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. Gear fanatics perked up considerably when Akai unveiled both the APC40 MkII and the Rhythm Wolf, which was described as “an analog drum machine and bass synthesizer module with built-in sequencing.”

2. This week’s XLR8R podcast was a deep and nuanced session from veteran German techno producer Efdemin (pictured above).

3. The Enchufada will soon be releasing new music from Peruvian psychedelic cumbia duo Dengue Dengue Dengue!; ahead of its release, the pair offered up EP cut “Banana” in our Downloads section.

4. UK producer Max Cooper put together our latest edition of Artist Tips, in which he focused on maintaining clarity, both of artistic vision and sound itself.

5. Dubspot shared a step-by-step video of Japanese dubstep specialist Goth-Trad putting a beat together in Ableton Live.

6. Warp mainstay Clark debuted a new, oscilloscope-based video for the recently released “Riff Through the Fog.”

7. UK masked man SBTRKT revealed the details of Transitions, a series of six instrumental pieces that will be issued on three 12″s in the next few months. He also shared streams of all six tracks.

8. Allen & Heath introduced a new addition to its well-regarded family of DJ mixers, the Xone:23C.

9. Amsterdam’s Dekmantel Festival announced that it will be returning for a second go-round in 2014, and the initial list of artists includes Jamie xx, Mount Kimbie, Nicolas Jaar, 3 Chairs, DJ Koze, Hessle Audio, and many others.

10. Boiler Room posted another episode of Binkbeats’ Beats Unraveled series; the latest chapter finds the Dutch producer reconstructing Shlohmo’s “Places.”

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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