Eskimo Recordings: “Cosmic Balearic Beats Vol.3”, curated by Antenna - Compilation Review

For more than two decades, Eskimo Recordingshas filled a distinctive void in electronic music: a label less interested in strict genre boundaries than in the spaces where disco, house, psychedelia, electronica and balearic atmospheres overlap. Founded in Belgium at the turn of the millennium, Eskimo was destined to become one of the early platforms for the cosmic and leftfield disco movement, releasing music that helped map the genre’s evolution from cult underground allure into a defining strand of the 21st-century club culture. The “Cosmic Balearic Beats” compilations, in particular, captured a moment when the dancefloor was looking beyond the beats, embracing melody, atmosphere, analog warmth and a feeling of escapism.

Some seventeen years after its second installment, the series surprisingly returns with a third chapter, and the time that has passed is arguably part of the story. My initial hesitation quickly evaporated when I pressed play and realized that Volume 3 does not attempt to recreate the atmosphere and the sound of the mid-2000s. Instead, it carries the label’s heavy legacy, takes notes, and filters its aesthetic through a contemporary lens, resulting in 18 tracks that share very high-quality attributes with the past.

The person entrusted with navigating this demanding journey is Russian producer Antenna, whose own work has firmly inhabited the intersection of retro-futurism and electronic psychedelia. The compilation’s cinematic scope is established immediately with Atella’s transition and its expanding textures. Scandinavia naturally holds a significant part of Eskimo’s auditory DNA and the Nordic contribution here is strong. Cavego and Made In Sane move from hypnotic grooves to layers of vintage electronic colours and floating melodies. Completing the journey to the north, master Kasper Bjørke's reworking of Aili’s “Fashion” purifies the original into a refined piece.

Kraak & Smaak drift through icy piano lines; Max Essa explores a more space-funk territory, and Satin Jackets delivers his trademark sophisticated sound. Elsewhere, the compilation becomes increasingly psychedelic with Transistorcake’s intriguing space between forgotten rituals and modern sonic architecture. The Oddness injects some playful dub influences into the mix, and Rigopolar (I am obsessed with his synth lines) gives an emotionally charged, hypnotic, and darker remix of “Birdcase” by You Man.

What makes Cosmic Balearic Beats Vol.3 outstanding is the fact that it doesn’t behave like a museum piece; it acknowledges the music that came before without being trapped by it. On that note, the vast majority of the compilation can be listened to as a tribute to the genius pioneer Vangelis; it is almost uncanny. Traces of the greats, such as Kraftwerk, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Arthur Russell, Ashra, with a subtle flair of Italo Disco float as a constant reminder of how long we’ve come.

In an era when electronic music is increasingly fragmented into micro genres and algorithmically defined niche markets, “Cosmic Balearic Beats Vol.3” feels refreshingly open-ended. Antenna’s curation brought together music that doesn’t necessarily sound the same, but belongs together emotionally. At the end of the day and seventeen years in, the recipe and the message remain simple: you can’t beat quality.

Antenna.

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