Mid-way through Q3, and how's your personal #brand doing? As you reflect on the year's achievements, here is some music.

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Floating Points - Sparkling Controversy
I won't lie. I don't find this particularly inventive or inspiring - it's not even a world away from 'ARP3' for example - but it's got an irresistible shuffling groove and it's bathed in late-summer sunshine. Get down. Top title too.

Road Hog - ...
New new from Galcher, under the Road Hog alias. Mellifluous tones, drum-machine hits, mournful synths - it's melodious enough to hear at the stop light yet heavy enough to feel while you're cruising.

Different Fountains - Wading For Guyton
If you haven't already, I'd recommend you read Rory Gibb's masterful Hyperspecificcolumn for The Quietus. It's a lenghty exploration of mutant club music and the disconnect between the imagined clubbing sphere for which artists create their music, the headspace of the home listener, and the visceral, real experience of the/a club. It covers similar thematic territory to Scott Wilson's Hypothetical Club Constructions piece on Juno Plus from the end of May. This release from Belgian duo Different Fountains really stood out to me, especially this track 'Wading For Guyton' (a nod to Beckett, perhaps?), a misty barrell of confusion that stretches beyond SAW comparisons (especially to 'Tha') into a netherworld of spoken word and bizarre piano lines.

ZX-9 - If You Think This is Hard Wor...
This is a few months old but the bould Brad Rose has found a few hidden copies, so go cop. Experimental bleeps over haunting woodwind; titles like 'Skronk' and 'Endless Night'. What's not to like?

Accrual - Cheophiori
Another Ruaridh Law reissue, this one a collaboration with his cousin Alasdair Satchel from 2005. He says himself it's one of his favourite things he's ever done, and I can see why. It's textured guitar drone, as he put it, a meeting of minds between Satchel's guitar and Law's electronics. 'Travail' is the standout for me, it's really really gorgeous. Originally released by a French label on 7" vinyl and limited CD, you can now get this on tape or, of course, download it.

Phil Maguire - smll hnd / dctfl hnd
I bought this on a whim from Norman, and what a boon that whim has proven to be. The tape moves from early periods of tuneless noise and ominous frequencies to listless, meandering chords and droning ambience. It closes with the 10-minute 'trms, Un', a piece that stretches and yawns in beautiful fashion.

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Boothroyd - NYC
This has been all over the net this week, the mysterious Boothroyd’s first track for Tri Angle. There seems to be a sort of parodic personality cult building up around this lad, tongue-in-cheek worship from those in the know that’s spreading to those who aren’t. The track is pretty wild, a simple theme surrounded by clattering noise, fluttering propellers, reverse, twang, crash. Cool artwork too.

716 Exclusive Mix - Dj Overdose : Almost Old Records Mix
Cool mix from DJ Overdose. Nothing more to say really. Filthy Miami bass and electro.

Daydreamers 013 - Volte-Face
Another wonderful mix from Casper Clark, aka BleeD's Volte-Face. He tweeted that if he had his way he'd DJ like this all the time, which would be some prospect. The mix, which he played "to a couple of hundred disinterested bodybuilders in a Shoreditch food court", contains oddities and choice cuts from Ducktails aka The Parasails, Ennio Morricone, Theo Parrish and more.

Spare - Swoop
Spare has graced these pages (as it were) before, but this is something different from him - a decidedly retro track, bathed in 90s techno chords, but bassy enough to be thoroughly of the moment. Dope stuff.

Lay - Portrait 01 EP
I was put on to this from Simon aka FourFourFun. It's kind of vibey, organic house music that has you looking skyward. Two tracks were co-produced with Sam Sheperd, aka Floating Points, but that's no crutch - the other two are good enough to stand on their own without that cosign. 'Origin' is away from your standard 4/4 rigidity, opting instead for a kind of moody 12/8 shuffle.

LADIES & GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO TUBE SOUND
I got this on Friday last week and put it on the Tumblr but it deserves to be shared again. Perfectly brilliant fun weekend music, this mix is full of uplifting house music that isn't lightweight or cheesy but just really has soul, if you'll excuse the clichés. It's fantastic. It made me feel like dancing, so that's saying a lot.

SertOne mix for Golden Syrup Mix
When was the last time you heard someone go from Black Sabbath to Bukkweat Bill and some other '0 to 100' freestyles? And who else would lay rap vocals over Delia Derbyshire?! It also features Sert's own unreleased tracks - a sweet DOOM remix as well as his more high-energy CL Moons stuff. Then there's some Mobb Deep, which segues perfectly into A$AP Twelvyy. Essential listening - I couldn't turn this off.

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I'm off to take a tour of the old Coronation Street studios. Beat that for a weekend.

All the best,

Aidan