It is summer time in Nang land which means the dials are being set to Balearic. Step forward our all-around good chap, friend and producer buddy Pete Herbert. He has teamed up with Bali based musician and keyboard player Martin Denev to deliver an album of the finest Bali-inspired Balearic House. Hot and balmy evenings here we come. Recorded on the tropical island of Bali, the album swings from Balearic grooves, to sun-filled terrace house, seaside electronic and swimming-pool funk. We open up with "Batu Karang", summery key stabs, lazy drum machine set the album tone hot, low-slung and swimming in positivity. Things take a more electronic turn with "Time" with its twisting synth-lines and locked on sun-drenched groove. House music royalty Robert Owens swings by the cabana for a very special guest vocal appearance on "Pass Me By" next. His smooth and powerful soulful vocal compliment the pool terrace house grooves and sneaky thumb piano. As ever, Robert does not disappoint. To close off Side A the title track "Made In The Shade" gives us a slice of Nu Disco summer swing with funky strat and more cowbell of course in for good measure. More

More Berlin, less Monacco. That's the ethos of the new Max Essa project, Jan Ken Po: Less sun, less sea, yachts and money; more twilight hour, basement clubs, up-tempo rhythms and dance floor politics. Hailing from the UK but currently residing in Japan, Max Essa's aptly name Jan Ken Po side-project is a welcome new addition to Essa's quiver of music and sounds. The primarily instrumental cuts focus on clean house-centric lines, irresistible deep-rooted grooves and Essa' flair at capturing that special something. 'NYC Set Me Free' kicks off the record in fine style; all tight cowbell rhythms and piano riffs over a walking bass synths and a catchy lead. Title track 'Unlimited Man' follows, with it's icy cool persona and infectious double-clap rhythm holding together the call-and-response keys. 'Civilised Gangbang' goes in swinging, bouncing groove and rising synths aplenty. 'Palm Beach boy Trees' brings the tempo down a notch and introduces the first sniff of a human voice with the vocoded phrase 'beach boys' looped over crunching synths and other sublime artifacts. An 80's phaser bass is actioned to perfection in 'Horny Diplomat,' followed neatly by the synth rock-disco / xylophone throwdowns of 'First Touch.' 'Metropolitan Scene' oozes class and restraint, and could be the backing track to a 80's vocal house classic. Finishing things off 'Rhapsody in Leather' allows Essa's trusty rhythm guitar to lead the limelight with some super-lean riffage. Essa's touched a new base with this record, and we're happy to be finally sharing it with you. More

Following on from our ludicrous but well-received Sci-Fi covers album ‘From The Stars Volume 1’ in 2010 we thought it was time for a sequel. Cue the hyper-driven ‘From The Stars Volume 2’, an album full of disco and synthy-themed cover versions from obscure and not-so-obscure Science Fiction. We must be out of our interstellar minds. Last time around we went for a fleet of John Carpenter covers on a vinyl EP to promote the mother-ship CD. This time around we thought we would pick a track and go down the remix route. Engage launch and remix control and deploy 'Shooting Star'. Actually the track is a fine slice of 1978 analog burble from the popular Italian RAI cartoon 'Goldrake' (or sometimes called 'Atlas UFO Robot'). The original made it onto vinyl and has been rarity and much bootlegged item ever since. Set time-dials to 2011 and engage. Here we have two slick, Italian producers 'Bottin and Rodion', they both may have (professionally) lost their first name, but they sure both make up for that with their Italian style and extra analog-burbleness. Their original vocoder nugget and dub both feature on the vinyl. For remix action we teleport over to Argentina where 'Toomy Disco' (a pretty spacey name already) delivers us some remix action. Slick grooves, flowing bass guitar and more shine than a sparkly new Saturn 5. Unless an intergalactic born space-plague fuses our brains back to reality, expect more cosmic lunacy in 2012. Get your submissions in now producers. More