Throughout the week, a whole lot of material gets posted here on XLR8R. And while we know—and love—that some hardcore readers will eagerly pour over every single news story, interview, podcast, video, and MP3 download that appears on the site, we also realize that for most people, it’s impossible to see everything, which means that some quality XLR8R content is likely to get missed in the hustle and bustle of everyone’s daily lives. In the interest of making it easier for everyone to catch up, every Friday we present The Lowdown, a weekly wrap-up of the top 10 tidbits from our site.

1. Barcelona producer John Talabot (pictured above) celebrated his birthday this week, and decided to mark the occasion by giving away a free track on Soundcloud.

2. Speaking of Talabot, he figured prominently in our feature examining Barcelona’s rising electronic music scene. The story kicked off this year’s Bubblin’ Up Week series, which highlighted artists and sounds that we’re expecting to make an impact in 2014.

3. Our first podcast of 2014 was also related to Bubblin’ Up Week, as we enlisted Bubblin’ Up alum Marquis Hawkes to put together an exclusive mix.

4. Another Bubblin’ Up Weekfeature highlighted the many talents of San Francisco DJ collective Honey Soundystem.

5. This week’s most popular offering from our Downloads section came from UK producer XO, whose “Old Skool” is powered by jubilant organ stabs, excitable chords, droning strings, and even a bit of hip-house vocal sampling.

6. Midland’s “Trace” was one of our top tunes of 2013, and the track, along with its b-side, “For (Yacht) Club Use Only, will soon be getting reworked on a new remix EP that will be dropping next month on Aus.

7. Next week, London producer Rain Dog will be issuing a new LP, Two Worlds, but ahead of that, he elected to offer up a free tune, the ambient-informed “Regolith,” in our Downloads section.

8. Sennheiser announced three new models of headphones at this week’s CES conference in Las Vegas.

9. Red Bull Music Academy unveiled its plans to release a feature-length documentary, What Difference Does It Make? A Film About Making Music, to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The film will feature Brian Eno, Giorgio Moroder, Todd Edwards, James Murphy, Flying Lotus, and more.

10. Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills has released a new album, Chronicles of Possible Worlds, via his own Axis label.

An expanded version of the The Lowdown is also available via a weekly email newsletter. Those interested in an even more in-depth round-up of XLR8R content, including a complete listing of all the free downloads we’ve offered in the past seven days, should sign up by entering their email address below.

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