Summer is officially dead. Not faded away gently either, one minute you're sweating through a festival field, the next the rain has taken a biblical turn (at least in Manchester). Which, if you spend your weekends hunting garage and bass in badly-lit industrial units, isn't a tragedy at all. The doors creak open, the fog machines fire up, and warehouse season begins. Given our typical taste for deeper cuts, this is basically our natural habitat.

On that note, I went to something properly different this weekend: eight DJs, eight genres, one knockout back-to-back battle through the heats. Forget the usual head-down rave experience. The crowd was fully involved, cheering picks on like it was a boxing weigh-in. The final came down to two female DJs trading blows, each track landing harder than the last. Properly good watch, go and follow them here.

Record of the Week: Soul Mass Transit System - Music Rock 4 Me

Leeds' Garage and Bassline heavyweight is back with chapter three of his HAUSDOGS series, with this record landing on Dr Dubplate's ec2a imprint no less. It sits somewhere between House and Garage with a bassline so groovy even Austin Powers would need a trigger warning. Add some sharp vocal sampling and you've got a record that will be running through warehouses up and down the country for months. Simple as that.

Elsewhere, DJ Jackum - What You Want goes for the heavier end of Bassline, all grindy wobble before it snaps into a trancey, euphoric build that'll have both hands in the air. If you want something a little introspective, Penryn - Paracetamol deals in glitchy textures & percussive stabs - an all round decent record.

Some genuinely excellent free downloads this week too, including offerings from Y U QT and Dr Dubplate. When producers of that calibre give tunes away, you take them and say thank you.

Plenty more to get your ears around.

Tom (japanese.knotweed)

The good: renae are putting money behind promoters who normally get overlooked
Three promoters get a £1,000 curatorial budget, a £350 bursary and £300 for marketing, plus mentoring and a free room at TOPP upstairs. Greater Manchester, under two years of promoting, applications close 4pm on Monday 28 September. If you've been sitting on an idea for a night, this is the shove you need.
Read it on DJ Mag

The bad: Universal are building an AI music platform with ElevenLabs
Licensed UMG catalogue, fans making remixes and originals "with" artists, and a statement about respecting human artistry. At the same time the American Federation of Musicians is suing UMG over its Udio settlement, arguing session players got no credit and no money. Hard to read the responsible AI line straight while that one's still live.
Read it on Mixmag

The ugly: Westminster want to stop Soho getting any new clubs, and 81% of you told them not to
The council has confirmed a policy blocking new venues with music and dancing across its Cumulative Impact Zone in Soho and the West End, plus table-service-only rules to kill off vertical drinking. 81% of the consultation opposed it, and they went ahead anyway. Sadiq Khan's verdict: they'd rather see nightlife die than thrive.
Read it on Mixmag

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Barry Can't Swim B2B Sammy Virji @ Ally Pally: Thirty minutes is nowhere near enough for a set from these two. They bring an infectious energy on stage together and roll through some of their best work. On top of their own ammunition, there's big Basement Jaxx, Daft Punk and TNGHT edits thrown in for good measure. If this doesn't get you moving, check your pulse.

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