Well Balearic

This week sees the next instalment of Who's Afraid of the Cosmic Truth, and we've chartered our very own Thompson Tours airliner to fly in the one and only Balearic Mike, direct from the far off land of the Republic of Mancunia especially for the occasion.

Balearic Mike is a true unsung hero - and self-styled Funky Jesus - of British dance music. Forget about the latest trends and current fads, Mike has been a revelatory figure in all that is left field for years gone by, having manned the helm at the institutional Vinyl Exchange in Manchester since the year dot.

A doubtless obsessive, he's literally spent decades extolling the virtues of anything from forgotten library LP cuts to Bonnie Tyler b-sides to the customers of the shop – a list that would read like a who's who of pretty much anyone who at some point had a hand in making Manchester Britain's most musically influential city.

Mike has showcased his brand of off-kilter grooves in many a city, but it's his mix CDs that have gained Mike recognition of the musical cogniscenti across the globe. The Cosmic Alphonsus series bare the fruits of his ear for the oddball, and years of collecting, digging and Djing. Plus he has long hair and a beard, and we all know how much counts for in disco!

With these credentials under his belt, last year Mike went on to appear on Tim Sweeney's Beats In Space radio show, and along side another Cosmic Truth Mancunian favourite, Moonboots, compiled the Originals Volume One for the fantastic Claremont 56 label.

If you haven't done already, you should also check out the mixes from Glasgow in the previous post.

A true fanatic, Mike's sets touch upon blissful sunshine music, mad Italian jams that sound like Eno-era Talking Heads, and rare as rocking horse shot numbers that sounds like a collision between 10CC and New Order, at a party somewhere on the White Isle.

Now that's Balearic!