# The 7 Best Balearic Tracks of All Time

Not a sound so much as a permission: Alfredo Fiorito's sets at Amnesia in Ibiza put Italo, indie, dub, soft rock and African records in one night, and the British DJs who visited in 1987 took the idea home and started acid house with it.

- **Origin:** Ibiza, Spain, 1987
- **Tempo:** 95–125 BPM
- **Also known as:** balearic beat, ibiza, amnesia sound, sunset
- **Tracks:** 7
- **Updated:** 2026-08-31
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/balearic/

## The list

### 1. [Elkin & Nelson](https://waxonia.com/artist/elkin-and-nelson/) — [Jibaro](https://waxonia.com/track/elkin-and-nelson--jibaro/)

*1974*

Colombian brothers recording in Spain, rediscovered by Alfredo a decade later, and remixed for the London crowd in 1988. The definitive Balearic record precisely because nothing about it was meant for a club.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Elkin%20%26%20Nelson%20Jibaro) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=r9oh7nK7tkY)

### 2. [Joe Smooth](https://waxonia.com/artist/joe-smooth/) — [Promised Land](https://waxonia.com/track/joe-smooth--promised-land/)

*1987 · DJ International*

Chicago house as gospel, and the record that closed Ibiza nights and then Shoom nights. Utopian in a way house rarely permits itself.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Joe%20Smooth%20Promised%20Land) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BJyD_TPeJAI)

### 3. [Sueño Latino](https://waxonia.com/artist/sueno-latino/) — [Sueño Latino](https://waxonia.com/track/sueno-latino--sueno-latino/)

*1989 · DFC*

Manuel Göttsching looped, birdsong added, nine minutes long, Italian. If one record explains what the island's DJs were doing, it is this one.

Also on: [Italo Disco](https://waxonia.com/genre/italo-disco/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sue%C3%B1o%20Latino%20Sue%C3%B1o%20Latino) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=XuMCw_6DKPM)

### 4. [Woodentops](https://waxonia.com/artist/woodentops/) — [Why Why Why](https://waxonia.com/track/woodentops--why-why-why/)

*1988*

An English indie band who found themselves adopted by a dance scene they knew nothing about. Balearic's willingness to take a guitar record on its merits, exactly as it stood.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Woodentops%20Why%20Why%20Why) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=d1bYfZUePYo)

### 5. [Nightmares on Wax](https://waxonia.com/artist/nightmares-on-wax/) — [Sueño](https://waxonia.com/track/nightmares-on-wax--sueno/)

*1999 · Warp*

The style outliving the island — downtempo, warm, and built for the end of the night rather than the middle of it.

Also on: [Twice Over](https://waxonia.com/theme/twice-over/), [Warp](https://waxonia.com/theme/warp/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Sue%C3%B1o) · [Search YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Nightmares%20on%20Wax%20Sue%C3%B1o)

### 6. [Cosmic Baby](https://waxonia.com/artist/cosmic-baby/) — [Loops of Infinity](https://waxonia.com/track/cosmic-baby--loops-of-infinity/)

*1993*

German, and the point where Balearic and trance briefly meet. Included because the category has always been defined by what a DJ can get away with.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Cosmic%20Baby%20Loops%20of%20Infinity) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vyolu2eIN6Y)

### 7. [Nino Nardini](https://waxonia.com/artist/nino-nardini/) — [Tirami Su](https://waxonia.com/track/nino-nardini--tirami-su/)

*1976*

Library music, made to be sold to television by the yard, and rescued wholesale by the island's diggers. Nothing better illustrates the scene's indifference to provenance.

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nino%20Nardini%20Tirami%20Su) · [Search YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Nino%20Nardini%20Tirami%20Su)

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