Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy
By: Dream Chimney
The following interview was conducted on September 21, 2025
Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy is known for being an exceptional selector, a talented DJ, and a sound system afficionado who has spent her life dedicated to sound. Whether she’s DJing the world's most cultured clubs and festivals, curating Classic Album Sundays at the Royal Albert Hall, presenting her weekly Balearic Breakfast radio show or remixing The Cure and Róisín Murphy, her love of turning people on to new sounds has no limits. We ask Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy to tell us about her Balearic Breakfast show.
Balearic Breakfast is a weekly radio show I host on Tuesdays from 10am to 12pm UK time on my Mixcloud Live. It began as a request show 5 years ago on Worldwide FM in the midst of the pandemic when we were isolated from one another during various lockdowns. The music was (and still is) open ended, transcendental and groovy and a community immediately evolved around it and is still going strong today. The music ranged from spiritual jazz, folk, city pop, deep house, soul, neo-soul, balearic beats, disco, nu-disco and beyond. I have learnt so much from my listeners and they say they have learnt from me – it’s an equal musical exchange. I may host the shows, but it’s the Balearic Breakfast community that makes it what it is
Colleen has just dropped her Balearic Breakfast compilation.
Heavenly Recordings recently released my Balearic Breakfast Volume 4 vinyl compilation and a CD of both volumes 3 and 4. Each compilation reflects the many styles of the show with a sequence that mirrors the musical arc of the program – starting off mellow, building into peak and concluding with a soft landing. Each comp has a few older tracks which are difficult to find on vinyl along with new releases that have not previously been featured on vinyl.
Balearic Breakfast opens with a song I have been trying to license for years – ‘Kandeen Love Song’ by Paz – an album I discovered while record shopping in Japan because I loved the cover. It also features another eternal funky-hippy-rock tune ‘Akaliko’ by Paqua from my friend Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy’s label Claremont 56. And the latest comp also has new tunes like Ilya Santana’s ‘Cosmovision’ and two Cosmodelica remixes of mine that did not come out on vinyl – my remixes of Saint Etienne’s ‘Alone Together’ and Bryony Jarman-Pinto’s ‘Moving Forward’.
We asked Colleen to talk to us about some tracks that encapsulate that Balearic feeling...
Here is a selection of my quintessential Balearic tracks – some that have been featured over the 4 volumes and a couple of others that I adore.
Joan Bibiloni 'Sa Fosca'
It only seems fair to start with an artist who is from the Balearics! This is one of the classic Balearic songs and I've even played a cheeky dancefloor rework of this, as well. Joan Bibiloni is a guitarist from Mallorca who has released loads of solo albums but also worked with some of the greats like John Cage, Jon Anderson, Larry Coryell and even Celia Cruz! This song reminds me a bit of Ryuichi Sakamoto's work. It originally came out on Bibiloni's 1989 LP ‘Born' and was also recently featured on a retrospective put together by the great Dutch label Music From Memory.
Morenas ‘Hazme Sonar’ (Ambient Remix by Peter Vriends)
A lovely slice of Italo-house given a spacey, Sueno Latino like intro and released when it was all kicking off in 1989. I found this at the old Discorama record shop in New York’s Greenwich Village over 3 decades ago when I was perusing the bins in the basement. I liked the cover and the name, put it on the turntable and fell in love. I can’t even count how many times I have played this but when I was given a chance to do a Balearic compilation I knew it had to go on. And then when I looked on Discogs to see how much the original went for I was blown away as I think I only paid a couple of dollar for it!
Residentes Balearicos ‘Juno’s Dream’ (Gold Suite Remix)
You can’t get more Balearic than Residentes Balearicos on the Balearic Ultras’ record label Higher Love that’s for sure! This was sent to me as a promo before it came out and I immediately fell in love with its combo of sunrise strings and chugging rhythm. When I hear this song, I can picture myself driving along the White Isle with all of the windows down and the volume at 11.
Dølle Jølle ‘Balearic Incarnation’ (Todd Terje's Extra Døll Mix)
Todd Terje got his start by doing re-edits and whenever I went over to Oslo to DJ, he would show up with CD’s worth of his edits which were produced so well I wasn’t surprised when he took off as a producer. He gets a great sound. On this one he reworks French violinist Jean Luc-Ponty’s ‘Computer Incantations for World Peace’ (we need this song more than ever right now) and Terje gives it a groove for the discerning dance floor.
Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra ‘San Diego’ (Tour Werks After Hours Mix)
This was an immediate favourite of mine when I got it on Aficionado Recordings just over a decade ago. Shawn Lee is an immense talent - he is one half of Young Gun, Silver Fox and was the musical director for Asha Puthli on her last tour and you can see his name on credits popping up all over the place. My friend and the Jose Padilla protégé Phil Mison of Cantoma is on the remix duty and he delivers a sonically superb head-bopper.
Quintus Project ‘Night Flight’ (Original Version)
A mid-80’s German obscurity that is a favourite with the diggers (Psychemagik and Lexx have done some great edits). Its by the late Walter Quintus who was a violinist, bassist, composer and producer and he was in the band Beazzic Conservatory during the Krautrock era, a musical movement that is very dear to my heart. This original version of ‘Night Flight’ nods toward that era along with a smooth jazz and light funk twist.
Tar Blanche ‘Iguana’
This song was a request for the show and it felt very Balearic in a languid Café del Mar kind of way. It is by Tar Blanche who is a solo artist based in London and who releases their own tunes digitally via Bandcamp. Its very difficult for new artists to release vinyl because of the manufacturing and designs costs and so with my compilation series, I try to give up-and-coming artists an opportunity to have their song on vinyl.
Paz ‘Kandeen Love Song’
A beautiful spiritual jazz odyssey by an obscure British jazz group called Paz. I found this record in Japan and was taken in by the peaceful album cover which has what appears to be bodhisattva. I drew me in as I have studied and practiced Buddhism on and off from 1989 when I lived in Japan as a radio DJ for a few months. The whole album is great but this 13 minute song is an exquisite journey all unto itself.
Ahmed Fakroun ‘Ya Farhi Beek’
A friend gave me this record which was released on radio broadcaster Charlie Bones’ label Do You Records in 2020 and I immediately fell in love with it (in fact I tried to license it for Balearic Breakfast 4 to no avail). Fakroun is from Libya and has been releasing records since the mid-80’s and is considered a pioneer of modern Arabic music. Everytime I play this song at least one person asks about it. Its simply gorgeous.
Vasca Rossi ‘Una Splendida Giornata’ (Extended Version)
A classic Italian funky/rock/pop tune that reminds me of my late friend Giancarlo Bianchi who sadly passed to the next realm a year ago this month. It reminds me of the summer Last Note Loft parties we hosted together in Italy and our extended Italian family. The music and melody encapsulate the sentiment.
Check out the latest release from Colleen Cosmo Murphy.