Just a quick update.

We have finally managed to get all the masters for the second installment – a not inconsiderable task given that some of these tracks are rarer than hen’s teeth!

The compiled master (this one’s a double CD) have gone to Kelvin and Mike for them to check and hopefully we’ll be able to start artwork and production in the next couple of weeks.

Given that, we’re looking for something like the end of September for the release.

Sorry it’s been too long, but this kind of quality takes time.

Thanks for bearing with us.

And, just as a little taster, this killer rework by Leo Elstob of a Sam Sallon beauty is one of the tracks to make the final cut.

Sorry – couldn’t resist that.

As you’ll see from the previous post, the very lovely folks at Piccadilly Records did indeed make Vol.1 of ‘Down to the Sea and Back’ their compilation of the year.

Nice.

Suitably encouraged, Kelvin and Mike have finalised a tracklisting for Vol.2.

Fearing the worst, Amanda and I have girded our loins and managed to license the lot – not an always easy task given the choices of our esoteric leaders.

So, the plan is that it’ll be out on 11th July – Balearic behaviour allowing!

As luck would have it, Kelvin and Mike are hosting a ‘Down to the Sea and Back’ boat party that very week at the very marvellous Electric Elephant festival in Croatia.

We hope that’s put a smile on your face and look forward to bringing you the 2011 compilation of the year in July.

We are very excited to hear that Piccadilly Records- the best record shop in the world- has graciously bestowed upon us the coveted prize of Compilation of the year.

I was wandering about YouTube and came across this live appearance from last year by Bilgeri of ‘Video Life’ at a German Festival. A slice of what we had all taken to be a lost gem for the Balearic Beat aficionado right there on a big stage in a field amongst the Bratwurst. Classic.

When Mike and Kelv put Volume 1 of ‘Down to the Sea and Back’ together and we were licensing and putting it together, I, ashamed as I am to admit it, had never heard this record. But, then, that is often the case for me when it comes to Mike and Kelv’s record collections. That’s why they are the people picking them after all.

I loved it and it’s definitely one of my favourites on the record.

I knew from Mike’s ever informative description in the sleeve-notes about how he and Moonboots found the record, that Bilgeri had survived the 80’s and still claimed to be an artist, writer, director etc.

What I didn’t know is that somewhere he commanded sufficient respect to play on what seems to be a main stage at a festival in a place where they don’t speak English.

Not only that, but, this live performance has lost none of the power of the original recording.

Fascinating to see that what was then, as Mike puts it, ’slightly cheesy porn-funk’, has made it’s way onto a festival stage with all it’s oddity intact.

Surely that’s a perfect ending for a rediscovered slice of Balearic Beat after all?

Whether you call it Cosmic Disco or Cosmic Balearic Beats (or any combination!), people are often unsure what it really means. We often get asked this question and it’s not one that we can easily answer.

The chances are that if you know about us and the first compilation album, and you’re reading this, then you’ll already know that Cosmic Disco is more than just a genre… It is Daniele Baldelli! If you don’t know who he is, then your quick lesson is that he is THE epitome of Cosmic Disco, a legend and pioneer of the scene.

So we thought that rather than try to answer this question ourselves, we’d let the master tell you all about it in his own words…