Mira Calix: Eyes set   against the sun (Warp) - CD
I try to find value in the obtuse, deeply earthy, organic creations of Mira's latest album. But it's all a bit too arty for my liking. Some of the more melodic orchestral passages trigger memories of soundtracks to Kitano movies. But it's the child-like, bric-a-brac approach to composition that really got on my tits after the second listen.

Anders Ilar: Ludwijka Extended Visit (Shitkatapult) - CD
It's been a while sinced I praised some straight-up electronic music (previously referred to as IDM so regular people were kept at a distance, then changed to Electronica to please the Guardian-reading folk). But veteran Berlin peddlers Shitkatapult have come up trumps with this searing selection of filmic noir techno from Sweden's Anders Ilar. All eerie chords, big dollops of morphing bass and clattering rhythms that simply refuse to sit still. Result!

Harmonic 33: Music for television, film and radio Vol.1 (Warp) - CD
When this first arrived, it seemed totally unappealing. A collection of musical snippets dressed up as soundtrack / library music: functional, incidental, non-diegetic. A style that never really appealed to me. But wear it in a few times and as an album it totally works, certainly in the context of wallpaper or background music.

Various Artists: Hypersex.Code 1 (Disco Inc) - CD
It was through their innovative 'Clicks and Cuts' series of compilations that Mille Plateaux pretty much ruled the electronic music roost during the latter half of the nineties. It all came to an abrupt end when distributor EFA went bankrupt, dragging down every label that depended on it along the way. But label boss Achim is back with a more dancefloor-oriented manifesto that seems a million miles away from Mille Plateaux's digital theory and austere minimalism.

But back to this compilation: CD 1 is a fucking rubbish mix of tiresome energy house (nearly fell off my chair when that Eric Prydz track kicked in. CD 2 is a deeply uninspiring collection of bargain basement 4/4, despite the inclusion of Secondo's awesome 'It's OK'.

DJ Wally: Emulatory Whoredom (the Agriculture) - CD
Narcotic and woozy with lolloping rhythms, quirky vocal samples and melodies that shift from pixel sharp clarity to detuned radio distortion in an instant. This is what The Orb would sound like if they could be bothered to make decent ambient music again. But it's not background music, there's far too much going on to dismiss this as aural wallpaper.