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. XLR8R‘s Labels We Love is coming next week, and readers have the chance to make their voice heard by voting for their favorite labels.

2. The latest installment of In the Studio featured a trip to Manchester, where we got a peek at the stripped-down set-up used by Andy Stott (pictured above).

3. German composer Nils Frahm will soon be releasing a remix package for his latest EP, Screws, and offered up a free download of Argentina-based artist Plasma Rüby’s take on “Si” in the meantime.

4. After years of offering scads of free downloads on our site, XLR8R has elected to make checking out of all this free music even easier by uploading everything to our newly minted SoundCloud account. Get all the details here.

5. This week’s XLR8R podcast was assembled by LA hub Dublab, the long-running web radio station and creative collective.

6. Bristol producer Kahn will soon be releasing a new 12″ for Mala’s Deep Medi imprint.

7. Eccentric beatmaker Dan Snaith (a.k.a. Caribou) posted a recording of a seven-and-a-half-hour DJ set from his Daphni project. Even better, the whole thing is available for download.

8. Hotflush boss Scuba is keeping busy as 2012 comes to a close, this week announcing the impending release of another new single, entitled “Hardbody.”

9. Our resident street shaman (and advice columnist) Nick Hook tackles guestlist etiquette and how to find the creative spark in this week’s edition of Hi, Doctor Nick!.

10. Celebrating the fourth birthday of their Feel My Bicep blog, the members of London duo Bicep gave away a new track, “Feel It.”

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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