Is It Balearic - 20 Year Anniversary
Steve KIW's always on point sleeve notes for the essential Is It Balearic 20 year anniversary compilation.
Words by Steve KIW • April 2026
I first met Is It Balearic? at a beach in the centre of Nottingham. Now, I know you’re thinking something along the lines of “well, that’s highly unlikely because isn’t the East Midlands said to be pretty much further from the coast than any other city in England?” but it’s true. Sort of.
Sometime in the decade before the last one I found myself DJing alongside Timm Sure and Ampo on artificial sand, complete with booth and beach bar, slap bang in the middle of Nottingham’s market square; the heart of a city that is home to many of my favourite musicians, DJs and producers.
It was an odd experience, fun too, but more than that, it gave me a chance to put faces to names that I was seeing on more and more of my favourite records of the time. As Coyote, Timm and Ampo’s first half-a-dozen releases on the Is It Balearic? label had become staples of my sets.
I’ve bought pretty much everything they’ve put out and put their name to since.
20 years is a long time in any walk of life. For an independent record label merely to survive would be a success story on its own, but for one to grow, evolve and retain a buy-on-sight reputation, and at a time when the digital evolution decimated the business model upon which record labels were built, is just astonishing… but here we are.
Twenty years after that introductory run of Coyote EPs, their label, beloved by so many fanatics of the b-word, is celebrating a magnificent milestone.
Is It Balearic? has more than just bucked a trend. Across almost 100 releases Timm and Ampo have offered up more answers to that hardy perennial than most. Whether it be through releasing new music from scene stalwarts like Chris Coco, Rolo McGinty or Leo Mas, by unearthing new music by artists from across the globe, like Robert’s Diary, Das Komplex and, er, Wrekin Havoc.
Over the years it has given us future classics such as Max Essa’s Panorama Suite, the Beyond The Wizard Sleeve remix of Midlake’s Roscoe or Prins Thomas’ timeless take on The Grid’s Floatation and dozens of gems that are, as an old pal often says, “for those that know”. The list of artists who have released tracks or remixes on IIB is essentially a who’s who of 20 years of The Balearic Network and beyond, and their music can be heard across the world.
But back to that question. Is it? Well, it depends on who you ask, but if Balearic is a feeling, then IIB captures it perfectly. Across the catalogue there are dub excursions, ecstatic piano house anthems, epic sunset moments, experimental numbers, straight up bangers and stops at all points in between. No one knows the answer better than Phil Mison and Pete Herbert - no strangers to IIB, releasing on the label as Reverso 68 way back in 2012 - and they’ve chosen a perfect sundown selection.
Simon Peter eases us in with delightful hints of Spanish guitar, those Wrekin Havoc rascals, with no little help from Mr George Bailey, lasso the moon, and there’s a gem of a jam from the East - by way of East Anglia – courtesy of Max Essa. Album cuts, like the title track from Lukas X Peter Visti’s Ocean View and Coyote’s own The Mystery Light (from Copacetic) may be new to those who stick to the singles but show the depth in quality on the occasional long players that IIB put. Ocean View should see plenty of action on that famous old strip. Lazy from the same album by the Visti brothers chugs along nicely too. Deep cuts indeed.
Luz De Luna by Lono Ritmo would surely have been in Phil’s bag in his Café Del Mar days; it’s a record of rare beauty. Swedish producer Bo Wosticz delivers two tracks here: a bit of house, and a percussive shuffler for those who want to get up and have a dance.
Nottingham’s own Ron Basejam turns in a remix of Bonnie & Klein that will keep them there. Pete H’s exclusive edit of Michael David’s Two Voices brings disc one to a close.
The second, compiled and mixed by the Coyote chaps, includes a handful of their own releases, showcasing their consistency and versatility. Whether it be the sunkissed Simpson’s Sky or the anthemic pianos of Will We Ever Dance Again, they always hit the spot.
Elsewhere ALFOS maestro Sean Johnston (aka The Hardway Brothers and The Summerisle Six) gets the Rico Conning remix treatment, and the pair deliver a fantastic and deep chug jam that runs past ten-minutes. Max Essa returns with the gorgeous Jules Y Cynthia, and Bjorn Torske takes on Robert’s Diary’s quirky Dinky Bird with such style that I thought it was a lost St Germain recording when I first heard it.
Das Komplex’s Quest has a hint of 80s about it, and perhaps it would have found its way into Leo Mas and Alfredo’s bag at Amnesia back in the day, just as Don Carlos’ seminal Alone did; and the legend’s Ambient Mix of Illija Rudman has a lot more energy than the name suggests, leaving it to Uomo Meccanico’s It’s All Magic, No Tricks to slow down the pace and Lonely Deckchair’s exclusive I Didn’t Fall Down wraps it all up.
It’s a tour de force and then some. In an era where the b-word is used as a lazy prefix so often this is the real deal. Skip the landfill and stick with the dons. When i was invited to write these notes I was delighted and daunted because whilst I’m a fan of their music, I also have huge admiration for what they’ve done, and continue to do. The Balearic Network, such as it is, is a small scene. It depends on a tight group of people who actively support it, and words can scarcely do justice to what Timm and Ampo contribute.
These residents of NG1 may live almost as far away from any beach than anyone else on these shores but no-one captures the essence of the Balearic spirit better than Timm Sure & Ampo. This album is testament to that. More power to them.
Is it? Course, it is.
Is It Balearic - 20 Year Anniversary is available now from all good record stores.
