Not speaking of electroclash (*ahem*,) our friend Max presents his downloads of the month, including Washing Machine is Speaking, my favorite Ellen Allien song ever - which, as you should know, is a bold statement.

The reigning queen of techno producers must have a cooler washing machine than most of us. Or maybe Germans just have a better rapport with their technology. This particular waschmaschine is loaded off-center, creating a syncopated thud beneath the beeps and ticks of its morse-code control pulses. Fuzzed-out gears and drive belts switch on and off as the washer moves relentlessly through its cycle; a high, propulsive melody jangles in during the final spin. A thoroughly cleansing experience.

(There is one person I know who has such a rapport with technology.)