House music had been in the mix for Balearic DJs like Alfredo and Leo Mas from the mid-80s on, but this collection from 1989 really encapsulates the blissful point where Ibiza and Chicago intersected. It has a load of elements which would influence the codification of the Balearic aesthetic for years to come — synth arpeggios a-go-go, rich and warm soul-jazz chords, orientalist and Latin motifs, the tempo of the four-to-the-floor kickdrum dipping well below 120bpm. But in fact this was convergent evolution in action: Larry Heard was already steeped in the same influences as the Ibizan DJs, like jazz fusion, prog, Kosmische and new age, so it was absolutely natural his music would fit with the Mediterranean environment so well. Whether the album’s title had any link to the Ibiza club where Alfredo and Leo Mas played is unknown: more likely it’s just synchronicity as elegant as the music.

– Joe Muggs