Balearic Mike about AR023 - Sara Loreni - Neve A Maggio (Remixes) 12":

Brighton, January 2022,

I love this label. Manu is a dear friend, who I first met about 9 years ago when he invited me out to his beautiful home city of Florence to DJ. I’d just ruptured my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) pretending to be Kenny Dalgleish on Hove lawns, and thought the whole trip might not happen, but he went out of his way to make Jo and I welcome, putting us up in a beautiful stair free apartment and showing us a great time.

He was just about to launch the label, and the first couple of releases were both records which I’d selected on the Originals Volume 1 compilation I did with Moonboots on Claremont 56, which showed he had exceptional taste. And I’m happy to say the label has gone from strength to strength, focusing on reissuing obscure and rare Italian records (mostly).

Which makes this a bit of a change for the label, in that it isn’t a classic old Italian record, but rather a track by a contemporary artist, with an absolutely ball busting set of remixes. Favourite is the ‘Mushrooms Project Disco Maxi Single Mix’, which brings to mind cosmic, nu-beat and Italo-disco vibes, with an insistent synth riff that totally kills, and sounds like it was made specifically for the dancefloor at ALFOS, or maybe an Adriatic boat party. Mushrooms Project team up with Leo Almunia for a mellow Balearic version, and Deep 88 join the party with a tough house excursion.

An utterly brilliant release, that looks incredible too. Look at that sleeve art – and it’s on purple vinyl. It’s currently rocking my world.

Forza Italia!

Balearic Mike.