This is a question that comes up time and again, and the various answers rarely satisfy the enquirer. For me, you really only get the answer when listening to a DJ set for 90 minutes, and then someone saying "THAT is balearic music" - it's a combination of tracks rather than one in particular, though to confuse the issue there are certain tracks that have a "balearic sound" to them. Balearic is mixing up genres that shouldn't go together well at all - it's going against your DJ instincts, unlearning the sensibilities of music categorisation. Balearic is throwing out the notion of music categorisation altogether. Balearic is the moment you hear a Johnny Hates Jazz b-side mix in over some uber-hip underground electronica and it somehow works. it's not even being deliberately "anti-cool" - it's simply expanding your potential playlist to almost any genre you can think of.

Andrew Lang (abaleariclist.com)