Synthetic Hearts Club: 2016

Thursday, June 2, 2016

BALEARIC CHALLENGE #4

BALEARIC CHALLENGE day 4... Let's just go with this track below, because I have done much research and found that THIS track is INDEED Balearic, even if my previous posts have not quite been. At least 37 different experts are willing to back me up this time. There is no way that anyone can deny that this is the TRUE SOUND of Balearic music. OK fine, maybe not. Or maybe so. That is for the lords of Balearic to figure out. In any case I included this song on a DJ mix from 2009 for the great www.lovefingers.org (if you want to check the full mix it is posted to my blog http://syntheticheartsclub.blogspot.com/…/secret-circuit-dj… ). Each time I hear this song, I love it just as much as the last. An electronic tropic (electropic?) little number written by the Tropical Dandy himself, Haruomi Hosono from the first YMO LP from 1978. Some seriously melted synth styles abound. Melt away:

BALEARIC CHALLENGE #3

DAY 3 of the BALEARIC CHALLENGE!! Yes, I had no internet for a bit there so I fell out of step, BUT- I'm BACK and here I present something to you that, beyond anything else, I have been wondering about for months. It has been nearly ruining my sleep. I HUMBLY ASK YOU: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHETHER THIS IS BALEARIC???

Friday, May 27, 2016

BALEARIC CHALLENGE #2

Back at it! Well, for day 2 of the Balearic Challenge I do hereby post a rule-breaker. I only post this because you cannot simply listen to one song by this band. It works better if you completely immerse yourself in the warm bath of their sound. Like sunlight through tree leaves, the music flows like a warm gentle breeze. Meditative, calming and mysterious. Acoustic and electronic instruments in perfect harmony here, and at times I do believe they made some of the most beautiful and magical music on this earth. I would also dare to call it: Perfect. Here is the entire hour long 1990 cassette only release of The Heart Of Love (later to be re-released on vinyl by the great Emotional Rescue).

Thursday, May 26, 2016

BALEARIC CHALLENGE #1

I am honored to have been given the herculean task of joining the ranks of the BALEARIC CHALLENGE, handed to me by the great DJ JAZ John Zahl.
First off, a word or two on what Balearic means to me. Of course the accepted definition is the music heard from DJs in Ibiza taken and repackaged to fantastic effect by the British some time in the late 80s… Yes, yes, but the main thing I took from all that was the fact that any record could be played, as long as it fit the mood or created it, therefor any notion of genre is discounted. Of course there is a "sound" but then also there isn't. At a certain point in my life, this concept and that of the Italian DJs like Baldelli and Loda, were hugely influential because I finally realized that all the weird shit I listened to from dub, disco, funk, electronic, world, krautrock, soft rock, new age, private press… ALL OF IT could all exist in one place! It all had a happy home together! Sure they would have thrilling arguments but when the disparate elements mixed in unexpected ways a new world was formed that existed beyond the songs themselves!
So to me, I perceive it as a genre-less genre (should that remain unsaid?).
So now goes, what should I select? It's called the Balearic Challenge so, yes, it is challenging to choose but shouldn't I choose something challenging to the notion of Balearic? What about the challenge of not choosing one that someone else has already chosen? No way around it, I must roll forth with no concern for any of that...
People want confounding and odd music from me anyways so here goes in no particular order!------- font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">In high school I started my lifelong mission of searching for strange records at thrift stores. One such record I found had a funny cover of a thermometer dancing in an R.Crumb style. It was a latin dance record with a "hit" on it called "El Bimbo". I bought the record for 99 cents and brought it home and noticed that the last track was by a band called "Diabolic Man". Now this I thought could be interesting and when I put it on I could not believe my ears. I thought, could this be real? Was it an elaborate joke for only me to find? DIABOLIC MAN? Tucked away on an otherwise horrible LP? In any case, here it is in all it's pounding pitch shifted voice insanity… For 1974 I would dare say that this song sounds ADVANCED... Can't beat the drum fills in the middle… My man Lovefingers Andy Hogge did an edit later which I was happy to be able to play because I always wanted them to go on forever… PS this track is NOT Balearic ;)