Cream Ibiza Sunrise is a bit of a deep cut and maybe only marginally noteworthy (more on that later) but holds a funny, sentimental place for me. Starting in 2013, I left home and backpacked for the better part of two years, taking photos of my travels and writing a blog about my adventures. Especially in the first year, I would periodically sit in a cafe with my laptop, editing photos, writing, and listening to music. I usually listened to that week's Group Therapy Radio, but also this album, which I somehow discovered during that time.

This (mixed) Anjunabeats compilation was made for Mixmag in 2011 and came out about a month after Group Therapy (the album) was released. Sitting at 75 minutes long, it fits nicely on a CD, which was probably not an accident. It has a few big tracks, but a lot from the back catalog too. The club mix of Sun & Moon appears here, probably for the first time (or one of the first times) ever, since the album had come out only a month before. In classic Above & Beyond fashion, the track appears at roughly the three-quarters mark, which would become the tried-and-true formula for their live shows too. On this album though, I think Sun & Moon is eclipsed (see what I did there?) by "Rebound" (by Arty & Mat Zo), appropriately played at the very end.

Even if you're an Anjuna fan, you've probably never heard of most of these tracks. Still, it's a fun listen as a time capsule: it captures a very specific Anjunabeats sound from the days before Group Therapy. It's not better or worse than the music of the last decade, just different. For me, listening to this album brings back memories of sipping a coffee and pecking away on a clunky Dell laptop somewhere in Southeast Asia.

1. Hybrid - Original Sin (Myon & Shane 54 Orchipella)

Original post: https://soundcloud.com/mixmag-1/anjunabeats-cream-ibiza-sunrise