Swedish Sunday :: Studio

Swedish Sunday :: Studio - V

Posted by V

I realized I’ve been tossing the term Balearic around quite a bit lately without much preface. Balearic is a genre of electronic music that, as its name might suggest, originated in the Balearic island region, specifically, in the beach raves and nightclubs of Ibiza in the mid-90s. It’s also sometimes referred to as Baeleric beat and runs the range from deep house influenced, to my preference, italo disco influenced. Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling are largely credited as the godfathers of the sound, but in the past few years its seen a resurgence and re-imagination as sunny, disco-tinged melodies attributed most notably to Prins Thomas and Lindstrom. A trademark trancey, yet melodic vibe runs through Balearic music and I’m a particularly big fan of the work Sweden’s Studio has been contributing to the genre.

We gave you a hint of Studio a couple week’s back in our post on The Crêpes, an indie-pop outfit that features Dan Lissvik, one half of Studio. Partnered with Rasmus Hägg, the duo make some of my favorite standby electronic tunes. They dip their hands in a little bit of everything and have done remixes for Kylie Minogue and the Shout Out Louds and collaborated with another of my favorite musicians, Brennan Green, but it’s their original compositions that stand out above all else.

Released in 2007, West Coast is an album every one of you should have a listen to. The compositions are long (the longest clocks in at over 16 minutes), but never feel tiring. The tropical, beachy vibe is heavily heralded in this release, alongside hints of dub, afrobeat, krautrock and postpunk, but what makes it, and much of the work of Studio unique, is the addition of some very Robert Smith-esque vocals. Balearic music is largely instrumental, so Studio’s vocal additions really do feel like something special and sets their tunes apart.

Below you’ll find two tracks from Studio’s immaculate album, West Coast.

Studio - Self Service (241 kbps)

Studio - Life’s A Beach (255 kbps)

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