Started from scratch this morning. Always on my toes.

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Symbol - Online Architecture
Modular tape explorations inspired by trips throughout China. There's a big spiel on the page about ghost cities and mega-metropolises but just sit back and take in the music.

Colorlist - Sky Song
I love it when weird electronics meet "real" instruments - if you don't know me you may not know that I grew up playing sax in a concert band. It's one of those instruments that is always teetering on the edge of perfection, if it's not used exactly right it sounds awful. It's unfortunate, because as a result most people associate the sax with cheesy 80s pop hits and pr0n soundtracks. Hopefully this may win over some of you. It's an intriguing collection of instrumentals that blends wistful ambient with gloriously arranged woodwind harmonies and solos. It came out last November but it's sounding heavenly on this sunny Friday morning.

Dino Spiluttini and Nils Quak - Modular Anxiety
Dark ambient drone, Bandcloud 101. Even better, this one comes with track titles like 'Anxiety', 'Downer', 'Theme for a bleak life' and 'Wallow Wallow' among others. It's a two-sided affair though, with each artist taking a different approach. Spiluttini's side is all soaring despair, while Quak's is more staid desolation.

Biosphere - Patashnik 2
I didn't know Biosphere were on Bandcamp! That could have saved many a lonely hour in my last job. This is (in name) a sequel to Geir Jenssen's second album, but it's actually a collection of tracks recorded between 92 and 94. It's not quite what you might expect. There's a lot of Martian electro and sci-fi chase sequence music as well as the typical Biosphere soundscapes. "Can you imagine an extra-terrestrial disc jockey, like listening to radio waves from space?"

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Xosar - Hordak's Slime Pit // Dimension Hopping // After7
Leave it to Xosar to make a tracks named after He-Man villains, and tag tracks "songdump", "power forward" and "drivel". Gloopy spacey techno, as you'd expect. 'Dimension Hopping' has much more abrasive percussion than we're used to from her, which is a welcome change. 'After', meanwhile, is cinematic and, eugh, lush.

Tony Betties - So Cool (Holmes Price Remix)
My friend Holmes Price (I don't mind a bit of nepotism here) reworked this Lithuanian pop disco jam and put his own gorgeously summery sheen on the track. Perfetto.

Sasha Keable - Living Without You
Never heard of this lady till today tbh. This has a similar feel to Sky Ferreira's 'Everything is Embarrassing' - just the kicks I think. I'm not going to be that guy, comparing the two just because they're both female. It's kind of 80s-pop-inflected, but the vocals are really rich and soulful. I hear some soaring sax muted in the background, which you should now know I'll love - taking that well worn trope and rendering it new somehow.

VF Mix 03: Phonica Records
It's great to see how Alex Egan has gone from being a respected blogger/DJ/promoter in the blog haus days to being just as respected, if not more so, in the post-blog world - he's done well for himself. Vinyl-only mix blah blah, but he's got impeccable taste and skills, and works for Phonica, so, you know, I'll allow it. Delectable electronica meets solid house and all that. He picked out and spoke on a few favourites here.

SECT Mix 1 // SECT Mix 2
New Leeds club night SECT gets the promo treatment - two mixes from residents DJ Ford Foster and Bandcloud alumni Chrononautz. The former is all juddering electro and hammering techno, while the latter takes a wider approach, taking in tracks from RVNG, Workshop, Caustic Window and Night Slugs among others. Watch for some unreleased Demonic Glare too.

Piu Piu - Vitamins
This mix from Paris-based Piu Piu, shared by Truants, made the Guardian yesterday (???), somehow, and we're not mad. A fun and sexy workout not unlike our own Gym Full of Truants, it sees Rod Lee pop up within 75 seconds so what's not to love. It's a great blend of legends and newcomers, too many to name really. FUN FUN FUN!

Think I did an okay job in the end, don't you? Go dance your pain away.

Aidan