It would be easy to fill this entire page with gushing praise for Jeff Mills. The Detroit DJ, who headlines at Platform 18’s Summer Rave all-dayer on Saturday, is light years ahead of his peers, and in fact all of us. A cerebral, science fiction-obsessed artist with a boundless imagination and endless curiosity, he’s the electronica embodiment of the “living in 3017” meme that’s made me snigger at least twice when I’ve seen it on Twitter.

While other dance music drones churn out tunes about partying, getting off with people and having a good time, Mills has spent his career focused on the bigger issues. Futurism and space flight feature prominently in his oeuvre. The Sleeper Wakes project is a series of albums about imagining an alien reality and making the unknown familiar. The album Time Tunnel features the song Centurius, which paints a picture of Earth in 3065. On Mars, he considers a red planet teeming with life before it became the barren desert it is today. There are songs throughout his 40-plus-album back catalogue that ruminate on dreams, enlightenment, and existentialism.

He also finds inspiration in places other artists would never think of looking. The Hunter was influenced by the war drum of the Native Americans, while the call of the humble pigeon thrums throughout the disorientating Flying Machines. If all of this sounds a little on the pretentious side, well, that’s because it is. But when someone has garnered so much respect and maintained their place at the forefront of a genre for so long, you have to doff your cap, don’t you?

After making a name as a radio DJ on a local station in his hometown and becoming influenced by the futuristic synth music of Kraftwerk and Gary Numan, he became one of the founding members of Underground Resistance, the Motor City techno collective who rose to prominence in the late ‘80s. As the car manufacturing trade collapsed in his home city, the repetitive thudding of its once-thriving assembly lines gave birth to the earliest incarnations of techno music, while its abandoned factories became the settings for the first raves. After leaving Underground Resistance, Mills’ time in Europe opened his eyes to the universal appeal of his hometown’s sound, and the rest is history. His is a staggering output. Few DJs could claim to have achieved as much as Mills, who has also found time – on top of recording scores of albums and playing across the world – to write pieces for orchestras and then lead them in live shows, and write soundtracks for films and modern dance pieces.

This Platform 18 party is unlikely to be one of his most cerebral shows – it’s being billed as “guaranteed sweaty mayhem” – but the opportunity to see someone who is one of the all-time electronic greats in a warehouse in Laurieston is one that you should probably one that you shouldn’t be passing up. So don’t Mills out.

• Platform 18: The Depot with Jeff Mills, Saturday, Platform 18 Depot, 3pm – 3am, £35

Club for Syria

As is the case most weekends, the twin cities of US dance music are well represented across Glasgow’s clubs. With Detroit’s finest slaying in Laurieston, Chicago is represented by Rahaan, the legendary DJ who has been spinning disco and electro house since the mid ‘80s. While his counterpart Mills is famous for the trailblazing mastery of his ideas and sonic textures, it’s Rahaan’s sheer skill behind the decks that helped propel him from the Windy City underground to international prominence. He brings that to bear at La Cheetah on Saturday, where this night is being held to raise funds for children caught up in the ongoing conflict in Syria. Residents Wardy and Dom D’Sylva are back after a brief hiatus, and will be ready to warm things up at this most philanthropic of parties.

• Club for Syria, Saturday, La Cheetah, 11pm – 3am, £10

Sensu Boat Party

The Berlin-based DJ &ME is the architect of a particularly soulful techno and house vibe that has led to him being touted as “one of the most unique performers on the scene.” And in an age of plastic, repackaged techno where outdoor pool parties and confetti cannons are becoming more and more prevalent, perhaps that’s what we need a little more of.

As one of the founders of Keinemusik, a DJ and production collective based in the German capital, &ME’s star has been in the ascendency since his tune F.I.R. became a worldwide club hit back in 2009. He’s the main event at what should be a raucous trip down the Clyde and back tomorrow night, along with his labelmate Rampa and Sensu residents Junior and Barry Price. Afterwards, the foursome carry on the shenanigans back at the Subbie until the wee hours.

• Sensu Boat Party with &ME, tomorrow, Riverside Museum, 6.30pm – 11pm, £27

• Afterparty, tomorrow, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £10