PATRICIA'S HAUNTING, GRID-DISRUPTING TECHNO
This is getting predictable, but I'm not complaining. The MOTOR monthly has roped in yet another badass headliner: hardware-powered producer Patricia (actually a Brooklyn-based guy named M. Ravitz). He has a small but interesting discography, with releases on the respected Opal Tapes and Spectral Sound imprints. Patricia's 2013 album for the former, Body Issues, combines the strangely warped textural palette of Force Inc./Mille Plateaux's early-'00s techno and IDM artists with a propensity for disrupting the 4/4 grid on which most techno is based. It's a haunting yet bumping sound that coats the dance floor with figurative soot. His Side Piece EP on Spectral is slightly cleaner and more linear, but still brings the darkness. P L L is the new alias of Brain Fruit synth master Chris Davis. For P L L (Phase Lock Loop), Davis uses an array of analog synths to generate a trance-inducing techno glide and fluid, spacey atmospheres that reveal influences from Manuel GĂśttsching's integral 1984 opus E2-E4 and the Moritz von Oswald Trio. With Bardo:Basho and DJ Slow. Kremwerk, 8 pm, $10, 21+.
TRENTEMĂLLER'S DOWNCAST CINEMATIC TECHNO
Danish producer Trentemøller weaves songwriterly pop/rock gestures and restrained drama into his downcast, low-impact techno tracks in an attempt to find an appealing balance between these usually diametrically opposed disciplines (see "Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!!" from Into the Great Wide Yonder for an apotheosis). On 2013's Lost, Trentemøller collaborated with rock artists like Low, Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino, and the Raveonettes' Sune Rose Wagner, and probably, uh, lost some techno heads. Still, there's serious compositional rigor in Trentemølller's music, and it seems inevitable that someday he's going to make the leap into film soundtracks. With T.O.M. and His Computer. Neumos, 8 pm, $22 adv, all ages.
BACK TO THE MINIMAL-SYNTH FUTURE WITH ROLADEX AND COSMETICS
Seattle-via-Texas duo Roladex have mastered the kind of synth pop that flourished in early-'80s Europe. On their filler-free 2014 debut album, Anthems for the Micro-Age on Seattle's Medical Records, Tyler Jacobsen and Elyssa Diane dispassionately sing in unison bleak lyrics over sproingy synths and peppy beats. Roladex's severely beautiful songwriting should appeal to fans of Fad Gadget, Magnetic Fields, and cult Canadian dystopians Iko. Vancouver's Cosmeticsâvocalist Aja Emma and synthesist Nic M.â have issued a collection of their EPs and singles on Captured Tracks titled OLYMPIA... PLUS that reveals them to be perfect foils for Roladex. They're minimalists at heart, with vocals skewing frownward and affectless while the keyboards accomplish their moody melodic tasks with no fussiness. It might be overstatement to call Cosmetics the Northwest's Chris & Cosey or Add N to (X), but if the Korg fits... With False Prophet resident DJs Sharlese and Kate. Kremwerk, 8 pm, $10 adv/$13 DOS, 21+. 
