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Not heard the new one yet, but all of the press made me want to revisit these. Rain Dogs is the beginning of the noisy Waits, Small Change from his first period of boho Bukowski-esque booze music. Both great.

A kind of halfway house between the Orb's dubbier excursions and the tougher end of the Basic Channel take on dub techno. I once sold them drugs in Tokyo's insane after-hours club Maniac Love , but that's another story...

An odd LP this, more something to admire the attention to detail of than actually be engaged by, a bit of a museum piece. The Richard D James LP is, along with Selected Ambient Works 85-92, one of the Aphex Twin LPs that I return to most regularly. ' Fingerbib ' shows that, despite this record being credited with inventing drill' n bass, what many people tend to overlook is how good he is at writing beautiful melodies. Rephlex .com

Inspired by the lovely singles box set , I've been on a Clash binge. This is obviously wonderful, and there are a couple of great clips on YouTube from an American TV show, Fridays. Clash on Fridays, part 1 Clash on Fridays, part 2 The Clash - Sandanista! The Clash - Capital Crisis Lee Scratch Perry - Arkology

This has really grown on me. Sits in a nice place between techno and electro, with lots of personality. www.bookashade.com Isolee - We Are Monster Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye Pavement - Wowee Zowee

Short and bitter-sweet. The odd mashing together of samples is pleasingly home made. Electronic Eye - Closed Circuit V.A. - Emissions Audio Output: Fresh Emissions Beck - Mellow Gold Autechre - Tri Repetae Banco De Gaia - Last Train To Lhasa

Stereolab are often described as being retro and essentially conservative in character. I'd describe them as retro-futurist. They seem to me to refer to past visions of the future, the alternate reality where pop is the in sound from way out, and Marxist theory is what the kids are really into. They sound how a band would be in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

Stylus has got a couple of Boredoms articles that are quite interesting, but the good stuff is on Youtube: Fuji Rock Festival... I saw this performance and it's just about my favourite gig ever. Stylus also rounds up other Youtube Boredoms vids.

Takes the Detroit techno template and strips out the 4/4 undercarriage, adding a dub sensibility. Very good for late nights and early mornings. V.A. - Blech II Jake Slazenger - Das Ist Ein Groovy Beat, Ja?

British gothic. Lots of detuned analogue synths. Boards of Canada-esque on a couple of occasions, and a few genuinely eerie songs. The packaging is beautifully designed by label owner Julian House, who has designed sleeves for Stereolab and Broadcast, to look like '70s textbooks. Lots of free mp3s at the Ghost Box website.

With a bit of time now elapsed since this was released, it seems to be that this is a great addition to the cannon. I think that you could argue that this is of a piece with Trans Europe Express, in that it's not the songs so much as the mood of the whole which is more important. Official website Funny Guardian article about trying to track down the band

Dumb but dancey, and surprisingly palleteable use of saxophone.

I've recently taken advantage of an introductory offer at emusic.com to dowload a ton of new music that I'm slowly working my way through. This is an LP I've meant to get hold of for ages, having read very complimentary things about it on Boomkat among other places. It's not an immediate listen, and I think I'll have to put time in to enjoy it. I like it's expansiveness and non-repetitive beats, but struggle with the lack of melodies the postman can whistle.

Relaxed morning listening for a banging headache. !!! - Louden Up Now Velocette - Sonorities by Starlight Amon Tobin - Solid Steel Presents Amon Tobin:Recorded Live Burial - Burial

The Beta Band were a band I knew that I should like, but in the end completely passed me by, probably because I was still listening to nothing but techno. In retrospect this is pretty nice, and I'd definitely like to give King Biscuit Time a listen. The Knife - Deep Cuts The Advisory Circle - Mind How You Go

A worthy sequel to my favourite Richard H Kirk LP. I skanked around the flat innna fine style to this on Sunday afternoon. Burial - South London Boroughs The Focus Group - Hey Let Lose Your Love Belbury Poly - The Willows Kraftwerk - The Mix. Found the double vinyl in a charity shop. Some regard the rerecording of old songs on this as heresy, but I quite enjoy hearing the songs with a somewhat beefed-up rhythm section, similar to seeing them live these days.

Mad Scandinavian electro drum and bass recommended by my friends in Texas Justin and Jason. Beautiful cover design.

Had a bit of a splurge over the weekend and picked this up, with DVD extras, for a fiver. Much poppier than 'Silent Shout' but they still do that scary pitch-shifted vocal thing. 'Heartbeats' is on this, as covered by Jose whatsisface on the Sony ad. Burial - Burial Grooverider - Hardstep Collection vol.2 Bugz in the Attic - Fabric Live

Having said this was poor man's Photek, I now find I absolutely love it. Nothing the postman can whistle here, just heavy atmospherics and skittering beats. Some reviews have commented that this is menacing sound, but I find it quite beautiful.

Dub techno by Richard H Kirk . Simple but very, very effective. Various breaks/techno rhythms with Rasta samples. This is easily my favourite LP of his, over and above all of the Cabaret Voltaire and other solo records. On the most wonderful Soul Jazz records, a virtual guarantee of quality. Nick Drake - Way to Blue VA - 600% Dynamite The Knife - Silent Shout

This is my favourite Photek record I think, and there's some pretty stiff competition. Seems to me that all the hoopla around Burial and dubstep conveniently forgets that Rupert Parkes invented the sound nearly 10 years ago with this EP. Rei Harakami - Red Curb Quirky electronics, with surprisingly calm feel, given that he's an absolute nutty professor live. Boredoms - Rebore vol.0 Eye-remixed version of 'Vision Creation Newsun' with song titles consisting entirely of the number 7. Really tremendous stuff, far out and gone.

This is so good, as good as any techno LP I've got I think. Quite a complicated style, lots of interesting drums and squelchy analogue sounds. I've also got the track he did as part of the soundtrack for the Playstation game 'Rez' which is similar to the opening track here, ' EXTRA ', and just as good. Saw him DJ live at the Liquid Room where he played a mostly electro set, and threw in a bit of 'Tour De France'.

Early R&S album from around '93. Some good moments but not as fully realise as 'Jelly Tones'. Amazing video for 'Extra' here, made by the producer of Akira. Dry & Heavy - From Creation Japanese roots reggae with typical attention to detail. They're an offshoot from Audio Active, who've recorded with Adrian Sherwood and On-U-Sound. The Orb - Orbus Terrarum Gong remixes 12" Jeff Mills - Metropolis DJ Vadim - USSR The Art of Listening

The Boredoms are the best live band I've ever seen. I managed to see them on two occasions at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, in their current three-drummer incarnation. What could be an awful muso/hippy idea is infused with a tremendous punk energy and Eye is a very charismatic front man. Seadrum/House of Sun was recorded with the full band, apparently at the beach on the surf line. Seadrum is very evocative of the sea, with its rolling piano lines, and House of Sun is an extended drone, which reminds of the very hot and humid days in a Japanese summer.

I really liked this at the time, and on revisting it sounds even better. Saw them live at the Concorde in Brighton last summer, and despite some admitted over-indulgence at Sonar and a set almost entirely comprised of new songs, they were great, a bit more muscular than on this record. VA - Jungle Vibes 2 VA - Flux Trax

Summer sounds. All of the 'Dynamite!' series are fantastic. I've seen reviews complain about the grab-bag approach, but I think the mixture of styles is a strength - they're supposed to sound like a radio station or sound system. Strictly Kev - Solid Steel Podcast #23 Rhythm & Sound - Rhythm & Sound

Full Cycle compilation of Bristol Drum & Bass. One of my favorite LPs, 'Music Box' and 'Breakbeat Era' are just fantastic. This is my preferred period of Jungle/D&B. I like all of the Suburban Base jump-up/ragga type stuff, and the Moving Shadow tunes of the same era but loved the jazzier feel of this. Tappa Zukie - In Dub Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown

More something to admire than something that really engages me, but perhaps I haven't listened to it enough. The 'there'll be another one along in a couple of minutes' approach is great but means I haven't got my head around quite a lot of the songs. Listening to this you get a sense that guitar pop hasn't moved on at all since 1977. New Fast Automatic Daffodils - Pigeonhole Money Mark - Mark's Keyboard Repair Aphex Twin - Girl/Boy Song

Bit on the trancey side, but surprisingly palatable. 'Turbo Dreams' is very good. Sabres of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall VA - Ping Pong Soundtrack

An electro/minimal mix from Weatherall. I particularly like the second half where things glide along smoothly. Highlights are Miwon's 'Brother Mole' and a cover of 'Atmosphere' by Technova.

Interesting mixtape, with guest spots from Method Man and Doom. Not much of a build or progression, more a scattershot mix of tunes with skits and weird samples. VA - Headz vol.2

Bit of a guilty pleasure, this one. Their seventies output stands comparison with the Stones, I think. This is one of their lesser LPs but there are still four or five cracking songs on it. Awful punning title and cover, though. Jon Carter - Live at the Social vol.2 Grateful Dead - Live Without a Net Kitchens of Distinction - Drive That Fast DJ Krush - Mieso Orb - Toxygene Hardfloor - Home Run

Not quite as good as people say, but you can't knock 'Miss You' and 'Before They Make Me Run'. Gil Scott Heron - Free Will V.A. - Pulp Fusion. Grooverider - Prototype Years

Caught the BBC documentary about him again, and so dug this out. Absolutely amazing guy, he'd written two novels by the age of 21. I love the bittersweet feel of the more downtempo songs like'Winter in America' - the double-tracked vocals are beautiful, and the lyrics very sharp. Sad to read that he's been arrested yet again and looks like doing another long strech in prison. Eighties footage of 'Washington DC' on You Tube.

This seemed overly simple on first listen. The acoustic guitar, new to this record, appeared to be too high in the mix and playing very basic melodies. A few months down the line and this is coming closer to being my favourite BOC LP. The production has such depth and warmth. Maybe it's just because the summer seems to have arrived in full effect.

Another old favourite. If this doesn't rock your house party, your guests are dead. Mixing is straightfoward, but there's a relentless stream of breakbeat monsters that can't be beat.

Is there any less fashionable music these days than deep house? This LP is 10 years old and the soundtrack to my hedonistic mid-20s. Still love it.

'Fishscale' is apparently slang for unprocessed cocaine, which might explain why a good 90% of the content is about kilos ('made up of 1000 grams, easy to remember' - a valuable lesson, kids) of coke. Production, without the RZA this time I think, is ace, the vintage soul contrasting well with the gritty content.

Black Dog had a completely distinctive sound, and I think they were better than most of their more feted contemporaries. I like the Egypt/UFO think they had going on with this LP. Spanners, Bytes, Temple of Transparent Balls and Parallel are all wonderful. VA - Tropicalia: A Brazilain Revolution in Sound

A Solid Steel podcast. Some of the mixing seems surprisingly off, possibly as this is a genuine live mix, but there are still some great bits. The brass band version of 'The 900 Number' rocks.

My favourite period of the oldest teenagers in town's massive output is the Daydream Nation/Goo/Dirty era. This is quite similar in feel, reining in some of the more expansive tendencies. It sounds great. Solid Steel Presents Mr Scruff - Keep It Solid Steel DFA Compilation #2

When people describe the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol as having an 'epic' sound, what they're really describing is simple, bombastic music that lots of people can bellow along to in a stadium. Whereas this is epic. Complicated arrangements of tunes with interesting changes but strong melodies that build and soar. Amon Tobin - Supermodified

This is growing on me. I first thought that the rest of the LP paled terribly in comparison to the mighty 'Over and Over' (with an equally good video ), but I'm now warming to the quieter parts. 'The Warning' has the funniest chorus I've heard for a while: 'Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head, Hot Chip will put you down, under the ground'. Love the snap .

A early nineties Warp-styled smooth techno LP that I bought in the most opulent record shop I've ever been in, DMR in Shibuya, Tokyo. I bought it on the strength of a staff recomendation and the beautiful cover. DFA Compilation #1 Grooverider - FabricLive 06

I feared on first listen to the opening seconds of arpeggiated synths that this was going to be some kind of arch '80s parody, but I was utterly wrong. This is brilliant. The combination of the highly-processed vocals with the happy accidents of pronunciation and vocabulary that happen when writing in a foreign language make this sound completely otherworldly, which the, ahem, glacial production complements. David Bowie - Young Americans

Odd how much the first couple of tracks on this sound like Stevie Wonder! Not so much punk with the funk.

First time I've listened to this. In theory I think I like this 'new weird folk' business, but this didn't grab me too much. The pared-down Sung Tongs , and the live show without full band are more my cup of tea. David Bowie - Low Following my second hand purchases at the weekend. 'Sound + Vision' seems to set off some kind of synaesthesia for me, just an amazing arrangement.

Early Herbert album, pre concepts and more straightforward house than more recent efforts. Good sleeve notes: 'Optional extras - half a pound of butter, bushy eyebrows, a south facing garden'. I saw the Herbert with the Big Band live and they were brilliant. The brassy big band sound is powerful and propulsive, and the stage 'show' entertaining (sampling coffee cup and newspapers). I wonder if a challenger tank and Nigella Lawson meal feature in the show at the moment?

Bought the pair of these on LP today for the princely sum of £7. It was the first properly hot day of summer in Brighton today and Young Americans sounded spot on. Also listened to Boards of Canada - Trans Canada Highway EP. I like Dayvan Cowboy, and think that The Campfire Headphase has received unjustly poor reviews. The criticism seems to be that this is just 'more of the same' but with such an original, distinctive and downright lovely sound I'd be happy if they never changed. Not quite got to grips with this yet, but the accompanying DVD is great - guy skydives from 62 miles up, then surfs to shore. Omni Trio - Haunted Science. Breezy summer listening.