Juno Recommends Balearic / Downtempo November 2021

Review: If you need a little pick me up as the weather gets colder, darker and wetter, then stick this new now from Coyote on your turntable and feel your woes drain away. It is another classy offering from Is It Balearic across two sides of proudly Balearic-influenced house music. You can picture the scenes when this will go down best - as the sun sinks into the sea in India or Croatia, with a happy and smiling crowd ready for the daytime vibes to make way for something a little naughtier. 'Will We Ever Dance Again' is pure celebratory joy, with swirling chords rising ever higher like a heat haze, then 'As Above' gets playful with squelchy acid, steely drums and a great sense of bounce.

Review: Surely one of the most dedicated, consistent outfits in the contemporary Balearic scene, Coyote return with another album of exquisite, open-hearted grooves to take you somewhere sunny. The Mystery Light is the group's sixth album no less, and it shows their powers as producers and composers growing exponentially. The scope is broad, from laconic acid wiggles to New Age reveries, and of course with a consistent 80s flavour running throughout in so many of their production choices. As well as accurately embodying the spirit of great 80s studio magic, they're also versed enough in the language to express themselves in a unique way, imbuing every piece with character and charm to ensure these jams clamp on to your heart and stay there.

Review: This first release on Sun Sea Sound presents the sounds of Torn Sail/Huw Costin revamped by the production team of Mark Rayner and Matt Horobin aka Shrinkwrap. Included is an unreleased vinyl mix of Costin's psychedelic folk balearic cut 'Disconnected' from 2015 on the first side. Being close friends with Costin, Shrinkwrap decided to collaborate and remix the track 'Gain On Gains' over on the flip, from Torn Sail's 2017 long player This Short Sweet Life, with a dub mix also included. Slo-mo cosmic at its finest.

Review: Welcome to the wonderful world of DEL, a new label from the Cartulis crew specialising in warm and inviting electronics with a Balearic tinge. Heading up this new enterprise is Low Tape, aka Gennadiy Manzhos, and DJ Mostoles, taking a side each to lay down some cool and classy sonics. Low Tape lets the synths do the talking on easy-paced trippers like 'Aliens Are Humans From The Future', while DJ Mostoles has a smokier quality to the downtempo electro strains being explored on the B side. For those craving a selection of cool-headed beats for lounge situations, look no further.

Review: Max Santilli is an Australian multi-instrumentalist who is maybe best known for his work with Jacob Fugar in Angophora. He seems to like to put out one new album a year, and we like it too. Last year's In Circles really helped get us through lockdown and now he appears on Germany's Growing Bin with more of his mega soothing sounds. Rooted in Balearic sounds but with lovely acoustic guitar work, soft shakers and sway grooves that make it feel as if you have been cast adrift on a raft, it is so much more than that. There is beautiful melancholy in every track that makes a lasting impression, much like with all Santilli's records.

Review: The ninth release from Worst Records finds Jonnah asking, "what makes a being? What tends to be, always, and yet remains never achieved?" across the five adventurous tracks of his limited Mental & Physical EP. It is rhythmically loose, with tough broken beats, dark dubstep and new age infused ambient designs all magian this a glimpse into the future of our world. The mood ranges from uneasy to contemplative, the energies from blissed out to dark and oppressive. It is a well realised sound world that draws you in deep and has you questioning everything.