This month's cover and gatefold (above) are based on the B-2 stealth bomber, a spectacular piece of technology whose aesthetic appeal rather disguises its unpleasant functionality.

So these are the "sleeve notes" to the first of a series (hopefully) of mixtapes based around what's been on heavy rotation around my way each month. This edition is (very belatedly) for September 2005, which turned out not to be the greatest time to start. For one thing, I listened to a lot of mixes and live sets this month, which don't really lend themselves to the compilation CD format. For another, I hadn't set up the playlists I'll be using to track this stuff in iTunes. But it'll do for starters, and I was plenty pleased with the sleeve design. If you want a copy, send me a message.

(1) Operating Ease: I picked this up by entering Autechre as a station in Pandora, which turned up a bunch of (interesting) red herrings and (I think) this track, off Solvent's second album, Apples and Synthesizers. As it turns out, I should probably already have been aware of Solvent from a Ghostly Records compilation I bought a couple of years back, which included a different version of My Radio. Moment of Truth: 1'57", where the wobbly old-school synth cedes to a juddery bass throb.

(2) Ohne Zuschlag: Din Stalker is a Serbian (I think) chipstylist; this track is the standout on the X-Dump compilation Filesystems, released through micromusic collective 8bitpeoples. As per usual, it's all available as free mp3 downloads on the 8bitpeoples site; this EP, like most 8bitpeoples releases, is Creative Commons licensed. Din Stalker has a bunch of other free tracks available on hir site, but none of them capture the intensity of this one. Moment of Truth: 3'02", where the drums kick in a belated appearance as the track heads into its final straight.

(3) Cool (Richard X Remix): This one, unusually for me, is basically included for lyrical reasons, for reasons that I've described elsewhere. The original was one of the weaker tracks on Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (purchased on CD to play in the car, physical media fans), but this remix peps it up nicely. The cool kids are deriding Stefani these days, for her appropriation of Harajuku stylings and all that, but I can't say I care. Moment of Truth: 1'00, when the vaguely Moroderesque bassline alerts you to the fact that Richard X has taken this slightly earnest croon by the hand and led it out to the dancefloor.

(4) Change Channel: You can hear this track, and the five others on the ... And the JFG? EP at the band's website. The chopped synth line is just killer. I found this via Cadence Weapon, and I agree with Rollie that it'd really like to hear an album from these folks. Moment of Truth: 2'40, where the frenetic pace threatens to break up altogether, but holds together long enough to strip back down and finally clip out.

(5) Tribulations (Lindstrøm remix): Proposition: there's one and only one good remix of every LCD Soundsystem track. This is that mix of Tribulations, the third(?) single off their eponymous debut album. Yeah was the song that provided me with proof-of-concept for MP3blogs when it was posted on [url="http://www.fluxblog.org";]Fluxblog - up until that point I'd assumed that all that was available would be third-rate bedroom noodling and tedious garage rock. It was exciting to discover that there were ways to find really brilliant songs outside the conventional marketing pipelines. So I felt a bit irrationally betrayed when I heard they'd sold out signed up with EMI, which seems like an odd deal. Moment of Truth: 5'39" - I've always been a sucker for stuttered vocals.

(6) Fingerbib: I didn't think Acoustica: Alarm Will Sound Performs Aphex Twin was quite the clash of civilisations that some reviews suggested - after all, Aphex Twin himself has covered Philip Glass and the assorted Warp/London Philharmonia collaborations have already broken the ice on this particular creative pool - but it's still an interesting and technically admirable recording. Fingerbib isn't the most virtuso of the reproductions on this record, which involves a fair amount of avant-garde string-bending, but it's one of a couple where the arrangement sounds natural, rather than somewhat contrived. Moment of Truth: 1'16", where the bass line cuts in and the slightly twee sparkliness gives way to a bit more authentically ominous Aphex sound.

(7) One Night In Bangkok: Something or other started me thinking about this - I have a feeling it might have been incidental music on some TV program, or at least something that sounded a bit like it. Technically, this is two tracks: the orchestral bit is Bangkok, the rap by Murray Head - yes, older brother of Giles the Watcher - is One Night in Bangkok. I remember being somewhat captivated by this back in 1985 without realising that it was (a) basically written by ABBA, who I loathed at the time and (b) laden with double entendres. Moment of Truth: really has to be 1'50", where the overwrought orchestral frenzy abruptly clips to Mr Head, in the auditory equivalent of a smash cut.

(8) Rock Me Amadeus (Salieri mix): This was the version that appeared on my vinyl copy of Falco 3 back in 1986 but which doesn't seem to be available any longer: the version provided on iTunes is the single edit. At the time I thought it a triumph of the remixer's art; I still quite like it now, particularly the dopily-read biography which somewhat presumptuously insinuates that Mozart had languished in obscurity until Falco brought him back to public attention. The female vocal accents are quite something, too. But it's also obviously a rather hasty mix aimed at the US market, of the type that US labels were rather wont to do in the Eighties to fill out their capacious 12-inchers. Moment of Truth: 4'21" and the first appearance of the cod string quartet

(9) Tomorrow Never Knows: I resented The Beatles so much for their iron grip on pop culture during my childhood - well after they had split up - that I tend to forget that they ever recorded anything of any worth. I heard this as part of a mashup on XfM's The Remix and was slightly startled to find out what it was. But there it was, and I was hooked for a couple of days. Moment of Truth: 0'10", as the seagull noises cut in and it becomes clear that this isn't another jingle-jangle moptop special.

(10) Tourist (Roots Manuva Remix): The original is the kind of track I'd cross the street to avoid - turgid, underpaced dadrock - and which is usually given a club makeover by strapping on some uncomfortable beats. (For that matter, I listened to the Roots Manuva album on MSN Music (download store of last resort, although I do like the full-track previews) and was pretty unimpressed by that, too, although I may not have given it a fair shot.) But the combination of the two proves to work pretty well - with the mix giving the song room to breathe rather than wallowing in sludge. Moment of Truth: 2'35". "Just wanna be with you/my baby" ...

(11) I'm On Fire: It was obviously a bit of a retro month in September, eh? The Boss is one of the few straight-up rockers I have much time for, partly because of the lyrical sentiments, mostly just because the songs are pretty fine. (See? I'm talking in fake Middle-American already.) I like the subdued vocals on this, a counterpoint to the in-your-face style found on Born In The U.S.A.'s more famous numbers. Moment of Truth: 2'01", as Bruce starts whoo-whooing. Shouldn't work, but it does.

(12) Saeglopur: It's kind of hard for me to explain how important this song was to me this month. So I'm not going to. Moment of Truth: 2'49".

That's it for September 2005. October's selection will be around rather more promptly ...