- We've got Majorca and Magaluf catering to Brits abroad who want to take it low-grade, and Ibiza for those looking for a more credible but very full-on experience, but we're left somewhat short for a slightly more chilled package holiday where the music is, you know, good. Enter Barrakud Corfu, an offshoot of the Croatian festival of the same name, which sets up a series of parties in clubs, beaches and pool bars dotted about the Greek island. With only 500 people and a lineup that punched well above its weight, it looked set to fill a niche that needed filling.
The club I attended on the first night was small, with a colourful, tropically decked bar area outside—a fairly typical Mediterranean club. What was surprising was the quality of the DJs: Ben UFO and Jackmaster playing a back-to-back set. Over a charging four-four bedrock, they sprinkled acid lines, bleepy synths and abstract vocals, with the odd weirder track thrown in. The pair seemed to be balancing their open-minded approach with the obvious need the crowd had for more immediate house and techno.
The following evening, in a similar club nearer to the apartments, Tom Trago played a varied and drum-focused set that led the crowd through accentuated highs and lows. Later in the festival, I saw Tom Demac play at a bar with possibly the best view I've ever seen at a party. A Roman amphitheatre, the bay and the verdant hills spread out in a panorama far below the terrace. Demac's live set, played from Ableton Live with a Push controller and Memory Man guitar pedal, was more driving than you'd have expected from his productions, though 303 lines, 808 rimshots, toms and cowbells, as well as a substantial re-work of "Critical Distance Part 2," gave more of a clue as to the man at the controls.
That evening, I was back in the club for Benoit & Sergio's live set. With Sergio on the mic, the duo ran through their propulsive, bouncy pop-house repertoire, finishing with "Walk And Talk" in the encore. After an early night for some mid-festival recuperation, I travelled by boat under the hot Ionian sun to a beach where Pillowtalk were playing. Their smooth, housey brand of vocal soul was a good follow-up from the previous night, though the same can't be said of the warm-up acts, who played more full-on tech house. It was a shame, as a full afternoon of more chilled-out music on the beach would have been nice, and the drop in energy led to a good portion of the crowd leaving near the beginning of Pillowtalk's set. The venue that night, 54 Dreamy Night, is the main club on the island, with one big room and a cool, minimalistic interior. It was a fine place for Oliver Koletzki's set, an accessible and driving mix helped along by big tracks like DJ Koze's remix of Moderat's "Bad Kingdom," Âme's "Rej" and Dense & Pika's "Colt."
The next day was the clear highlight of the festival. In a terrace set into a cliff face, with steps leading down to a beautiful, natural aquamarine pool, Lucy proceeded to roll out a storming techno set. I expected it to hinge more around the dubby atmospherics of Stroboscopic Artifacts, but in fact it was rather upfront, full of strong rhythmic tracks like Ben Klock's remix of Josh Wink's "Are You There?" and eventually going melodic with Ricardo Villalobos' "Dexter" at the end. It rounded off an extended weekend that was more a series of events than a traditional festival. Some of those events were at truly great locations. Not all the venues were as special as the cliff or the pool terrace (and it would have been nice to dance under the stars at some point), but it was Barrakud Corfu's first year, and the organizers plan to refine and slightly expand the festival next year. If that happens, it could become one of the most idyllic festivals in Europe.