- Given the new strains of Balearic music emerging over the last decade or so, it was only a matter of time before a series like La Torre began. Following in the tradition of José Padilla's Café Del Mar collections, which celebrated that bar's historic dance nights in the '80s, La Torre Volumen Uno recreates the laissez faire spirit of parties at Ibiza's Hostal La Torre. This first edition is handled by one of La Torre's two resident DJs, not to mention a key figure in Balearic's new wave: International Feel label owner Mark Barrott.
La Torre Volumen Uno is grounded in a notion that popularized by early Balearic figures like Padilla and Alfredo: that the music of Ibiza isn't defined by a sound so much as a feeling. You know it when you hear it, but you may have a hard time describing it to the uninitiated. Barrott's selections find him traversing an eclectic array of laid-back music that spans decades, all tested for sun-starched afternoons and dazzling sunsets. There's the minimal murmurings of Cameroonian artist Francis Bebey's "Forest Nativity." Spanish super-group Finis Africae appear with the sleepy-eyed crawl of "Managua," and the legendary Penguin Cafe Orchestra add the light-footed, acoustic jaunt of "Air A Danser." Following the collection's headier music, the guitar-strummed strut of Ahmed Fakroun's "Nisyan" is sure to get the blood moving, as will the eerie, string-laced sounds of Il Guardiano Del Faro's "Disco Divina."
Much of the compilation's charm comes from how persuasively Barrott captures the Ibiza vibe by combining old rarities with contemporary favorites. Domenique Dumont's 2015 gem "Comme Ça" almost sounds like an extended outro to Bebey's hushed, breezy atmospheres. András's "Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise Mix)" is a twilight drama in miniature, almost Raymond Chandler-esque with its sweeping strings and soft-lit organ. Not to be outdone, Barrott includes one of the standouts from his debut album, the elegant "Deep Water." It's a testament to the resurgence of this undefinable sound that the newer music meshes so seamlessly with that of the past.
Tracklist01. Francis Bebey - Forest Nativity
02. Domenique Dumont - Comme Ça
03. Penguin Cafe Orchestra - Air A Danser
04. Ahmed Fakroun - Nisyan
05. Spooky - Orange Flavoured Liquid
06. Cantoma - Tabarin
07. Finis Africae - Managua
08. András - Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise Mix)
09. Barry Forgie - Dawn Mists
10. Il Guardiano Del Faro - Disco Divina
11. Tri Atma Und Gyan Nishabda - Natürliche Liebe
12. Planet Funk - Inside All The People (Harvey's Ibiza Sleepy Mix)
13. Mark Barrott - Deep Water
14. Gryningen - Früh Andra Hand Till Strñnderna I Nice
15. Hatchback - White Diamond