Minecraft. Earlier this month, a top U.S. official said the country had agreed on a “path forward” with the Democratic Republic of the Congo to close a deal giving Washington greater control over the development of the DRC’s vast mineral resources in exchange for new U.S. support for the government in Kinshasa.

The arrangement would allow the United States to manage the mining of some of the country’s massive deposits of lithium—and its similarly large reserves of copper and cobalt—all of which are known as critical minerals. These minerals are critical because it’s impossible to make most advanced technologies without them: They’re required in cutting-edge military hardware, renewable energy, robotics, and AI; and they’re in every semiconductor chip. They’re in the device you’re reading this on.

The DRC deal is just the latest instance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of access to critical minerals. His desire to make Greenland part of the U.S. seems far-fetched—but his desire for its critical minerals, repeatedly stated, is very real. When Trump began negotiating with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one of Trump’s first requests was an agreement for American access to Ukrainian critical-mineral deposits.

But this pursuit may also look a little odd. The U.S. has reserves of many critical minerals around the country. The world’s largest reserves of the key critical mineral lithium are in Australia and Chile, two longtime U.S. allies. And the previous administration of Joe Biden also worked on a raft of deals to secure the rights to critical minerals in the world.

What’s going on?

—Michael Bluhm

‘Reframing.’ The Berlin-based DJ and Berghain regular who goes as Barker has a new record out that plays with expectations. In this track, he composes a techno banger but leaves out the drums—until it’s almost over, making you wait almost three minutes for the drop. Reframing, indeed.

—Brendan Hasenstab

‘At the River.’ Twenty years ago, the sound of the moment was known as downtempo, personified by bands like London’s Groove Armada. Downtempo was slow-paced, more for the fashionable cocktail bars than the all-night dance clubs. This song, with just under 65 million plays on Spotify, may be the first led by trombone to appear in The Signal. But it shouldn’t be the last.

Where’d the downtempo sound come from?

—Brendan Hasenstab

Patrolling the border. Last year, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency again after focusing much of his campaign on a promise to curb illegal immigration. Now that he’s in office, he’s ordered American troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. By March 1, there were some 9,000 active-duty troops there, two U.S. warships patrolling nearby waters, and aircraft flying surveillance runs.

As it happens, the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the U.S. military from carrying out domestic law enforcement. Why are U.S. law enforcement and military forces converging?

A look at Osamah F. Khalil’s A World of Enemies: America’s Wars at Home and Abroad from Kennedy to Biden.

—Gustav Jönsson

‘We’re Not Finished Yet.’ Dream Pop originator Dean Wareham has a new record out entitled, That’s the Price of Loving Me and it contains this impressive ode to his favorite guitar—a prized 1968 Gibson ES-335, a fine semi-hollow bodied guitar that he has used since his Galaxie 500 days, and all through Luna as well. You can tell how beloved it is just by listening to this track.

—Brendan Hasenstab

Financial trouble in Big China. Last week, four of China’s biggest banks said they’d raise about US$72 billion in capital through the sales of new shares. Just a ho-hum stock issuance by some financial institutions? Maybe a pre-emptive move to bolster balance sheets before any possible damage is done by the new round of U.S. tariffs this week?

No. First, $72 billion is an enormous amount of money—roughly the annual GDP of Slovenia or oil-rich Azerbaijan. China has the world’s second-largest defense budget, and that’s only about $245 billion each year. And this is clearly a move directed by Beijing: All four are state-owned banks, and they said the Finance Ministry would be a major investor in the new shares. In China, it’s rare for the central government to orchestrate a maneuver like this.

So what’s going on?

—Michael Bluhm

‘Elio’s Lived Behind My House Forever.’ New York City DJ and composer DJ Python has moved beyond reggaeton and into a liminal house-music phase on his new EP, I Was Put on This Earth. This is its warm concluding track, and it’s really best described as pillowy electronic shoegaze. No roaring guitars, just swelling synthesizers and textured bass.

—Brendan Hasenstab

From this week’s member’s despatch …

Weather report: Miami Beach. A breezy afternoon in Florida on April 4 with a high temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (81 Fahrenheit). Winds are blowing at a stiff 25 to 40 kilometers an hour out of the south-southeast. Yes, a few clouds, but no rain in the forecast until Tuesday.

‘Apex.’ Stepping back a few years for a taste of modern Nordic jazz from the Norwegian band, Jaga Jazzist, who’ve been blending jazz with electronics and post-rock sensibilities since the 1990s. As an 8-piece, it takes them a few minutes for everyone to get in on this track. And once it clicks, you’re in for a propulsive ride.

Nordic jazz?

—Brendan Hasenstab