DJ JUAN MACLEAN
With Dinamo Azari, Nasty Nav. Fri, May 2. Wrongbar, 1279 Queen W. $10.
In the ‘90s, Juan (né John) Maclean was the guitarist and synth player in influential weirdo electro-punk band Six Finger Satellite. By ’98, he’d stopped making music — until friend and former SFS engineer James Murphy started DFA Records and convinced Maclean to contribute. Inspired by the likes of Herbie Hancock, Juan Atkins and Kraftwerk, Maclean made 2005’s Less Than Human, a stellar mélange of melodies, beats and live instrumentation. A new album is due by summer and judging from “Happy House,” the piano-driven, euphoric lead single featuring the vocals of Nancy Wang, we’ll be hearing plenty of it.

DANNY BYRD @ SOUL IN MOTION
With DJs Mr. Brown, Scott Free, Spinz, MCs Hype One, Lucky General. Fri, May 2. Blue Moon, 725 Queen E. $15.
Kudos to local drum ‘n’ bass promoters Soul In Motion for keeping their eyes and ears glued to the future. Here, they host the only Canadian date by rising British star Danny Byrd, who is touring in support of Supersized, his debut album due out shortly on Hospital Records. Byrd — who blends massive old-school breaks with soulful, melodic touches and occasionally with vocals — has already caused a ruckus with his D&B hit “Shock Out.” Expect to hear calls for a rewind when he hits the beefed up sound system at Blue Moon.

HERO @ HOMETOWN HEROES
With Masia One, Marvel, Anonymous Twist, Focus, DJs Mensa, Rod Skimmins. Fri, May 2. El Mocambo (main floor), 464 Spadina Av. $10 advance tickets at Play De Record, Soundscapes, Slinky/Moog, Livestock.
With their Hometown Heroes series, the folks at The Academy aim to school us all on local hip-hop activity. Headlining here are Toronto/Brooklyn duo Hero, a.k.a. wordsmith E-dot and producer Darp Malone, with DJ Taktiks also lending his skills. Offering metaphor-laden, multi-syllabic lyrics over soulful, smart production, Hero have been garnering rave reviews from the likes of Okayplayer.com and URB for their debut album on Thirsty Music. Here’s your chance to support and hear them live.

BYRON STINGILY @ SOLID GARAGE 10TH ANNIVERSARY
With King Sunshine, DJs Groove Institute, MC Mike Cordeiro. Sat, May 3. Revival, 783 College. $20 advance tickets at Milkaudio.com.
Toronto DJ trio Yogi, Mark and Anand are Groove Institute. Together, they’ve been blending deep house, techno, soul, jazz and AfroLatin gems under the Solid Garage banner since the summer of ’98. Here, they celebrate a decade together by hosting legendary house vocalist Byron Stingily. The Chicago native and one-time lead singer in Ten City has one of the most distinctive, gorgeous falsettos in dance music, with classics like “Devotion” and “That’s the Way Love Is” serving as evidence. Now based in California, he runs Stingily Music (with T.O.’s Junior Palmer) and is set to perform songs both old and new.

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS
With Shy Child, A.D/D DJs. Sat, May 3. The Mod Club, 722 College. $12.50 advance tickets at Soundscapes, Rotate This, Ticketweb.ca.
Bouncing out of Melbourne, Australia, Midnight Juggernauts are a three-piece outfit who’ve been making noise with two spacey, prog-rock-disco EPs and their debut album, Dystopia. Released independently last August (and coming out in Canada on May 27), the album won the band fans including Justice, who booked the Juggernauts as openers on many North American dates. Tracks like “Into the Galaxy” and “Shadows” may blatantly wear the influences of artists like Bowie, Daft Punk and Pink Floyd, but it’s a snug and sexy fit. Also well worth checking is the Juggernauts’ solid remix of Dragonette’s “I Get Around.” Note: early show, with 8pm start.