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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Increasingly prolific Amsterdam pair Juju & Jordash is set to release its first effort of 2014, the “Waldorf Salad” b/w “Third Planet From Altair” 12″, next month via Dekmantel. The two-track effort finds the duo diving further into its obsession with hardware-fueled dance music, with its a-side described as “house music [with] an unfussy, old school feel” and the flipside touted as a nine-minute “anthemic journey… with plenty of elegant synth work.” Before Juju & Jordash’s upcoming 12″ sees an official release on February 10, its tracks can be previewed using the player below.

With a handful of 12″s for Actress’ Werkdiscs imprint and RAMP already to his name, the sporadically releasing producer known as Nochexxx will return to the latter label with his proper debut LP, Thrusters (artwork above), next month. Slated to drop on February 24, the 11-track effort was announced with very little in the way of details. Instead, Nochexxx has elected to let loose a brief teaser video, which features a fast-moving bit of twisted animation to accompany snippets from the forthcoming album. That preview can be watched below, where Thrusters‘ full tracklist is also included.

01 Exholst
02 Crying Bamboo
03 Skunk Marks
04 Aquaverse
05 Cola Duck (featuring Zackey Funk Force)
06 Thrusters
07 Vapour Cruz
08 Swat Erect
09 Rinse Dreams
10 Thrash Ionosphere
11 The Fly

Berlin techno veteran Phillip Sollmann (a.k.a. Efdemin) has shared the deatils of his forthcoming third full-length, Decay. Set to appear via longstanding German imprint Dial in late March, the majority of Decay was produced during Efdemin’s time in Kyoto, Japan, where he held a three-month artist residency during the end of last year. In a recent email exchange with Resident Advisor, Sollmann says his third LP “feels more coherent to me than the first two [Efdemin albums] and focuses more on the deeper side of techno, while bringing in some aspects of my sound-art-related works, like droning stuff and noises.” The illuminating exchange also finds Sollman going into detail about the effect Japan and Kyoto had on his work and a particular temple he regularly attended and heard ritual singing which helped inspire parts of the record.

Before Decay sees an official release in March, its artwork and tracklist can be seen below, and RA’s full interview with the ever-evolving Berlin talent can be read here.

01 Some Kind Of Up And Down Yes
02 Drop Frame
03 Transducer
04 Solaris
05 Decay
06 Subatomic
07 Track 93
08 The Meadow
09 Parallaxis
10 Ohara

Word has been floating around that veteran German DJ/producer Move D (a.k.a. David Moufang) will issue the next installment of Fabric‘s excellent mix album series, but now, the full details of that release have finally emerged. Due out next month, Fabric 74 is said to see Move D create a mix that “oozes the melodic qualities that he’s made his own in his career as a DJ.” Over the album’s 15 tracks, Moufang displays the veritable range of deep house, mixing a varied cast of classic tunes with cutting edge sounds—including music from the likes of Last Magpie, Darkman, Juju & Jordash, and a collaborative, unreleased cut by Move D and D-Man called “Luvbyrds.” Before Fabric 74 drops digitally on February 24 and on physical formats on March 4, its tracklist and artwork can be found below.

01 Roy Davis Jr. “Under Tha Sun”
02 Liz Torres “Your Love is All I Need (Dub Mix)”
03 Liberty City “Some Lovin’”
04 M.ono “Holding Back California”
05 Jamie Trench & Angus Jefford “Bringin’ Tha Heat”
06 Earl Jeffers “The Goose”
07 Darkman “Annihilating Rhythm (The Destruction Mix)”
08 MD III “Shake That Body (K-Alexi Dubs You The Right Way Mix)”
09 Dom 877 “Do It Right”
10 Juju & Jordash “Loosey Goosey”
11 Christo “New Jazzno”
12 Last Magpie “Roots”
13 Move D / D-Man “Luvbyrds”
14 Willow “Feel Me”
15 Smallpeople & Rau “Unke”

It has been some time since we’ve heard from Shackleton, the Berlin-based Woe to the Septic Heart label boss and bass-focused experimental producer. Nearly two years after releasing his Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs box set, the artist born Sam Shackleton has announced that his next record is set to drop this month. With the title Freezing Opening Thawing and artwork by longtime collaborator Zeke Clough, Shackelton’s three-song 12″ is said to be a “move away from sample manipulation in favor of synthesis,” with “tracks intended for the [dancefloor] with an involved narrative, poly-rhythmic percussive elements, and a psychedelic edge.” Anyone interested can hear exactly what that sounds like in the player below, where each of the forthcoming record’s tracks can be previewed ahead of their release on January 20. (via Juno Plus)

A. Freezing Opening Thawing
AA1. White Flower with Silvery Eye
AA2. Silver Keys

After nabbing the #12 spot in our Best Tracks of 2013 list and the #6 spot in our Best Releases of 2013 list, New York house DJ/producer FaltyDL is already gearing up for a solid 2014, as he’s just announced a brand-new single which is set drop via Ninja Tune this month. Described as “a spy flick in a 10″,” “Danger” b/w “King Brute (feat. Shanghai Den)” will follow almost exactly a year after the artist born Drew Lustman’s excellent, XLR8R Pick’d Hardcourage LP when it drops on January 20. The record’s crunchy and inventive b-side is available to stream before its release, below.