7 tracks that turned Love International into pure bliss on the Croatian coast

It's not uncommon that the end of a festival draws a certain relief: missed sleep can be caught up on, the liver given time to recover, and legs pained from dancing and walking are finally rested. Not so with Croatia's Love International Festival which, within just two editions, has attained a vibe unparalleled in the festival calendar. The sheer friendliness and exuberance displayed by the audience here have a restorative quality for the soul, one that, despite tiredness, makes it incredibly difficult to say goodbye. Must we really wait for a whole year to again have a time as good as that?

The spiritual descendent of The Garden Festival which bowed out in 2015, Love International has firmly stamped its own identity on proceedings this year, with organisers identifying key cabals to rope in and host individual boat parties and club sessions. As a result they have drawn both likeminded players and their audiences to form a party crowd that gels together incredibly well. Never at any time do things feel cliquey, as though you're separated or excluded from any of these groups. There are no VIP areas save for the dancefloors where each of the mostly 25 to 45 year olds in attendance are treated as such.

Balearic hippies, bearded gay men, dreadlocked unicorns, romantic married couples, gangs of clubbing best mates and random visitors to the Balkans taking a curious detour from their backpacking are all welcomed into the mix. They are swept up into a glorious, unified throng that's in great superiority to its individual parts.

From the first sounds played on Thursday afternoon to the following Thursday's early hours, the music barely stops. And it's never not good. If that sounds impossible then you'll just have to see it for yourself because, alongside the special audience the festival draws, Love International's big winning ticket is its music and programming.

Balearic dons like Kelvin Andrews, James Holroyd as Begin, Lexx and Balearic Mike hold epic sunrises in the palms of their hands from dawn's earliest light until midday, afternoons ebb and flow in a gradual crescendo to evenings which see three tantalisingly-billed stages vying for your attention. Boat parties, which at the event's peak run at four a day, transport revellers into an instant good time. And that's even before you consider the attraction of Barbarellas, the outdoor club a short coach ride away that's frequently mentioned among the best spaces of its kind in the world. There, the raving takes on an extra special dimension as partygoers transition from darkest, star-filled night to daylight swathed this year in the million reflections emitting from a huge discoball that hangs overhead. Under these lights some of the very best underground house and disco DJs bring their A game. Read on for the seven biggest moments of the festival...

Gerd Janson, the final Warm boat party, Thursday

Easing into the festival, Mixmag forgoes most of the opening afternoon's session, but we do catch the tail end of a Balearic disco throwdown in the Olive Grove where the superbly matched Phil Mison, Sean P, Lexx and Mud play from midday to 7pm and instantly wish we'd arrived sooner. (We make up for it after departing the evening's boat by enjoying a varied set of deeper, tracky moments and joyful vocals provided by New Jersey maestro Tony Humphries on the main stage.)

Aboard the evening's boat, Warm residents Myles Mears and Ali Tillett wave a final goodbye to their party with an enthusiastic display of new house and old disco, and as their special guest is Gerd Janson it's quite a send off. Gerd wends his way through some calmer moments like Alma & Mater's 'Slippy' and a Balearic disco mix of Underworld's 'Born Slippy', then goes on to raise the roof by reviving the Patrice Rushden-sampling 'I Feel Good Things For You' by Daddy's Favourite. If played in a club this may have raised a few eyebrows but aboard this boat, with a further week of sunshine, smiles and great music ahead of the excited crowd, it's a euphoric moment.

Though less familiar to Mixmag, the groove that stood out was this 1979 effort by enduring British disco/soul band Hot Chocolate, abiding proof that the vocals of lead songwriter Errol Brown will live on despite his sad passing two years previously.

Throughout the journey Mixmag's attention is persistently drawn back to Gerd Janson's thick, multi coloured, above ankle socks which look more suitable for climbing the Alps than cruising the Adriatic. You sexy thing.

Palms Trax, Beach stage, Friday night

With so much music on offer at Love International it's worth accepting early that you're not going to catch everything and choose instead to just go with the flow. Friday lunchtime is spent exploring nearby Tisno, a small but beautiful Mediterranean town sat between the waterside and a small hill atop which three small churches sit. The largest chimes its bells every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. Blessed are the festival goers residing within earshot.

Mixmag's spontaneous decision to return to the festival site in the early evening, the sun still blazing down on sunbathers by the beach, ensures that we witness one of the most magical sights of the week.

Texas three piece Khruangbin appear from nowhere on a beach side jetty, armed with drums, guitar and bass instrumentals that combine to sound like a 1960s Ennio Morricone soundtracking a contemplative Korean movie full of epic, wide screen landscapes. Their set coincides with the return of a boat party and as a result they draw a huge audience who are transfixed by the unique performance. They pull a cover of Yellow Magic Orchestra's quirky 'Firecracker' out of the bag and it is simply marvellous. Unforgettable.

Later that evening Axel Boman provides a more linear, dancefloor-orientated and heavily electronic set that's in contrast to his more wayward but great material recently produced with John Talabot. Leon Vynehall draws a substantial audience on the main stage but towards the end of the set we feel a bit frustrated by the selections. Rave-influenced house leads Vynehall into drum n' bass, which falls like a lead balloon. The situation is quickly rectified but again he drops a radical tempo change, this time down a gear and Palms Trax's beach stage set sounds more inviting. Every tune played by the young UK artist is a winner which makes his sometimes similarly random approach to programming all the more liveable. The highlight is this 1978 Don Ray classic, co-produced by Cerrone obviously in the aftermath of Donna Summer's game-changing 'I Feel Love' which was released the year earlier.

Andy Hart, Beach stage, Saturday evening

One of the great things about Love International is that you pretty quickly begin to trust the musical nous of the organisers, especially when chancing a set by someone you're not too familiar with. Several such contributors catch Mixmag's eye during the week including Manchester-based Glowing Palms whose jacking, beanpole frame accompanies Ruf Dug on both the beach stage and the Ruf Kutz boat party.

Another is Honey Soundsystem who, despite their acclaimed international reputation and recent Lab SF appearance, this Mixmag writer has never heard in the flesh previously. They lay down a great set of deep and driving underground house in the Olive Groove on Saturday, accompanied by the similarly enjoyable Gideön, of Block9 fame. In their American sound and strict adherence to the house genre Honey Soundsystem manage to stand out from many others who willingly cross genres.

Yet another new introduction is Melbourne DJ Andy Hart. Mixmag's ears prick up when he drops this recent, uncompromising, heads down remix.

Young Marco, Beach stage, Saturday night

Yikes, the conflicts of interest are near overwhelming on Saturday. At the same time as Honey Soundsystem are playing, Heidi is dropping a pacey main stage set that rewards with Armand Van Helden's remix of Tori Amos 'Professional Widow', Inner City 'Big Fun' and the King Britt remix of Josh One's 'Contemplation' towards the end.

Multiple distractions have the upside of making Mixmag miss the cringe moment in which audacious Dutch selector Young Marco drops 'Forever Young', but the crowd sticks with him and Mixmag joins them just in time to hear this nagging, early 80s cosmic disco classic by compatriot group The Chaplin Band.

There's nothing left for it, caught up in the peak time crescendo, we opt to visit Barbarellas to catch The Black Madonna. She absolutely knocks it out of the park. Her set is not just well selected, energy-packed house with a few disco highlights; it is programmed and delivered in such a way as to remind of the most masterful DJs this writer has ever seen. Incredible. Beautiful Swimmers (main picture) who follow are also impressive, but in comparison they have drawn the short straw. The very best at their peak would struggle to follow that set delivered by The Black Madonna.

Midland, Main Stage, Sunday

Jim Stanton, Horse Meat Disco at Barbarellas, Tuesday

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With Midland's 2016 summer anthem and Mixmag tune of the year 'Final Credits' having only just receded from the mind, his label Regraded has returned with undoubtedly one of 2017's summer anthems and certainly one of the biggest tunes of this year's Love International.

Built around a sample from 'Til You Surrender' by Rainbow Brown, Fonda Rae's sole lead vocal collaboration with disco legend Patrick Adams, Gerd Janson & Shan have built on previous successful joint efforts for Running Back to offer Regraded yet another monster on this unblemished young imprint.

Midland and Job Jobse neglect their allotted main stage times on Sunday and choose to combine for an impromptu set in which Job plays Human League's 'The Things Dreams Are Made Of'. They are clearly having a great time but seem to push each other very much into disco territory with Midland's airing of 'Surrender' - a killer highlight. Simultaneously Prosumer is playing a typically brilliant, vinyl-heavy set of true deep house on the Beach stage while the anniversary celebrating Optimo are killing it in the Olive Grove. Far too much fun for one evening.

The following night, after a brilliant live set by true showmen Crazy P, Midland plays another back-to-back at Barbarellas. This one, with Ryan Elliott, in sharp contrast to his Main stage appearance is deep, techy and quite dark. The crowd erupts when they drop the B.Q.U.I.P Payless Pump Mix of 'Walk 4 Me' by Tronco Traxx. In 2017, before this audience, the track sounds less like the underground gay club hit it was when originally released in 1995 than it does an unabashed everyman anthem for a Utopian, multiple sexuality accepting society. Yes, Love International is a place where such dreams are realised.

Horse Meat Disco boat party and Barbarellas, Tuesday

The disco is strong at this festival, particularly on the boat parties. Everyone returns ecstatic from Sunday afternoon's Futureboogie boat with guests Ron Basejam, Neil Diablo and residents Christophe and Dave Harvey. Of many highlights, Dave's dropping of uplifting 1978 release Tenderness 'Gotta Keep On Trying' (which Joey Negro has re-edited to predictably enormous effect) stands out. Horse Meat Disco's debut original production, a newly released single, is used by the gang as their final track on both their boat party and their all night set at Barbarellas, which Mixmag opts into despite feeling wary of hearing a whole club set of nothing but disco. Our apprehension is completely unfounded and given six hours over which to stretch the music covers enormous ground, as distinct differences between Horse Meat Disco's residents become very apparent.

James Hillard ventures into cosmic disco territory on the boat and offers a completely different deep diggers selection of US vocal disco at the club. Long sections are left in the more than competent hands of Severino, but when Jim Stanton returns to the decks he displays a brilliant enthusiasm for newly released music and veers welcomely into house music. Similarly, Luke Howard's second set, flawlessly mixed and highly distinct, delivers some of the evening's other best musical moments in Sylvester and vintage Chicago favourite 'Peaches and Prunes' by Canadian outfit Nightlife Unlimited. We're left wanting for more.

Jim Stanton, Horse Meat Disco at Barbarellas, Tuesday

Nick The Record, boat party, Wednesday

Though named after the unique multi-genre soundtrack developed in Ibiza by pioneers like Alfredo and Jose Padilla, you'd be hard pushed to now come across many new releases classed as 'Balearic' in the clubs of the White Isle today. Not so at Love International. Though thankfully not so comatose as to be considered 'chill out', there's a certain calmness to sessions which groove along at just the right tempo, either in warm up or in response to the surroundings or falling sun.

A highlight of such moments, aired several times, is this brand new release by Leonidas & Hobbes on Hobbes's own label. Jim Stanton primed the audience with it at Barbarellas before unleashing the aforementioned Gerd Janson & Shan bomb 'Surrender' and on the final day of the festival we hear it again, this time played by longstanding vinyl nut Nick The Record. Nick's reputation as a selector has seen him visit excited Japanese audiences every year for well over a decade, but it's in more recent memory that he's finally becoming acknowledged as a skillful selector and programmer on the European club circuit and festival scene. Not before time. His boat party selections are each expertly timed and wholly accessible, but never obvious. It's a faultless way in which to end a festival of which the same could be said.

Marc Rowlands is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Mixmag