Joe Smooth Radio

The Balearic Gabba Soundsystem is back, back with a new EP that features three more leftfield remixes from curious electronic specialist Enzo Elia that have all been licensed officially by Irma Records. The source material for his three unhinged reworks is a track by 90s Italian house duo Soft House Company and two from cult Italian DJ and producer Don Carlos.

Soft House Company released only two EPs, both in 1990, but made a big impact with them: pretty much everyone has heard ‘What You Need’ and that’s the track that gets remixed here. Elia turns it into a slightly more bouncy and disco leaning cut with raw silvery drums, huge vamping piano chords and those classic vocal cries and already Eddie C and Gerd Jansen have been playing it. At the breakdown there is the sound of waves breaking on a beach before pianos go wild: It’s a freewheeling and sure fire party starting track that still does the trick nearly quarter of a century after original release.

Don Carlos was behind such seminal club tracks as 1991’s ‘Alone’ and produced five studio albums in the nineties and naughties. He fuses Afro rhythms with deep house vibes and has DJed all over the world since the 70s. The first of his to get re-worked is ‘Overture’, which starts with tropical bird cries, whistles and loon calls. It’s the sound of a humid jungle that gets slowly consumed by lush pads, delicate piano melodies and stirring string sounds. With a truly magical atmosphere and uplifting joyousness permeating the whole thing, it cannot fail to make you feel on top of the world.

Finally, Elia tackles ‘Chicago’ (a track that’s already been supported by Soft Rocks) and does so with swathes of mesmeric effects. Organic hand congas, breathy vocal snippets and a bristling nebula of synths, pads and strings all dance around each other in reservedly euphoric symphony.

This might just be one of the most beautifully and bizarrely Balearic releases yet from the ever unhinged Balearic Gabba Soundsystem.

Soft House Company - What You Need (Enzo Elia Balearic Gabba Style)

Le Frek in the Chick

Someone To Love Me

Got a Love for You (Hurley's House Mix)

Foundation

That's the Way Love Is (Underground Mix) [Edit] (Underground Mix; Edit)

Paradise

Big Fun

Super People / Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Promised Land

Unmixed

Watchin' (feat. Amanda Wilson)

Big Fun

Inner City

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