goosh's request and promptly sent over a very special edit. The next section of the show keeps the unexpected funkiness alive with four songs like no other, beautifully blended by our Captain (although the first one is what I call "a risky mix"): 7th Heaven ( Larry Levan Remix)/ Wabi Soba/Windy City Theme/Nunca Mais (Siree Re-Edit) ). It still amazes me to hear and experience how Colleen is able to let the show's soul fly freely and reveal itself as it unwinds before our eyes! We're still flying high, aren't we?! And, today, she started the second part of the show earlier as this is the first mini mix of the show, of flying fun times indeed!! 🐦 This past Saturday would have been the 70th birthday of one of the most celebrated DJs of all time, Larry Levan of the Paradise Garage . He was born and raised in New York City and began making dresses for Harlem's long-standing LGBTQ ballroom scene. It was during this time that he met his future best friend, Frankie Knuckles. Levan was introduced to the downtown dance music scene through Colleen's friend and mentor, David Mancuso, and his weekly loft parties. Then both Levan and Knuckles were invited to replace gallery DJ Nicky Siano at the Continental Baths . But it was Levan's run as a resident DJ at the Paradise Garage, from its opening in 1977 to its closing a decade later, that would put Levan into the history books with his DJ technique, his attention to the sound system as mentored himself by David Mancuso, and also his tripped out and dubby remixes. LeVan had a golden ear, and influential radio DJ Frankie Crocker would pick up records that Levan was playing at the Garage, and he would make them into hits on WBLS. When Levan passed away in November 1992, the New York dance community was distraught, and I was hosting a radio show called Soul School at that time, and I had people phoning up with their requests and sharing their memories of the Paradise Garage, and I remember that it just brought tears to my eyes. It was really, really deep. And then David had a mammoth party at the loft, which lasted at least a day and a half. It went into Monday, and Francois K. brought down some reels, and it was just incredibly sentimental, but also very joyous. From the Brooklyn-based record label Razor and Tape , the new Wabi Soba by Magic Words (producer duo Eli Cohen and Peter Hargarten ) already sounds like a Balearic classic with its Spanish guitar. Dave Lee's AC Orchestra proposing here a very true and respectful cover of the Windy City theme. The 1976 original was by Carl Davis and the Chi Sound Orchestra. Lee released the album Metamorphosis as AC Symphony last year on his own Zed Records imprint. He did a fine job. You can hear his love of the string-heavy disco-funk acts like MFSB, Love Unlimited Orchestra, South Soul Orchestra. – A member of the family (davstod) shared with us on the chat "Huge tune Colleen, totally iconic for every londoner who grew uo listening to Norman Jay's original Rare Groove show on Kiss when it was a pirate station. Dave Lee has done an incredible job on taking the best from Carl Davis and Rodney Franklin tunes - sounded amazing at BBE when he did the LP Launch..." A rework of Brazilian singer and musician Odair José 's 1977 single Nunca Mais. The original was featured in his rock opera O Filho de José Maria , for which he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Colleen invites us to a free-flying party for the last 50 minutes of the show. Starting with a solid musical part, including Chained to the Train of Love , followed by Dancing with the Herons ! CoalKitchen formed when the San Francisco-based band Devil's Kitchen broke up in the summer of 1970, and at just about the same time, the Carbondale, Illinois-based band Coal Dust was reforming after falling apart, so they got together to jam one day, and without much real planning, just merged the two groups into 'CoalKitchen'. They released one album in 1977 with the very snappy title Thirsty or Not, Choose Your Flavor, which features "Change the Train of Love" that was also released as a single. Mogwaa , a musician from Seoul, South Korea, has been releasing albums since 2018, including his latest, Translucent , which was released last year. Dancing with the Herons is taken from their 2020 album Turquoise . The party keeps on grooving with Flamingo PIer's Mazunte , Colleen perfectly mixing the following track, which is the infamous Expresso Amor , followed by the Balearic and slower A.E.I.O.U. What a splendid mix Colleen proposes here! Closing this long mini mix with Flowerz , it seems evident that Colleen plays it risky today!!! And it's fun!! New Zealand group Flamingo Pier have just touched down in the United States, embarking upon their summer tour, and they will be hitting British shores in August, here with their brand new single, Mazunte . Brazilian producer Bernardo Pinheiro with Expresso Amor, taken from Barefoot Beats 14 , came out last month. Pinheiro is renowned for his great edits of Brazilian obscurities, and he really has great musical arrangements there. – Soundwise, this track is an absolute killer... A.E.I.O.U., the 2019 single by the legendary Brazilian singer Di Melo was released 40 years after his classic self-titled Samba Soul LP. It was produced by French production combo Cartonet, who were on tour in Brazil and had a few days off in Sao Paulo, so they made that collaboration, and it was released on the French label Favorite Recordings. Flowerz was released in April 1999 by Armand Van Helden and Roland Clark (on vocals). You can hear that Donald Bird Think Twice sample , and I love how Roland Clark just sounds like Romanthony, a really prince, on that breakdown. Closing the show with the also open Boss Trick , our Capitain leaves us breathless but absolutely happy and contemplative! Boss Trick is the 2020 single by the London Duo Real Lies who released two albums, 2015's Real Life and 2022's Lad Ash.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 186th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on July 30th 2024. About this episode. – Right after playing at the BBE store on Thursday, July 25th, Colleen launched the request line for the next Balearic Breakfast on Saturday, July 26th, sharing with us: "After a great party at BBE with @handsonfam on Thursday, I’m blessed with a full weekend off. Thanks to all who came down for a boogie - that was truly special. Music is always on my mind and i’m wondering what requests you have up your sleeve for this coming Tuesday’s Balearic Breakfast? I’m streaming Tuesday 10am to 12 noon BST on my Mixcloud Live. A note to Twitch users: as that platform didn’t comply with music copyright Twitch is redirecting participants on dj streams to the mixcloud live platform anyways do@you may as well join us over there!" Today's show, despite some technical difficulties (that manifest themselves at two moments in the recorded stream), was as eclectic as it can be, and it also had a beautiful rhythmic and tonal unity, as we shall see in the listening session. But before delving into these specificities, let's hand the mic to our captain, as usual: "A big thank you to Mixcloud for salvaging yesterday’s Balearic Breakfast, which is now archived on my Mixcloud (and please give me a follow while you’re over there). On this week’s show I look back to my indie roots with a tribute to the late Martin Phillips of The Chills and also to Tadashi Yabe of United Future Organization – may they both rest in paradise. And in addition to your requests there’s a lot of new music. I gotta go as I’m in the studio working on a new remix – shouldn’t be multitasking. So for now please enjoy yesterday’s show with music from…. @warriors_of_the_dystotheque @thechillsnz @united_future_organisation @claremont56 @quinnlamontluke @isitbalearic @alicemcrussell @tru_thoughts @jamiefinlaymusic @wahwah45s @natbirchallmusic @kennethbagerofficial @findlaybrownofficial @musicfordreams @emperormachine @gracejonesofficial @farout_recordings and more…" Listen back to Balearic Breakfast's 186th episode: THE PLAYLIST ( 2024 ) Warriors of the Dystotheque – Smile While You're Sleeping ( 2014 ) The Chills  – Pink Frost 13 ( 1992 ) The Cure  – A Letter to Elise (Blue Mix) ( 1992 ) United Future Organization  – Nemurenai Insomnie (Instrumental) ( 1993 ) United Future Organization ft. Galliano  – The Sixth Sense ( 2024 ) Hillside (ft. Quinn Lamont Luke)   – Crossing ( 1973 ) Aretha Franklin  – Mister Spain ( 2024 ) Lono Ritmo (ft. Leo Power & Pablo Dominguez)   – Luz de Luna ( 2024 ) Alice Russell  – Gravity ( 1978 ) Toto  – Georgy Porgy ( 2024 ) Jamie Finlay  – Rain Will Come ( 2024 ) Nat Birchall  – Lalibela ( 2024 ) Kenneth Bager & Findlay Brown  – Love From Outer Space ( 2024 ) The Emperor Machine  – La Cassette ( 1991 ) Pale Saints  – Porpoise ( 1981 ) Grace Jones  – Pull Up To the Bumper (Party Version) ( 2024 ) Marcos Valle  – Life ls What It Is ( 2017 ) Allan Harris  – Mother's Love (Nobody’s Gonna Love You Betta Soulfeast Mix) THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE Blending jazz-infused musical moments with delicate yet solid pop/rock songs, Colleen takes us on a relaxed sonic trip for the first 25 minutes of today’s show. And, from the start, when listening, we feel there is a strong sonic connection between the songs chosen by Colleen (doesn't Pink Frost 13 and A Letter to Elise remind you of another track from the paylist?)... Warriors of the Dystotheque – Smile While You're Sleeping . – A transatlantic outfit with members from Ireland, France and New York. This very song is taken from WOTD second album It's a Beautiful Thing , which came out on Chris Coco's label Disappear earlier this month. This is how they describe their synthesis and their music: "Growing up in the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the 90s rave days, life in the sunshine in Florida, a mash-up of live and electronic music, friendship and loss, Ibiza sunlight and dark cloudy nights, despair and enlightenment and the power of music to lift us up and create joy and harmony, which we hope you can agree really is a beautiful thing". The Chills  – Pink Frost 13. – The band was founded in 1980 by the then 17-year-old singer songwriter and guitarist Martin Phillips (ed. see also this interview ), after the demise of one of the early Kiwi punk bands The Same. Martin was the driving force behind The Chills throughout various formations, propelling singles into the charts in New Zealand, the UK, and also the college radio charts in the US. Sadly, he passed to the next realm this past Sunday, and is mourned by many. A true genius, his influence on so many that followed in his wake is enormous. – The song was dedicated to the band's drummer, Martyn Bull, who died at the age of 22, just after leaving the band following unproductive rehearsing sessions ( read more about this here ). The Cure – A Letter to Elise (Blue Mix). – This track is The Cure 's single from their most commercially successful album 1992's Wish , which debuted at number one in their native UK, and surprisingly number two in the USA. Not only a testament to Robert Smith's great songs, the song also embodies the impact of college radio in the 1980s when the young generation championed bands like The Cure (Colleen playing The Cure for her high school radio days) with college radio launching the careers of R.E.M., Nirvana, U2, Depeche Mode, The Chills, and The Cure, who had an incredible run in the mid to late 80s with The Head on the Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, and then the gargantuan Disintegration. Smith never forgot the dance floor, producing deft remixes like the one we just heard. – A love song inspired by Robert Smith's love for literature, here finding roots in some of Kafla's works but also some of Jean Cocteau's writings, A Letter to Elise has the power to speak to everyone who listens to it, although it has been composed in times of sadness by The Cure's frontman... Slowly stepping up the tempo, the second half-hour lets us enjoy some Balearic Melodies, allowing the sun to sink in on our musical skins and Colleen's mixing delicacy to touch our souls (the first Wow Moment of the show happens when our beloved captain oh so perfectly blends “ Crossing ” with “ Mister Spain ” followed by the mesmerizing “ Luz de Luna ” ).  United Future Organization  – Nemurenai Insomnie (Instrumental). – Tadashi Yabe , one of the three founding members of Japanese new jazz project United Future Organization , along with Toshio Matsuura and Raphael Sebag . They were one of the pioneering acts of the nascent acid jazz scene and signed to Gilles Peterson's Brownswood and Talkin' Loud labels, and they also hosted a residency called Jazzen at Tokyo's legendary Club Yellow. One of their guests was the UK's Patrick Forge, who wrote this of the late Tadashi Yabe : "He was the quietest in many ways, the deepest of the three UFO members, and it was always inspiring to talk to him about music. He had very eclectic and left-field tastes." United Future Organization ft. Galliano – The Sixth Sense. – This track is taken from United Future Organization's eponymously titled debut album, released in 1993. The song also features Galliano (they have a new album, Halfway Somewhere , coming out on Brownswood). Hillside (ft. Quinn Lamont Luke)  – Crossing.  – Last week, Colleen met Quinn Lamont Luke in person (from the Phenomenal Handclap days). They have many mutual friends and crossing of paths as Quinn worked with Count Thomas Phil Mison, Ron Basejam, Flying Mojito Brothers, and skateboard legend Tommy Guerrero . Quinn also runs a studio (ed. El Triángulo ) in Oaxaca, Mexico, which is where Flamingo Pier recorded their latest single, Mazunte, which Colleen played last week. The latest Claremont Editions compilation, now on its fourth volume, opens with a track from Hillside, which is Murphy along with Alex Searle and Patrick Doers, and it features some blue-eyed soul vocals from Lamont. Aretha Franklin – Mister Spain. – From Aretha Franklin's 19th studio album, Hey Now Hey, The Other Side of the Sky , released in 1973 . Aretha released 38 studio albums and six live albums in her nearly six decade career. The album was produced by Franklin along with Quincy Jones, and they originally planned to make it a straightforward jazz album, but they took a little detour with the title cut and Mr. Spain . – The album was not something people, and medias, were expecting from Aretha Franklin back in the day (see the Rolling Stone review linked above), at all, and both the album's cover and the adventurous musical paths Franklin chose lost the listeners : "The brooding “Mister Spain” finds an introspective Franklin atypically tackling the subject of drug abuse, singing on a prideful black man’s plight with heroin addiction and pleading for him to end it." Lono Ritmo (ft. Leo Power & Pablo Dominguez)  – Luz de Luna. – Beautiful flamenco sounds from Leno Ritmo featuring Leo Power and Pablo Dominguez . It also has Ibiza's DJ Pippi and Willie Graf remixes on the flip side. Acting as a pivotal point, ending the first hour of this blissful musical show and starting the second, Alice Russel ’s "Gravity " and Toto ’s " Georgy Porgy " (a song already featured in the show in the past) both do enhance today’s episode tonal unity. And I would love to take this opportunity here to salute every member of the Balearic Breakfast Family, as it is thanks to you that we’re all able to enjoy the Best Show of the 21st century! To all of Us, Eternal Hugs from the Lioncub…  Alice Russell  – Gravity.  – British soul singer Alice Russell recently performed the Love Supreme Festival in the UK, and she played some songs from her most recent album, I Am, released on True Thoughts, co-written and co-produced with Russell's longtime collaborator, T.M. Juke. This is her most personal album to date, dealing with generational trauma, healing and life's darker side through her glorious vocals. Gravity is the most recent single from the LP. – On June 6th, Alice Russell shared Gravity's Club-ready remix . Toto  – Georgy Porgy.  – By the American rock band Toto, Georgy Porgy was written by band member David Paich and included on their self-titled debut album in 1978. Released as the album's third single in 1979, the lead vocals are performed by guitarist Steve Lukather. Cheryl Lynn provided the female backing vocal, singing an adaptation from the nursery rhyme "Georgie Porgie." Colleen takes us to higher grounds with Jamie Finlay’s “ Rain Will Come ” , which, to me, acts as the real second-hour starter! It is strange, but I can’t help hearing in this episode both a sonic and rhythmic unity (pay attention and listen again to songs like " Rain Will Come ", " Lalibela ", or " Pull up to the Bumper " , there’s like a musical pattern there, can you hear it too?! Jamie Finlay  – Rain Will Come.  – Another Manchester act, Rain will come is from composer, songwriter and producer Jamie Finlay debut album Sun dogs out now on Dom Cervini's label, Wawa 45s. And it's a great album featuring some of his fellow Mancunian musicians from Secret Night Gang and A Certain Ratio .  – “Rain Will Come is a musical representation of a storm, and is about finding stillness in turbulent times. The phrase ‘Rain Will Come’ repeats like a mantra while the music becomes more chaotic until eventually returning to calmness. It’s about standing still and stoic, and letting storms pass over you.” Nat Birchall  – Lalibela.  – Mancunian bandleader, composer, arranger and saxophonist Nat Birchall has a new album out called Dimension of the Drums , Roots Reggae Instrumentals. He's a real prolific artist as he's been releasing albums since 1999. And in fact, his first album was called The Sixth Sense , just like the song by UFO, played earlier in the show. Kenneth Bager & Findlay Brown  – Love From Outer Space.  – The latest single from Danish Balearic maestro Kenneth Bager and British singer-songwriter Findlay Brown new collaborative album that's coming out on Bager's Music for Dreams label, set for release in early 2025. The Emperor Machine   – La Cassette.  – Andy Meacham, who was also in Bizarre Inc. and Chicken Lips, has been releasing albums as The Emperor Machine for 20 years now. His new double album is called Island Boogie and came out on Lange (Paul Murphy and Simon Pernell's label) a coupe of weeks ago. Pale Saints  – Porpoise.  – Leeds band Pale Saints with the song that came out on 4AD , another huge label for Colleen and also for college radio in the 1980s. Porpoise, can be found on the 1991 Flesh Balloon EP. It has a lot of kind of indie rock, college rock requested for this show. One really cannot underestimate the force of college radio in America in the 1980s. – There is an astounding review of Pale Saint's 1990 " The comfort of Madness " on 4AD's website (in french). Use google translation on your web browser and read it, it will take you back, or allow you to discover, what it was like to be a teenager in these years. A must read. Grace Jones  – Pull Up To the Bumper (Party Version).  – The 1981 party version of Pull Up to the Bumper by the amazing Grace, Grace Jones. The original version can be found on her Nightclubbing album, one of my favorite Grace Jones albums, although it's really hard to pick a favorite. Grace Jones still going strong at the ripe age of 76. If you haven't read her autobiography, I'll never write my memoirs . Please do. It's great summer reading and it will really give you a newfound respect for this amazing artist.   – „ Pull up to the bumper” always had some kind of controversy going on as to its supposed, alleged (shall we say imposed?) sexual meaning. We can't help but think here about other songs having these dual readings by the listeners, one of the most famous of them being " Ring My Bell " by the great Anita Ward . Grace Jones consistently refuted this sexual interpretation of the song: “So, we have a car, and it’s long, because it’s a limousine, speeding down a Manhattan avenue… and you want to keep it clean, so you wax it and rub it, giving it a shine, and it’s hard to park, because we’re in the city, and it’s so big, so you have to squeeze it into tight spaces… You make it fit, and it is such a great feeling… If you wanted, you could imagine that I’m not singing about a car at all. But that’s up to you,” she concludes. “If you think the song is not about parking a car, shame on you.” Yet, for those of us being kinky enough, when you know, well, you know... When you listen carefully, you notice that today’s show doesn’t get "excited to the max", it keeps a cool groove, getting stronger with time which also explains why I chose this title for today’s post! The relaxed vibe of this 185th episode is real, with one exception being   Marcos Valle's "Life ls What It Is" . Sadly, and for obvious reasons, the second Wow Moment of the show hapenned when Colleen played the beautiful " Mother's Love " . A stunning but heart-wrenching tribute closing another unforgettable episode. Marcos Valle  – Life ls What It Is.  – Celebrating 80 years of life and a 60 year career, Brazilian legend Marcos Valle has a new album coming out called Tunel Acoustico to be released on Far Out Recordings in September. This song is the latest single, composed in the late 70s in LA alongside Lodir de Oliveira from the band Chicago, and it was first released on Chicago's Chicago 13 album with lyrics by Robert Lamb. Over four decades later Marcos Valle looks back upon his good times on the West Coast, recording his own version of this song for his new album Deepening the Groove for a Blast of Irresistible Summer Soul. Allan Harris  – Mother's Love (Nobody’s Gonna Love You Betta Soulfeast Mix).  – Colleen dedicated this song to to the spirit and to the memory of Giancarlo Bianchi's mother, who sadly passed away recently.   – The song, which can be found on the 2016 "Nobody's Gonna Love Your Better" studio album, was composed by Allan Harris and was dedicated to his own Mother, a classical pianist who encouraged him to become a musician.

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 187th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on August 6th 2024. About this episode. – "UK Riots 2024: England is witnessing its worst rioting in over a decade, triggered by anti-immigration protests following a mass stabbing in Southport. The violence, fueled by online misinformation, has spread across multiple cities, leading to clashes with police and significant unrest. Authorities are struggling to control the situation as far-right groups exploit public concerns about immigration, particularly the influx of migrants arriving by boat from France. The events have sparked a national debate on immigration and the influence of far-right agitators." Balearic Breakfast is a show of its epoch. For almost five years now, Colleen has spoken out about what triggers the Family – as we all share commune values of peace, respect and openness towards one another (in non-legal terms). Yet, very often, these values need to be put on the frontline and remembered for what they are: core values of what one calls a "Nation" (more about this here ). Once again, today, and sadly – as the riots in the UK reached a new degree of violence, showing an unbearable amount of hatred, destruction fueled by the far-right party – Colleen needed to say how much these riots affected her. As usual, her words stroke a chord within our hearts... "Today’s show opens with Solomon Burke with ‘None of Us Are Free’, a song that reminds us that while people are still being oppressed and victimised, that none of us are truly free and I wanted to play this because of the racist riots that have taken place over the last week here in the UK. I have friends of colour who right now, in 2024, are afraid to walk through their own city, the city in which they were born because of the recent actions of violent, racist, white thugs. We (especially we white people) have a collective responsibility to challenge racism whenever or wherever we detect it whether it’s the so-called insidious ‘casual racism’ to the overt acts of hatred that we are seeing on the streets of the UK today. Until we put an end to racism of any kind, none of us are free." As we shall see, the show reflects these troubled times in a subtle yet almost "constant" and direct way during its two-hour musical run, still allowing the sun to shine during a few songs... Listen back to the 187th episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 2002 ) Solomon Burke – None of Us Are Free ( 1973 ) John Martyn  – Solid Air ( 1977 ) Santana  – Flor d’Luna (Moonflower) ( 1975 ) Smokie  – We're Flyin’ High ( 1977 ) Jean-Luc Ponty  – Mirage ( 1979 ) Risco Connection  – It's My House (Special Disco Version) ( 1984 ) Les Rita Mitsouko  – Marcia Baila ( 2023 ) Agustin Pereyra Lucena  – Consolacao ( 2024 ) Flying Mojito Brothers  – Glitter ( 2024 ) Leo Basel  – Quelle Drôle de Vie (Nick the Record & Dan Tyler Re-Edit ( 2024 ) African Shaketown  – The Wonder (Magic Jams Edit) ( 2004 ) Calm presents K.F. – Shining of Life Flutemental (Unreleased Version) ( 2013 ) J. Kriv  – Make it Acid (Idjut Boys Remix) ( 2024 ) ASHRR  – Different Kind of Life (Massimiliano Pagliara Remix) ( 1997 ) Nick Holder  – Paradise (Salt City Orchestra Remix) ( 2024 ) Mouth Water  – Blackout (Lindstrom Cosmic Dub) ( 2021 ) MC Jin & Wyclef Jean  – Stop the Hatred THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE This 186th episode of Balearic Breakfast features many songs challenging the way we experience the world and – more generally speaking – life. While listening to it, I witnessed a slow evolution towards light and hope. However, this evolution was always tense and uncertain, just before being crushed in the last 30 minutes of the show by a darker cloud, ending abruptly with "Stop the Hatred." It is not an "easy" episode and not one that you can listen to without coming back to a sort of reflection on yourself. This show constantly looks at you and keeps on waiting for you to see the Truth, one that you maybe didn't want to exhume... The first 29 minutes provide a beautiful continuum of music. Yet, there is something inhabited here, something weighty, something constrained that keeps you from enjoying the moment with a relaxed mind. Solomon Burke – None of Us Are Free . – Solomon Burke with None of Us Are Free, a song that reminds us that while people are still being oppressed and victimized, that none of us are truly free. And I wanted to play this because of the racist riots that have taken place over the last week here in the UK. You know, I have black and brown friends who right now, in 2024, are afraid to walk through their own city, the city in which they were born because of the recent actions of violent, racist, white thugs. And I know what it's like to be afraid to walk the streets as a woman, so I have some degree of understanding. But as a white person, I'll never truly know what my friends and people of color experience every day. And I only know that we have a collective responsibility to challenge racism whenever or wherever we detect it, whether it's the so-called insidious, casual racism to the overt acts of hatred that we are seeing on the streets of the UK today. Until we put an end to racism of any kind, none of us are free . – Written by Barry Mann ,  Cynthia Weil , and Brenda Russell in 1993 and first recorded by Ray Charles on his "My World" studio album, "None of us are free" has been covered since then by countless other artists including Sting and brought Burke (already featured in the show with "Let your love Flow") back into the public eye in 2002, the song being taken from his " Don't Give Up On Me " studio album. The Preacher is here backed by The Blind Boys of Alabama. Click here to find 14 other powerful songs against Racism. John Martyn  – Solid Air . – Solid Air , the 1973 record from Scottish singer-songwriter John Martyn . He wrote the title track for his good friend and fellow musician Nick Drake, who sadly passed away from an antidepressant overdose a year and a half after the album was released (ed. click here to find more information about the recording of the song). Santana  – Flor d’Luna (Moonflower) . – From Santana's 1977 double album of the same name, which is both a studio and a live record that features their trademark Latin rock, blues style, but bringing in more of that spiritual jazz element because of Carlos Santana's own spiritual journey. He became a disciple of Stri Chimnoy earlier in the decade through his friendship with John McLachlan, and Carlos Santana's solo work and his album with Alice Coltrane around that time (ed. the 1974 Illuminations ) were also mainly spiritual, creative expressions. Smokie  – We're Flyin’ High . – Smokie , a band from Yorkshire that formed 60 years ago this year, and they're still performing, still flying high. They had to change the spelling of their name in the early 70s as Smokey Robinson threatened legal action, and they did so during the release of their second album, Changing All Time in 1975. Great name. Early pressings actually had their original spelling. And the album was produced by Mike Chapman , who created hits for some of the glam acts at that time, bands like The Sweet and also acts like Suzy Quatro . Jean-Luc Ponty  – Mirage . – by the French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty , who really helped redefine the role of the violin in modern jazz. In his early career, he worked with the Modern Jazz Quartet, John McLachlan and Frank Zappa . Ponty was also simultaneously releasing solo albums, but his fortunes changed when he signed to Atlantic Records in 1975. For the next decade, he toured the world repeatedly and recorded 12 consecutive albums, each of which reached the Billboard Jazz Charts top five, selling millions of records. And this is one of those albums, Enigmatic Ocean, which reached number one on the Billboard Chart in 1977 . – This incredible musical piece features guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Daryl Stuermer, keyboardist Allan Zavod , bassist Ralphe Armstrong (who also worked with MIles Davis) and drummer Steve Smith . The related album “Enigmatic Ocean” reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz album chart in 1977. In an interview, Ponty shared : "I started my band in 1975 and it was the fourth album, two years after the first. As soon as I started my band I went on tour, I couldn’t stop! At first it was by car, the clubs, but after a year it was already the theaters. It was a quick climb. So I find myself in 77 for the fourth, and I had written the music especially for this album. My concept was to record with my orchestra which was very experienced since we were touring all the time, but I saw that the drummer Tony Williams, with whom I had played in 72, had just released a record which I bought out of curiosity and I discovered Allan Holdsworth. I couldn't believe it, I had never heard a sound like that, and what lyricism! Until then, all young guitarists had only McLaughlin as an example in jazz-rock. I had just written a very nostalgic piece, actually called Nostalgic Lady, and I could hear Allan's sound very well on it. I called him, and he agreed to come and record in Los Angeles. I taught him the melody note by note by ear, he didn't read music and didn't even know the names of the notes! Seeing this, I was in shock: how can someone who doesn't know where an A is do solos like this on the guitar, so detailed and harmonically complex? He too, like McLaughlin, began on the violin. I will never forget this experience of teaching him the melody of the Enigmatic Ocean suite. I was playing the note for him on the violin in the studio, and I could hear the sound of his guitar in my headphones. He then went back to England, I invited him to come tour with us but he was part of the new group U.K. and he wasn't really available, that's why he didn't do the tour. It is kind of a shame. Enigmatic Ocean quickly made an impact, and Holdsworth had something to do with it." From the 30th minute of the show, there is a slight change; it seems the songs do have a more combative feeling. But he underlying feeling of abnegation towards fate is still present (with songs like " Marcia Baila " or " Quelle drôle de vie " ). As I said in the beginning, you feel some tension in this part, some kind of fight, even if it has some sun outburtst here and there, thus, somehow, leading towards hope (especially with the last Calm's track)... Risco Connection  – It's My House (Special Disco Version) . – A cover of Diana Ross's "It's My House" (ed. previously featured in the show) by Risco Connection. It was a project spearheaded by producer Joe Isaacs. And Risco Connection were very prolific and recorded both originals and covers of disco hits , and Strut Records has put out a six-sided vinyl release of their releases a couple of years ago, and it's called Risco Version . Strut founder Quinton Scott first made contact with Risco Connection when David Mancuso and Colleen were co-producing the Loft compilations. Now, the compilations came out on Nuphonic. Strut was sharing an office, and they were downstairs in the basement, and Quentin was handling the licensing for the compilation and that's how Colleen and David got the unreleased version of Risco Connection's Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now that was released on the 10-inch on Nuphonic Records . – Diana Ross' album " The Boss " turns 45 this year! Les Rita Mitsouko  – Marcia Baila . – A song that really took Colleen back to the Boston dance floors of her teenage years, Les Rita Mitsuko's (ed. Catherine Ringer on vocals & Fred Chinchin on guitars)1984 hit Marcia Baila is a tribute to their Argentinian friend and tour dancer and choreographer, Marcia Moreto , who had passed away the year before at the age of 36 from breast cancer. Les Rita Mitsuko co-produced the album with Krautrock engineer producer Connie Plank (ed. and, as Colleen said on the chat, knowing that song back in the days made you look cool) . Agustin Pereyra Lucena  – Consolacao . – Outstanding South American guitarist Augustin Pereyra Lucena, an Argentinian composer and guitarist that came to be one of the greatest personalities of Brazilian and Latin American music. And following Far Out's reissue of Augustin Pereyra Lucena's Quartet La Rana (ed. 1980), the label continues its memorialization of the late great Argentinian guitarist music with the first ever direct from tape audio file reissue of his self-titled debut album from 1970, and it does sound terrific . – Flying Mojito Brothers  – Glitter . – The Flying Mojito Brothers are back with their special brand of rhinestone disco, and this one is an original song rather than a rework or re-edit from the country disco Mezcaleros duo. It's coming out this Friday . Leo Basel  – Quelle Drôle de Vie (Nick the Record & Dan Tyler Re-Edit . – Nick the Record and Dan Tyler's re-edit of Leo Basil's 1987 single, Quel Drôle de Vie, which is available on Nick and John Gomez's Tangent compilation, which is out now on Mr. Bongo, and the compilation celebrates the 10th anniversary of their Tangent Club Night . It's a great comp, and they are both great selectors .   – Strangely enough, the original version is way more relaxed and, with the complete lyrics, there is a much stronger balance to the message conveyed. BTW, Nick the Record & Dan Tyler Re-edit use, as a musical basis, the original 1987 special remix. African Shaketown  – The Wonder (Magic Jams Edit) . – A mysterious Magic Jams (ed. aka David Benjamin , Berlin-based Guitarist, DJ, Producer and Label owner) edit, and funky afro disco workout called The Wonder, out on Noema's African Shakedown Imprint, a label that has released two fine collections of afro beats and re-edits in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and they have another strong four-tracker of reworks from the magic jams out now . Calm presents K.F. – Shining of Life Flutemental (Unreleased Version) . – A beautiful new unreleased version of Shining of Flumental by Calm Presents KF, which is out on vinyl now on Music Conception, the other versions were released 20 years ago. Calm is Kiyotaka Fukagawa , and sometimes he also goes under the moniker Far, and I'm a big fan of his work, as you probably know, as I've played his music a lot on numerous occasions on Balearic Breakfast . Calm's positive episode quickly gives way to a darker musical moment, astoundingly crafted by our dear Captain. Without a shadow of a doubt, this mix is Colleen's darker one since the show started almost five years ago, and for that specific reason, it wins hands down the Wow effect ! J. Kriv  – Make it Acid (Idjut Boys Remix) . – An old JKriv tune, Make It Hot (ed. 2013 from Jason Kriv , the Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, co-owner of record label Razor-N-Tape, and cofounder/resident of NYC summer party), but I hope you don't mind, Bert. Instead, I'm going to make it acid. This is J. Cribb with the Itchy Boys remix, Make It Acid . ASHRR  – Different Kind of Life (Massimiliano Pagliara Remix) . – From ASHRR's forthcoming album Sunshine Low, coming out in September on 2020 Vision, and we will have an exclusive mix from and an interview with Asher around that time (ed. see the interview Artur did on the blog here in 2023 ). They have such an interesting musical background. They're kind of anomalies in the house disco dance music sphere . Nick Holder  – Paradise (Salt City Orchestra Remix) . – One of Colleen's big records, a track she played all the time when it came out, on the NRK label in 1997, the Salt City Orchestra remix of Paradise by Toronto producer Nick Holder . Colleen really loved Nick's work on his D&H label, and NRK was also a great label. They put out music from Francois K., Carrie Chandler, Ian Pooley, and much, much more . Mouth Water  – Blackout (Lindstrom Cosmic Dub) . – A brand new remix by one of our favorite Norwegian producers, Lindstrom . That's his rework of Italian producer Mouthwater's single, Blackout, and it's out now, and you can find it on Bandcamp . Ending the show with the heavy and direct " Stop the Hatred " , Colleen sends the listeners a clear message, one mixing despair and hope in crushing lyrics. Yes, this 186th episode is another one to keep close to your soul and your mind when living your "everyday life"... "This last song came about when anti-Asian hate crimes were taking place in New York City in the early days of the pandemic, and during a protest, rapper MC Jin's son shouted, stop the hatred, and this became the name of MC Jin's 2021 song, which features Wyclef Jean. In this song, Jin describes being afraid when his parents leave the house, and sadly, this is how many of our friends who are people of color here in the UK are feeling right now due to violence from racist thugs. Please listen to the lyrics on this one, and please, please combat racism whenever and wherever it arises."

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 188th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on August 13th 2024. About this episode. – Following her incredible set at the Houghton Festival in the Stallions tent on August 9th – and a few days before heading to the 2024 edition of the WOH festival – our tireless Captain launched the request line on August 10th! This resulted in a very "freeing" and "uplifting" musical adventure, and we shall discover that in the listening session of this post! "This week’s Balearic Breakfast is now archived on my Mixcloud at and features some festival magic, some surprising cover versions, classic live Aretha Franklin, some house diva action, some soul groovers and some new and unreleased tunage. If you are a regular listener, please consider subscribing to my Mixcloud channel (but you can still listen back for free even if you are unable to financially support). Now packing records and hifi gear for We Out Here festival and I hope to see you on the wooden dance floor of our Love Dancin tent (its slightly bigger this year). I’m hosting the Cosmodelica take over on Saturday with my special guests @dj_greg_wilson @ musclecars.nyc @evesdropcollective @melt_my_heartz @vandorta_ @kathmcdermott_dj @abigail_ward_dj I’m also hosting a live Balearic Breakfast radio show for Worldwide FM on Friday from 11am to 1pm and I’ll also have Italian ambient maestro Gigi Masin performing live. Next Tuesday I will still stream Balearic Breakfast (bleary-eyed) and I’ll also have Nathan Haines up with an exclusive mix and we will also chat about his new album Notes which came out last week (and it’s wonderful). Until then, please enjoy today’s show with music from @ashleybeedlemusic @tameimpala @ub40 , @quinnlamontluke @cantomamusic @thomasdolbyofficial @hifisean @cottonbudmedia , @wipe_the_needle @nicolaconteofficial @joeclaussellsplaygroundd @farout_recordings @adevaqueenofhouse @thezrecords " Listen back to the 188th episode of Balearic Breakfast: PLAYLIST ( 2005 ) Coil – Going Up ( 1984 ) Thomas Dolby  – I Scare Myself ( 1985 ) UB40  – Don't Break My Heart ( 2024 NOL ) Tame Impala  – Tomorrow's Dust (HiFi Sean Dub) ( 1976 ) The Emotions  – Flowers ( 1982 ) Heatwave  – Lettin' It Loose ( 2022 NOL ) Ronnie Foster  – Easier Said than Done (Ashley Beedle's Heavy Disco Edit) ( 2024 ) Rich Lane  – Shelves (Chug Norris Decade Remix) ( 2022 ) Cantoma (ft. Quinn Lamont Luke)   – Shelter ( 1982 ) Trilark  – Love Never Looked Better ( 1989 ) Adeva  – Musical Freedom (Free At Last) ( 2024 ) Wipe the Needle  – Skyscrapers ( 2024 ) Nicola Conte  – Into the Light of Love (Joaquin's Spirit of the Dance Instrumental Version) ( 1971 ) Aretha Franklin & Ray Charles  – Spirit in the Dark (Reprise) (Live at the Fillmore West) ( 1969 ) David Bowie  – Memory of a Free Festival THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE (coming soon) This 187th episode of Balearic Breakfasts starts with a beautiful march – a conquering and modern sounding one! Coil' s " Going Up " sets the tone of today's episode in a perfect way although it does not entirely reflect today's musical experience – as it positions itself on a somewhat more combative atmosphere, showcasing some "worried hopes" ... This feeling is confirmed as Thomas Dolby 's "I scare Myself" starts. Nonetheless, there is an affirmation here th at can't be missed. And this affirmation will see its message carried until T ame Impala 's " Tomorrow's Dust " . These first tracks draw a "shamanic-like experience" , and they made me think of Patti Smith's "The Peyote Dance" , "Mummer Love" & " Peradam" studio albums. Of course, this strong feeling is enhanced by Colleen's perfect mix, this first part of the show winning the Wow Effect as far as I'm concerned... Coil – Going Up . – Coil , an experimental group that was created in 1982 by Psychic TV's John Balance. He was joined by former bandmate and later partner Peter Sleazy Christofferson , who was also in Throbbing Gristle . Coil were part of the scene with Psychic TV, Chris N' Cozy, Nurse with Wound, and were also into the occult. "Going Up" is from The Art of Naples, COIL's last studio album released in 2005, the year after Balance's abrupt death from an accident and it samples Balance's voice from COIL's final performance at the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival in 2004. Christofferson remarked that COIL's performance of going up at the festival was the one and only time John thought of and sang those words, his own epitaph . – Find out more about "Going up" here . Thomas Dolby  – I Scare Myself . – From Thomas Dolby 's second album, The Flat Earth, "I scare myself" is an unlikely cover of one of country musicians Dan Hick's tunes by the American synth-pop pioneer who had chart success with "She Blinded Me with Science", and then later founding a Silicon Valley software company that developed ringtones for Nokia. Thomas was also the music director for the TED Conferences . UB40  – Don't Break My Heart . – Colleen got this record when she was working in a record shop called Strawberries as a teenager in 1985. When it came out in the U.S., it was a U.S.-only release called Little Baggerhythm, the one that came out in the U.K. It had 13, 14 tracks. The one in the U.S. just had six. It was a pared-down version of the much longer one here in the U.K., probably to reinforce the band's popularity after their hit cover, Red Red Wine. Don't Break My Heart was another hit in the U.K., and the B-side of their duet with Chrissie Hynde , "I Got You Babe" . Tame Impala  – Tomorrow's Dust (HiFi Sean Dub) . – Sneaky dub of " Tomorrow's Dust " by one of Colleen's favorite Australian bands, Tame Impala. – The original track is taken from Tame Impala's " The Slow Rush " studio album, on which Kevin Parker deals with time and how it impacts our everyday lives, again perfectly fitting today show's theme! The Emotion's song " Flowers " marks the beginning of the second segment of this 187th episode, delivering a message that wholeheartedly embraces freedom, and this is exactly what today's show is all about! As explained earlier, this theme was present in the show's openning section but it is presented in this second part in a more positive way – pay attention: Colleen really lets the music speak here in long mixes, if that ain't freedom...! The Emotions  – Flowers . – From one of the so-called girl groups from the 1960s. The Emotions ( ed. there is a great article about their story you can access here ) started out as a Chicago-based gospel group, but then, like many, they found much more success in secular music, making a name for themselves in R&B and then disco. And their association with Earth, Wind & Fire's Maurice White was just a touch of gold. In fact, the Emotions did the backing vocals on Boogie Wonderland. And this is the title track from the Emotions' 1975 LP, which was produced by White and Charles Stepney . Maurice White co-wrote this song. Heatwave  – Lettin' It Loose . – International Disco Act Heatwave , the band featured British songwriter Rod Temperton , who went on to pen hits for Michael Jackson. Heatwave was started by an American serviceman who was Johnny Wilder , who stayed in Germany after his discharge. He was singing in clubs, and then he moved over to the UK, where he met Temperton. And in 1977, they debuted with Boogie Nights , and it became a huge hit . Ronnie Foster  – Easier Said than Done (Ashley Beedle's Heavy Disco Edit) . – Another great Ashley Beadle heavy disco edit, this time of "Easier Said Than Done" by American Keys maestro Ronnie Foster , whose 70s albums became coveted here in the UK in the jazz funk scene. He also frequently worked with George Benson and played organ for Berta Flack, Stevie Wonder and Grover Washington Jr. and many, many more . – The original track can be found on Ronnie's 1978 " Love Satellite " studio album. Rich Lane  – Shelves (Chug Norris Decade Remix) . – Stoke-on-Trent DJ and producer Rich Lane with Shelves, his 2014 single, but given a decade remix by Chug Norris is out on Lane's label Cottonbud, exclusively released on Bandcamp. His label's also released the latest single from our Balearic Breakfast buddies, Shunt Voltage (one of their tunes, is on the latest Balearic Breakfast compilation). Cantoma (ft. Quinn Lamont Luke)   –  Shelter . – Quinn Lamont Luke , ( ed. formerly known as Bing Ji Ling ) has a studio out there in Oaxaca and he sent over this song he did for Phil Meison's Cantoma Project , which came out in October 2022 . Trilark  – Love Never Looked Better . – The 1982 single Love Never Look Better by funk soul band Trilark was produced by Crown Heights Affairs, Raymond Reed and William Anderson. They're so talented, both of whom were also in Empress. And that was Trilark's only single from their only album, which was eponymously titled . – The album's lineup is pretty impressive with Sam Figueroa on percussion (who worked with France Joli and Empress as well as Idris Muhammad) Jeff and Larry Smith (Kashif, Billy Ocean, Glenn Jones as well as Whodini and Run-DMC); on guitars: Mike Campbell, Clarence Brice, Ron Miller, and William ‘Buba’ Anderson on acoustic guitar; on Bass: Butch Porter (Empress), Teddy Williams, William Anderson and his brother Sandy (see Unlimited Touch); On keyboards: Fred McFarlane (who in 1984 co-produced Intrigue, Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King and Jocelyn Brown, among others); and finally, on drums: Ray ‘Johnny’ Reid and Sugar ‘Ray’ Rock from the Crown Heights Affair, William ‘Buba’ Anderson and Randy Hutchinson! Yet the album didn't chart! Adeva  – Musical Freedom (Free At Last) . – A burst of positivity and hope from one of the original house divas, Adeva, here with musical freedom, Free At Last, which was penned by Carmen Brown . Adeva, real name Patricia Daniels, was born in North Carolina and in 1988 was signed to Cool Tempo and released her debut album the following year which was a smash on the dance floor. Colleen remember seeing her around that time at one of New York City's early house clubs, Tracks. Paradise Garage's David DePino had a night there. It must have been Tuesday nights in which she featured voguers. Wipe the Needle  – Skyscrapers . – By Lee Gomez under his Wipe the Needle moniker, a slice of jazzy house heaven out now on Dave Lee's Zed Records label. Nicola Conte  – Into the Light of Love (Joaquin's Spirit of the Dance Instrumental Version) . – The Nicola Conte-Joaquin Clausell double pack on Far Out Recordings that just keeps on delivering, it keeps on giving. Colleen has played nearly all of the cuts on that double 12-inch workout wonder . – The original track can be found on Nicola Conte's 2023 " Umoja " ( coming from Swahili, an ancient African language, and carrying the meaning of unity , harmony , and spiritual connection ) studio album. The renowned Italian spiritual jazz master, DJ, producer, guitarist, and bandleader perfectly fits today's bill as his approach towards music is a "freeing one". In his own words: "Everything must be easy to consume, so there's no room for cultural knowledge, heritage, and consciousness. This reality limits the freedom of individuals. In times like these, artists should take the risk of expressing more controversial ideas and not just fitting into everything that is being said". If freedom is present in the music, it is also living in Colleen's choices as she ends today's episode in an unexpected way, playing both Aretha Franklin & Ray Charles '  " Spirit in the Dark " and David Bowie 's " Memory of a Free Festival " . Each song represent, in their own way, what Freedom (here both the musical and the spiritual one) really feels like! Aretha Franklin & Ray Charles  – Spirit in the Dark . – Recorded live at the Fillmore West in 1971 and released on record that year, Aretha was also playing Fender Rhodes and her band was King Curtis's band, the Kingpins, which featured luminaries like Bernard Purdy, Billy Preston and Cornell Dupree. An incredible rendition of her 1970 single ( ed. which peaking at #3 R&B and #23 Hot 100, in  Billboard  magazine) . – The song, which seems to draw from both political events and personal events choosing hope as an ultimate escape , is taken from Aretha's seventeenth studio album of the same name, issued on August 24th, 1970 and recorded over the course of 4 sessions at the Atlantic Studios in New York (26, 27 May, 3 Oct. 1969 & 10 march 1970 ) and has been covered in 1994 by BB. King and Diane Schuur. David Bowie  – Memory of a Free Festival . – A seven minute ode to the festival, an opus from David Bowie, released on his self-titled and second album in 1969 ( ed. also known as " Space Oddity "). The song was written in homage to the free festival that was organized by the Beckenham Arts Lab in August 1969, an alternative arts center . – While the songs is ostensibly dedicated to the festival, another interpretation is worth keeping in mind here as explained by the songfacts website, perfectly feeting in today's show musical soul (pay attention to the structure of the song...) : "Oh, to capture just one drop of all the ecstasy that swept that afternoon; To paint that love upon a white balloon, and fly it from the topest top of all the tops," sings Bowie, but the song may have been a romanticized version of how he really felt that day. Just days before, Bowie had experienced the death of his father, and his mood, quite understandably, was reportedly anything but ecstatic during the festival. Listening to the song you can imagine the song following the timeline of his life up to that point: his voice at first is almost childlike, a quality enhanced by the fact that the only musical accompaniment is a child's organ. As the song nears the end, we hear a progression toward Bowie's trademark sound, the powerful vocals and near-chaotic yet carefully controlled arrangement, before taking a tired, somber turn at the finish, as if he's mourning something lost."

Worldwide FM broadcast the 21st episode of Balearic Breakfast on January 19th 2021. I lockdown. You lockdown. We lockdown. They lockdown. Everybody Lockdowns. Nothing had changed at the beginning of this new year... We were asked by the Authorities to "Stay at Home", and so we did (if you want to take a bad trip, head over there and read the kind of publications we then had and if you want to have a timeline, please, enjoy yourself, it's over there ...) : You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives. You should follow this guidance immediately. The law will be updated to reflect these new rules. England's Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, January 2021 Needless to say, the Balearic Breakfast Family needed to Escape. We all needed a place of our own where there would be no restrictions and where we could, at last, dance our souls out on a spacious dancefloor. We were fortunate enough to have Colleen by our Side. The requests made by the Family allowed Colleen to prepare a very open show, with a beautiful and groovy set. From the very start, when you listen to the songs, you can picture flying kites in a clear blue sky! Listen back to the 20th edition of Balearic Breakfast : PLAYLIST Jean-Luc Ponty – Computer incantations for Worldpeace Carl Craig – A wonderful life Roberta Flack – Bridge over troubled water Dwight Trible – Tryin' times (feat. Matthew Halsali) Curtis Mayfield – Blue Monday People Blue Gas – Shadows from nowhere (Danilo Braca ReVision) The Alan Parsons Project – I Robot Cantoma – The Mountain (Lexx Remix) The Balek Band – Bayoyo Sou Flash and the Pan – Waiting for a train (Disco Version) Electric Light Orchestra – Last train to London Third World – Dancing on the Floor (Hooked on love) Blaze – We all Must Live together (12" Version) Gotan Project – Triptico Santana – Aqua Marine Kamasi Washington – Truth Minnie Riperton – Les Fleurs

I met Andrei Sandu  for a chat. Balearic Breakfast's family member, Lucky Cloud's staff member, and now the author of a new book, let's find out his musical stories! 1) Hi Andrei! It's such a pleasure to have you here with us! You've been a pretty busy guy lately since you self-published your first book, "Mates Crates' - 100 Stories Behind the Songs" in conjunction with Melodic Distraction, a Liverpool-based internet radio station, online magazine and events programmer. How did the whole project come about?   Hi Artur, thanks so much for inviting me to chat! The journey began when I was introduced to the Melodic team by my university friend Toby . I soon wrote a few articles on of dance music pioneers including David Mancuso and Patrick Cowley. I’d come to funk, soul and disco music via the samples so commonly used in house music, so quickly became interested in the stories behind those connections. I would often look into this after buying records, and started wanting to write about the more interesting discoveries. After drafting a few of these short columns, I approached Melodic in May 2019 with the idea and they were incredibly supportive. In January 2020, the Mates’ Crates column evolved into a radio show  too. Especially during the COVID lockdowns, writing and recording was a very welcome creative outlet. By September 2023, I decided to pull the 100 columns together into something tangible! 2) Writing a book about songs and how they were written and composed is quite challenging (finding relevant information can take hours for one song—and I know something about it, laughs!). I don't even dare speak here about finding an editor, laughs! How did you work, on the editorial side, on the book, and which part of the editorial process was the toughest, according to you? The process of choosing records for the columns was very driven by the stories. Some of those stories are about the music – history, samples, remixes, collaborations – others are much more personal, about my own journey of music discovery. I only discovered DJ Gilla’s Long Player  zines after I’d finished pulling my book together, but it brought me a lot of joy that I’m not the only one to write about music in this way.   When I decided to pull together the book, the content had already been written over the years of the column, working with the fantastic editors at Melodic Distraction. I did the layout, design further editing and proofreading myself and really underestimated how long that would take, but really enjoyed the process. It was interesting to look back on the collection as a whole. There are definitely recurring themes and characters – the likes of George Benson , Lamont Dozier  and Patrick Adams  amongst them! Together, the stories cover many corners of the music that I love.   3) I find it heartwarming that radio hosts, DJs, and music aficionados (if I can put it that way) feel the need to share their passion for music and vinyl by writing books. Words link everything together, creating a circle. When used proficiently, words can also become music and help share feelings towards the songs we listen to... How much is it important for you to "share the love"? It's a kind of "Balearic attitude", if you see what I mean (laughs)! I chose the name “Mates’ Crates” as the project has always been about sharing stories about record digging with friends. When I was first thinking about the book, I spoke to Colleen about the process behind her Classic Albums by Women . Her advice (excellent, as usual) was to think carefully about what I wanted from the project, which led me to self-publish as a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders and Music Venue Trust. I did a lot of the editing over Christmas last year, when SoundCloud released its ‘musical horoscopes’. For Virgos like me (and like Colleen!) it said, “You don’t have to write a Pitchfork review for every record you hear, you can just listen to music!”. Maybe there’s something to astrology after all… But I think that DJing is (or should be!) about a love of sharing music, and this project is an extension of that. Writing the columns also reminded me of the effect that music has had on me, and I wanted to share those experiences too. I would often reflect on the ‘real reasons’ why people collect records, which for me is about personal connections and the human interactions often involved in physically searching for music. 4) You were featured in Balearic Breakfast's 183rd episode. You shared some true gems, including several covers that blew us away. How did you approach creating your "Balearic Breakfast" radio show? Could you tell me what you wanted to convey through the selected songs?    Colleen very kindly invited me to record the mix to promote the book, so it made sense to showcase records that I’ve written about. I found it hard enough choosing from those hundred options, so I was glad to have at least some constraints! Overall, I wanted the mix to highlight cover the range of genres in the book – from disco, funk and soul to Latin, Arabic and Japanese City Pop – and highlight the cultural crossovers that I find so fascinating, while keeping that Balearic vibe.   There are a few records in there particularly special to me. Carly Simon’s “Tranquilo (Melt My Heart) is the namesake of a party  I’ve been running with some friends for a few years. We can’t wait to return to the Love Dancin’ tent at We Out Here Festival this year. And I’ve been obsessed with “Tu És A Que Eu Quero” by José Pinhal for years, so it was great to meet the guys behind Lusofonia Record Club  and support their mission to share Portugese-language music. 5) A radio host, a DJ and now a writer, you're also a member of the London Loft Party (launched in 2001, following the issue of the Nuphonic compilations on which Colleen and David worked together). How did that part of your journey start? How did you meet Colleen and the crew? Please tell us more about that part of your musical journey! I first met Colleen at a Boiler Room a few months after I’d started writing the Mates’ Crates column. She closed her set with Lamont Dozier, who I’d written about that week, leading to the first of many conversations about musical synchronicity! I then attended the launch of the Classic Albums by Women book and helped out at the next London Loft party. I was so happy to join the wonderful team, and so disappointed when the pandemic then paused things for a while. I tuned in to Colleen on Worldwide FM then got back to the Loft Parties, so it feels beautifully full-circle to be sharing my book on Balearic Breakfast! I’ve been blown away by the response so far, with support from the likes of Colleen, Greg Wilson, DJ Gilla and Andrew Ashong. Best of all, it has raised over £1,000 for the charities so far. You can grab a copy of the book on Bandcamp . I hope you enjoy it!