*** Things are heating up in the capital… June drops like so many wobbly sub-bass frequencies this weekend. Here are five things to do: ***

FRIDAY

Full disclosure: I'm one of the organizers of this event. But it's free and I won't see a red cent from it. So come if you want. This weekend, Beiluoguxiang hutong cafe/bar The Other Place hosts a two-day launch party for Sinotronics, a new electronic music label. Today it's an afternoon of DJs and an evening of electronic music curated by Metrowaves. From 8pm there will be live sets from Dead J and Gan Jian, plus an interactive audio/visual performance/installation by Far Media Lab. Projections going into the hutong, sound controlled by audience interactions with glasses of water, lighting controlled by the sound, etc. Will be very cool. Tomorrow is the third anniversary of my booking platform pangbianr. Also free. DJs from 3pm with sets by Beijinger founder Jerry Chan, VICE China editor Wang Ge, and SmartBeijing's own Compact Dicks. Just a bunch of good-natured media camaraderie. Nighttime live sets from thruoutin (with visuals from experimental animator Chaimi), Vavabond, and Thin Gaze. 100% free, and cheap drinks to boot. *** KTR @ School Alternatively, tonight you can head to School Bar to check out some "blues drivin', sonic blastin' rock'n'roll." This one is being put on by Kitchen Table Records — read our interview with that semi-label's co-founder Richard here. KTR banner wielders Lowbow lead the proceedings, joined by Hang on the Box side project Girl Kill Girl, thruoutin, and the recently re-formed Arrows Made of Desire. Despite what the flyer above says, Streets Kill Strange Animals aren't playing. They're in Xi'an or something. Richard updated the poster on Douban but it's like 50 pixels. Classic KTR move. Tonight's edition kicks off at 9:30pm and will only run you 20rmb at the door. Nice deal. *** Mr. Graceless @ XP One more option for tonight: Brit-pop trio Mr. Graceless, real big among the Beijing college set, take the stage at XP for a special summer kickoff show. I guess last time they played XP they got doco-bombed by Tang Dynasty vocalist Ding Wu. What a prankster! Graceless is joined tonight by Dirty Little Secret and Bye Bye Noise. 9:30pm start, 50rmb ticket. ***

SATURDAY

There's another big twofer going down this Friday/Saturday: M.O.T.O. hits Beijing. I wrote a bit about them in this week's MP3 Monday — read it here. Basically you can expect fun, uptempo garage punk jams with lyrics about things like fucking hating your job. M.O.T.O. is a really good band. They're in town with Round Eye and Gou Shen from Shanghai. On Saturday at School they're also joined by The Bedstars. Fun fact about the Bedstars: they are planning to open an online sex toy shop called… the Bedstars. True story. The School gig on Saturday starts at 9pm. 50rmb cover. If you can't make that, M.O.T.O. & co. will also be at Temple tonight. *** Nick Zinner @ Dada Last but not… well, last anyway: Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner DJs Dada on Saturday night. This one's a Metro Tokyo deal. In addition to MT's nü disco cuts, Nick will be spinning "a mixture of electronic music, '90s hip hop and American oldies." He adds, "but really it depends on the vibe of the night." Nick's a pretty interesting guy. In addition to being in that one insanely popular band, he's also collaborated with Ronettes vocalist Ronnie Spector and Scarlett Johansson. He's coming off some DJ gigs for Art Basel Hong Kong. I tried to interview him but we didn't run it because his answers were shorter than my questions. But I'll leave you with this gem:

: No I'm still really shy! I try and concentrate on what I'm trying to do. Fascinating insight into the mind of a true artist right there. Nick and the Metro Tokyo crew kick things off at 10pm. 60rmb cover. *** There are some highlights for this weekend. Some fine ways to kickstart June. We have a rundown of all the cool shit coming Beijing's way over the next month in our Agenda column — start mapping that out. Next week we kick off our June series of SmartBeijing Movie Mondays at Dada with a roster of just straight-up terrible films. Absolute, unqualified bombs. This coming Monday at Dada we'll screen Tommy Wiseau's "epic piece of shit," The Room. Bottoms up.