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. Veteran German producer Ulrich Schnauss (pictured above) delved into his archives and assembled a mix of mid-’90s ambient drum & bass for this week’s XLR8R podcast.

2. Following our visit to this year’s NAMM convention, we put together a list of the best and worst things we saw.

3. The most popular tune in our Downloads section this week came from Amsterdam, as producer Full Crate offered up “Nobody Else (Club Edit),” a floor-ready version of his collaborative effort with vocalist Mar.

4. Ahead of the release of his forthcoming Mowgli LP, Mister Lies gave away one of its tracks, “Lupine,” as a free download.

5. In a piece of news that seemed to excite just about everyone, UK troubadour James Blake announced an upcoming North American tour, and also mentioned that a new album is in the works for 2013.

6. London producer Etch gave us “Aquamarine,” a track from his new Horizons EP, as a free download.

7. More free music from London came courtesy of darkwave-flavored house duo Gorgon City, who graced our Downloads section with “Athena.”

8. Following a couple weeks of anticipation, Oneman finally unleashed his new mixtape, Solitaire Vol.1.

9. LA beatmaker Salva will soon be releasing a new EP, Odd Furniture, and elected to ramp up the anticipation by posting a stream of one of its tracks, “Drop That B.”

10. Our weekly contest is offering readers the chance to score a pair of I-Mego’s in-ear ZTONE headphones. Enter now before it’s too late.

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.

Subscribe to the XLR8R Lowdown