Alfredo Original Sound of Ibiza

There are some odd reviews of this, even the 5 Star ones.This is an historical review of what Alfredo played in Amnesia up to the end of the 80s, when the UK invasion got underway. It is not meant to be a history of Ibiza club music or a primer on house music classics, although there are some here. The eclectic track mix on CD1 is explained by Alfredo in the booklet notes. He picked up records from wherever he could get them Spain, UK, Italy, US, South America, wherever, and matched these to his equally diverse audience for long hours at a time. There's enough on the mythology of Amnesia, Ku, Pacha, Es Paradis and the rest on the web to put all of this music in context. I just enjoyed it. And great to hear early 70s classics on CD1 like Funk Inc's 'Give Me Your Love' and Timmy Thomas' 'Why Can't We Live Together?' [rather than the Ben Liebrand remix from much later]. Another standout for me was James Brown's unJames Brown-like 'How Do You Stop?' CD2 is overwhelmingly classic house, mostly Chicago, some UK, with a couple of Ibiza/Euro sounds from Liaisons Dangereuses and George Kranz. The final track may be the best of all - Richie Havens' take on Lamont Dozier's 'Going Back To My Roots'.Like some other Alfredo compilations, its from crackly vinyl and that's fine; it's sounds more 'real'.I'm in my late 50s and I didn't get to Ibiza until 2010, so I'm using the music to build my knowledge of what happened there and then and I'm loving it all. From the late 70s to the late 90s I listened to club music everywhere from my hometown in Glasgow, to Europe, America, Hong Kong, Goa, but the nearest I got to Ibiza was Mallorca, in 1989. I knew the music was changing when I found myself in a daytime club in Gouvia in Corfu in 1988 dancing to a long U2 remix and not wondering why. DJ Alfredo was part of all of that even though I didn't know it. I'm making up for it now. Highly recommended.

Alfredo is the man that created Ibiza as a party island. Back before most people going there today were born Alfredo begun mixing tracks together and creating a special atmosphere for people to party to. He took the elements of Chicago house and European electronica to create the Balearic beat. The sleeve notes will give you the full, concise story and is well worth a read.The CD itself is wonderful. The 1st mix is unusual. But as explained by Alfredo in the sleevenotes back then there was no such things house. So he had to experiment with anything he could lay his hands on. Pop, Soul, Ragga, Film themes, the lot. It was his way of creating that special atmosphere. On here you have 'Shout' by Tears for Fears, 'Ain't Nobody' by Rufus & Chaka Khan, 'Keep on Movin' by Soul 2 Soul. Massive, seminal pop hits in their day and Alfredo explains that at the time, without house, these were literally the biggest hits in the world at the time. There are also some beautiful, more eclectic tracks like 'City Lights' by William Pitt which is so atmospheric and now one of my most favourite songs ever!! There is also some beautiful stuff from 'Art of Noise' who were more known for hard, edgy techno pop.It's a real mish-mash because it had to be as that was what Alfredo had at his disposal. To make CD 1 work you have to take yourself back to the early days of Ibiza. The days of free parties with small, intimate crowds. It was a magical and almost innocent place then.CD 2 is more upfront and is truly the original sound of House music. Every track is a classic. They have stood the test of time and were the real tracks being launched and played at Ibiza, before they were eventually played around the world. This is more of what you would expect from an Ibiza CD. Absolutle seminal house tracks exquisitly mixed and crafted together in Alfredo's style. Alot of these tracks I have on other CD's but it is still worth getting to hear this mix.For me, it's CD 1 that I find so brilliant on this compilation and all house fans should get it just for the history lesson it brings.

Brilliant CD mixed by the legend himself. Shame some of the tracks had extensive crackles and pops. I know some people think this sounds authentic but personally being a 12" dance single collector I can only conclude the records he used must have been in very poor condition... If the crackles are sound effects then it's way over done. Great compilation though and superbly mixed.

Alfredo the creator buy it

Some classic tunes

This is the original sound played at Amnesia in the late 80's by the magic Alfredo. A must to have it in your balearic collection!

cd 1 is the best collection of "lounge" music. 10 stars. cd 2 music of the club, 4 stars.

really good mix CD