A prime operative in electro's subliminal campaign to make humans more machine-like and machines more human, Brendan M. Gillen has been funking up the dance underground since 1995. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, BMG runs the world-renowned Interdimensional Transmissions label and leads the groups Ectomorph and Flexitone. His DJ sets are era- and genre-spanning history lessons that make you gyrate and cogitate.

For his Seattle gig, BMG says, he'll spin "post-human body funk," explaining, "I take multiple streams of sound and loop and remix on the spot, moving through genres independent of tempo, allowing me to bridge electro, techno, house, disco, Italo, new wave, punk, jack tracks, et cetera, showing music as it really is--a million ideas coming together, adding up to a full vision." Expect to hear tracks off Ectomorph's forthcoming album, The Pawn Shop Years, which BMG describes as "visceral voodoo from another dimension."

BMG has played gigs--including huge festivals--worldwide, yet he's still obscure. Like many Detroit techno artists, he's more popular in Europe and Japan than he is in his own country.

"The game is not about fame or playing huge gigs for insincere people," he says. "It's about doing what is true to yourself and the music. It may seem strange, but my dedication has always been to helping the music, not just myself. It is the obscure music that truly effects the most change. Change comes from the underground."

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Welcome to Data Breaker. And who the hell am I? I spent 1994-2002 as an editor/writer for Alternative Press magazine in Cleveland, and I hosted an experimental/electronic music show on the local station WCSB for six years, in addition to DJing on bills with artists like Matmos and Oval. I've championed adventurous underground music since 1979, but I can appreciate quality mainstream stuff, too, and my main plan is to break lots of data and expand musical horizons. DAVE SEGAL

BMG of Ectomorph, Blakk Blakk (live PA), Module, Refuge (live PA), Mon Aug 18 at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm-2 am, $5.

segal@thestranger.com