Various – Future Balearica review

The xx are many things: possible shoe-ins for the Mercury Music Award, highly rated, ubiquitous, and a bit fond of bleakness – they don’t however exactly scream Balearic warmth. It’s a mark of Sean Brosnan’s ear for music and talent for mixing that The xx track “VCR” works so well early on in this Future Balearica mix. Just as the opening track, “Electric Sunburst” from Coyote reaches its closing moment; the distinctive xylophone and guitar intro arise and meld perfectly into the rhythm.

From then on Brosnan sets on an impressive journey through contemporary producers that fall under the loose umbrella of what is now considered Balearic music – i.e. vaguely disco sounding but not too upbeat. Never getting too complex in the mix as it’s not really necessary, a distinct laid back flow is maintained throughout. The Tiedye remix of DJ Kaos’s “Love The Night Away” remains a pleasure to hear some 15 months after it was released, and there’s room for some classy productions from the strangely underappreciated Idjut Boys too. The presence of Bubble Club and Mario Basanov amidst the mix demonstrates the nod towards the future, and finishing off with one of Animal Collective’s more hypnotically melodic moments seems just right.

Tony Poland