The Valve imprint, traditionally a home for some of the UK's finest drum & bass, has decided to expand its sound palette in 2012, beginning with a 12" from garage- and bass-loving Welsh outfit CRST.

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Earlier this week, soul crooner D' Angelo returned to the stage after essentially disappearing from music for the past decade.

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Ben Sims, London's long-time champion of heavy techno, has announced a new EP, Slow Motion, which will see a release through his own Theory imprint and come complete with an impressive set of remixes.

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If you paid close enough attention to the events that transpired over the course of Red Bull Music Academy's 2011 edition in Madrid, you'll most likely recognize the names of all three producers who have contributed to "You Said You Loved Me." That's right, Krystal Klear, Broke One (pictured above), and Ghosts On Tape were all in attendance for a session of last year's RBMA and that is where they crafted this slice of '90s-inspired, peak-hour house. Furthermore, the good people at RBMA have announced a forthcoming double-disc compilation, Various Assets, which will come loaded with more tasty collaborative tracks such as this. And for all the budding producers out there hoping to get their chance to similarly learn and work with like-minded collaborators, take note that RBMA is now accepting applications for its 2012 sessions in New York. You can head here for all the details and watch a video which explains exactly what a session at RBMA entails, after the jump.

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Barcelona's DJ Raff is one of the newest names to be added to the roster over at Nacional—an imprint that has been pushing the envelope of contemporary Latin music for years now. In a stroke of musical generosity, the label has passed along this video for Raff's "Digital Rain," along with a free download of the bliss-tinged beat.

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South London trio Dark Sky has announced plans to follow up last year's excellent Radius EP with a new four-track effort, Black Rainbows.

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Taking a brief break from his usual disco-inclined production, Canadian producer CFCF has put together a mini-LP of sorts, one that's surprisingly made up entirely of sprawling, piano-based compositions inspired by the hybrid pieces of Phillip Glass, Ryuchi Sakamoto, and other such artists. The eight-song effort, Excercises (artwork above), is said to show a much more introspective side to CFCF than we're used to seeing, but if "Exercise #3 (Building)" is any indication, the songs will likely yield some rather enjoyable results. The full mini-album is still a ways out from dropping, as its release date is April 24, so, for now, we'll just have to savor this gorgeous slice of vast, spacious electronics in all its melodious, meandering glory. You can check the full tracklist for Exercises after the jump.

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Brixton's 92 Points label quietly crept on to the scene last year, dropping the one-sided "Mr. 67" single from Visionist, one of several producers behind the young imprint. Now, 92 Points has offered up a sophomore effort, tapping Puerto Rican producer Magnum to put together a five-song EP, All Over Me.

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LA beatsmith Teebs (pictured above) has gathered up like-minded outfits Sonnymoon and Time Wharp for an East Coast tour beginning in March.

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Last week, 2012's most ubiquitous hip-hop hit thus far, "Rack City" by Tyga, got the official remix treatment, replete with guest drops from Wale, Meek Mill, Fabolous, Young Jeezy, and T.I.

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With only a few days before Nicolas Jaar and the Clown and Sunset Aesthetics collective premier a five-hour multimedia performance in New York, it seems only right that a new video should surface.

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Next month, veteran IDM/breakcore producer

Melbourne's Galapagoose has announced the impending release of his debut LP, Commitments, on March 13 via Daedelus' Magical Properties imprint (via Two Bright Lakes in Australia). The Aussie producer has shared the arresting "One Who Can't Move" in advance of that record, a two-minute song that mashes together a vocal and piano sample with airy synth lines and turns the side-chain compression up to 11. It all results in a unique crossover between frozen-in-place beat music and a sort of downtempo house. You can check out the artwork and tracklist for Commitments, after the jump.

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London-based UK funky patron Champion has announced a forthcoming new single, "Crazy," which features the vocal stylings of Princess Nyah and a remix from Terror Danjah & D.O.K on the flip.

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With the release of Maribou State's Olivia EP only days away, this remix of the title track from mysterious newcomer(s) MAO is quite timely. The memorable combination of chopped vocals from the original remain in tact, but the melodic marimba melody is cut to bits as the already moody tune turns even darker on this garage-leaning remix.

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Austin, TX's Orthy, who released his debut EP via Wurst last fall, just shared this summery video for the standout track "Sueños."

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We're officially one month into 2012, which means it's time again to share our break down of the most downloaded tracks on XLR8R over the past 31 days.

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Very little biographical information is known about Dublin's Faws, who recently shared his debut EP, Antonym (pictured above), as a stream on his Bandcamp. "Take Notice," the first track, features a filtered, repeating R&B vocal cushioned by soft, jazzy keyboard samples and percussion.

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It's absolutely no surprise that when Ifan Dafydd first appeared on the scene with a couple of bootleg remixes streaming on YouTube, people thought it was James Blake operating under a pseudonym. The bubbly rhythms, the rich synth chords, the fractured vocal blips, the soulful musicality, the big sub frequencies; it was all a bit too coincidentally familiar. (Hell, the Welsh producer even looks a bit like Blake.) "Miranda" and "No Good" sounded like an ideal mix of the sullen ballads heard on the divisive James Blake and the percolating post-you-know-what offered by cuts like "CMYK," but, as it turns out, Dafydd is certainly his own man with his own tunes. His debut 12" for Push & Run, however, doesn't exactly prove it.

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Finnish duo Renaissance Man dropped its debut full-length, The Renaissance Man Project, last year via Turbo, and now, the Montreal-based label is preparing a companion remix LP in support of that effort.

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