THURSDAY 6/25
JUAN MACLEAN TROTS OUT HIS HAPPY HOUSE AND CLASSY DISCO CUTS FOR STIFFED
Hard to believe now, but Juan MacLean once played guitar with '90s Sub Pop electro-rock badasses Six Finger Satellite. The group dissolved after numerous setbacks, and MacLean took a sabbatical from the music biz. But then he resurfaced in the mid '00s with DFA Records as a brilliant song-oriented house-music producer. He's recorded three albums with James Murphy's label over the last decade, including 2014's In a Dream, featuring LCD Soundsystem's Nancy Whang on understatedly sultry vocals. MacLean's recordings have become progressively more accessible, with an emphasis on shimmying melodies and pastel synth textures. One assumes he'll bring this aesthetic to his DJ set for Pride weekend at Kremwerk's Stiffed night, while adding über-hedonistic disco flavor—and then cranking everything into overdrive. With Riz Rollins, Derek Pavone, and Adé. Kremwerk, 8 pm–3 am, $15 adv/$20 DOS, 21+.
MOTOR CITY TECHNO PIONEER KEVIN SAUNDERSON CLASSES UP Q
Kevin Saunderson may be a Detroit techno legend™, but he's no Beach Boys of the 4/4 rhythm. He stays relevant with sets that connect the dots between techno's original phase and the genre's current permutations. Saunderson enjoyed commercial success in the '80s with his turbo-charged, R&B-tinged Inner City project, and then got underground cred for his acid-techno-oriented E-Dancer releases in the '90s. While his production output's slowed since then, his DJ career has continued to rev along, keeping his name fresh in dance-music fans' minds. Thirty-plus years of experience on the decks mixing deep, soulful tracks for hundreds of thousands of dancers make a Saunderson appearance a crucial part of your nightlife agenda. With Nordic Soul, Anna Langley, and Mikey Mars. Q Nightclub, 9 pm, $12 adv/$14 DOS, 21+.
TUESDAY 6/30
CONTACT CULT HUMIDIFIES RARE AIR AMBIENT/NEW AGE NIGHT
Rare Air is Seattle's only quasi-regular event dedicated to new age and ambient music. (Disclosure: I help organize it with DJ Explorateur.) It's an unusual opportunity to hear (mostly) beatless music on a massive sound system, in a dance club, while you're horizontal on the floor upon a yoga mat and pillows. For tonight's show, Contact Cult (aka Troy Micheau, guitarist for Portland avant-rock-disco band Swahili) performs live in support of his Hylozoist cassette on local label Translinguistic Other. The mini album's four long tracks radiate in the same benevolent galaxy as the '70s output of French cosmic composer Ariel Kalma. They also traverse the sort of heat-hazed, hand-percussion-intensive terrain that Jon Hassell pioneered on Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics and Vernal Equinox, which Rapoon later extrapolated to even greater hypnotic effect. With DJ Explorateur, DJ Veins, and Chris Blohm. Q Nightclub, 9 pm, free, 21+. 
