for me, balearic = alfredo... farley... 1980s.. chicago house arriving in Europe... ecstasy innocence... neo-hippies.... sunset.... ibiza....london/manchester heads....demis roussos at sunrise... freeflowing hippy breasts in grainy footage... long hair.... camp italians... ex-hooligans.... pop records from anywhere in the world at any tempo which suddenly made sense... bo derek riding around on a white horse..... ganja.... dunes.... junior boys own... maidens... ibizenco dwarves.... german nudists... whitewashed buildings... nature... spanish classical guitars.... chanting.. gypsy wailing... transglobal underground templehead... ethnic clothing.... italo discoteca... not caring if people think you are gay... tears for fears.... tribal music...microdots... the beloved... lyrics which sound really deep/philosophical in mangled English... mandy smith... tablas... the whistle song...1980s... anti-thatcher... freedom from small town mentality.. cosmopolitan vibes.... drugs, drugs, more drugs in sunshine, in moonlight, in sea, in swimming pool, on boat etc etc etc
but it has been discussed to death in various books and on blogs and forums by experienced sages who know a lot more than me. (DJH discussions alone can stretch to 38 pages on this subject!) I don't think there is a consensus on what precisely defines 'balearic' because everyone (of whatever age) has their own experiences of the balearic islands - but I think the key difference between original balearic and nu-balearic is that there was an innocence around e-culture in the early days which was soon (and inevitably) lost forever and that everything that followed those early days has to be set against the rampant commercialism which has come in the last 20 years to define both Ibiza's music and drug market, which is why people "who were there" tend to be quite sniffy and elitist about "their scene" and why they constantly repeat the mantra "things not as good as they used to be" - the age-old cry of small scenes which mushroomed into global phenomenons.
I personally don't stress about it too much - but am looking fwd to a damn good time at that festie this summer, which I'm hoping will give me a little insight into what I missed out first time round
