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Balearic: an oral history of club culture in Ibiza
BOOK REVIEW
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Author: Luis Costa | Christian Len From the reader report by: Ms. Megumi Yoshida
I would definitely recommend taking a look at this book of nearly 600 pages. You will be swept away by the way the book is put together. It mainly features interviews with around 100 people connected with Ibiza’s club culture over its over-50-year history. This really conveys the seriousness and commitment of the book’s authors. As we read, we are swept into the atmosphere and passion of each era, with the book also communicating the thoughts and feelings of its interviewees. It is like a documentary, and readers will really get a ‘feel’ of the history, even if they don’t have much prior knowledge about clubs and music. The interviewees talk about their backgrounds (this part is surprisingly interesting) and they speak animatedly about their thoughts and feelings at that instant when they encountered something amazing. At times, they also express deep anger and discontentment. However, a love for music, clubs and Ibiza runs through all this. After finishing the book, the reader will definitely want to visit Ibiza.
In Europe, Ibiza is famous as the Mecca of club music, but in Japan it is still relatively unknown. DJs have become more prominent recently, with club culture recognised as a part of our culture, but it still remains a minor field and in Japan is probably just conjures up images of dancing ravers. Nowadays we can get music and information in real time through the internet and social media, but there has never been a comprehensive Japanese-language publication about this club culture. This book traces the emergence of superstar DJs and it explores Ibiza’s club culture from the 1950s to the present through rich photographic materials and meticulously-compiled playlists. Though targeted at a niche audience, this book richly deserves to be published in Japan too.
PUBLISHED IN NEW SPANISH BOOKS JP
CONTRAEDICIONES
Title BALEARIC: AN ORAL HISTORY OF CLUB CULTURE IN IBIZA HISTORIA ORAL DE LA CULTURA DE CLUB EN IBIZA
Author Luis Costa | Christian Len Genre Other Pages 608
ISBN 978-84-18282-27-0 Year of publication 2020 Number of editions 1 Language Spanish Spanish retail price 24.90 €
Author’s biography: Luis Costa (Barcelona, 1972) is a DJ and began working as a journalist in1994 when he joined the team of Disco 2000, a pioneering club culture magazine. From 2009 he has been the press officer for Razzmatazz clubs in Barcelona, where he also regularly DJs. He is musical programmer and DJ in residence at Barcelona’s Freedonia club where he runs the monthly festival, Destination Moon, alongside the DJ and producer, Fledermaus. Over many years he has played at the Sónar and FIB festivals among others. As a music and pop-culture journalist he frequently contributes to the Culture sections of La Vanguardia, Ocimag, Clubbing in Spain and Como Las Grecas, and also presents a monthly radio programme called Dancetería on dublab.es. He is the author of ¡Bacalao! Historia oral de la música de baile en Valencia (Bacalao! The oral history of dance music in Valencia, 1980-1995; Contra, 2016). Balearic is his second book.
Synopsis: The result of almost a hundred interviews and a research process that lasted more than two years, Balearic uses a first person account of events to tell the story of one of the clubbing meccas of the world: Ibiza. For the first time, the history of the “White island” and its club culture is told here through the testimonials of DJs and internationally famous musicians; journalists; record labels; dancers; promoters; hoteliers; and the owners of clubs like Pacha, KU (now known as Privilege), Amnesia, and Space; and bars such as Café del Mar with their resident DJ, José Padilla – creator of the phenomenon of sunset soundtracks. This book was put together with contributions from: Carl Cox, Peter Hook, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling, DJ Harvey, Luciano, Louie Vega, Alfredo Fiorito, José Padilla, Nightmares on Wax, Julien Temple, Irvine Welsh, Trevor Fung, Terry Farley, Bill Brewster and many more. Publisher: Contra is a Barcelona based publisher specialising in literature about music and sport. It was founded in 2011 with the aim of rescuing forgotten gems in this area as well as promoting interest among local authors to write original essays on unexplored themes that we believe need a wider audience.
Publishing rights available from: Contraediciones S.L. - CIF B65616872 Pere IV, 29, 5º 1ª, Barcelona, Barcelona www.editorialcontra.com Contact: Didac Aparicio [didac@contraediciones.com] Phone: (+34) 676 506 176 Prizes and reviews: Ibiza has always been an essential place in the history of electronic music. Finally, the Balearic music scene has a history written with the vividness and profound detail it deserves.” Simon Reynolds Comments: For the first time, we have a book that tells, in a choir of voices, the history of ones of the meccas of club culture from the 1950’s to the present day.
