Sónar 2019

The Sónar festival of arts, design, and electronic and advanced music, which won the Time Out Barcelona Award for 2018, fills up the summer in the city once again – from Thursday, July 18 to Saturday, July 20, this year a month later than usual – with top-notch artists such as American rapper A$AP Rocky and London grime producer and MC Skepta, as well as emerging stars like Ross From Friends, Octavian, Murlo, Bad Gyal and DJ Andy C.

Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican international superstar, singer and producer who moves between pop, trap and reggaeton, and he’s one of the big draws to Sónar by Night this year. As for experimental music during the festival, Sónar closes out this year’s edition with The Matthew Herbert Brexit Big Band on Sunday July 21 at the Teatre Grec, where the Herbert is accompanied on stage by more than 20 musicians and 50 voices from the local Pilot Choir from the ESMUC music school.

The audiovisual projects from Daito Manabe and ZA! show us how music affects our brains, and audiovisuals also play a part in ‘Flamenco is not a crime’ from Los Voluble (who you may have caught if you were at Sónar in 2015). They’re added to a line-up that also includes performances by avant-garde pioneers in Spain Macromassa (Víctor Nubla and Juan Crek), Eastern rhythms from Acid Arab, and sessions by Louie Vega & Honey Dijon, Jarreau Vandal and DJ Krush, among others.

Other big draws to this 26th edition are British band Disclosure with their quality house with mainstream potential and a new DJ show, and the new live show from Paul Kalkbrenner, one of the most homegrown producers on the Berlin techno scene, with his eighth effort, ‘Parts of Life’ (2018); performances by Four Tet (in their only festival show in Spain this year); Arca, presenting new material; hip-hop hero Vince Staples; a session from DJ Koze; an audiovisual show from Underworld; Holly Herndon, accompanied by an ensemble of vocalists, musicians, and AI machines; and live acts by Jlin, Kaytranada and Fennesz.

As for the DJ sessions, watch out for Dixon, closing out Sónar by Night on Saturday, the six-hour set from Floating Points, Maya Jane Coles (presenting her project of urban bases, Nocturnal Sunshine, during Sónar by Day), Amelie Lens, Artwork, and Blawan & Dax J. More recently added to the line-up of DJ sets are Daniel Avery, Erol Alkan and Body & Soul, and the live shows from Dengue Dengue Dengue, Kelly Moran (with a spectactular Grand Piano AV Show), and Red Axes.

As usual, the audiovisual shows are also a big attraction, like the one being debuted by British producer Actress, who will perform live with AI software, the one from Tunisian producer Deena Abdelwahed, and the one from Berlin art-grime figure Lotic.

You’ll also be able to check out live shows from Nicola Cruz, K Á R Y Y N, Mans O, pianist Bruce Brubaker (who, along with electronic music producer Max Cooper, recreates ‘Glassforms’ by minimalist composer Philip Glass), FKJ, Slikback, Hibotep, Catnapp, Cecilio G, Brat Star and De Valentina.

Another of the festival’s strengths is the Sónar+D congress dedicated to creative technologies, which this year is now in its 7th edition and on from July 17 to 20, bringing together key people and projects that are shaping the future of design, music and creative technologies.

Highlights include the design of experiences with teamLab, an interdisciplinary study of immersive digital technology recognized worldwide as the most influential in the field of digital creation, and Japan’s Daito Manabe and neuroscientist Yukiyasu Kamitani, who will present their unique research to visualize our thoughts.

You can also learn about the success stories of CANADA (tops in the field of directing videos), Teenage Engineering (Swedish synthesizer design company), and the multi-award-winning artistic videogame Gris.

Ville à Dômat # 251: ‘The Invisible Dance’

Acomiadem aquest mes de juny amb una nova selecció de la millor i més nova música indie del moment. Mentre Divus Julius Bonasera segueix convalescent i no tornarà fins la propera temporada ens prepara una dansa invisible. Punxarem el més nou de Cuco, Yellow Days, Holly Ghost!, Low Island, Alfie Templeman, Amber Mark o Floating Points entre d’altres.

Dijous 22h i dissabtes 13h 100.5FM Ràdio Ciutat Vella

Ville à Dômat: The Invisible Dance

 

Primavera Sound 2018 #Thursday

It’s here! Thursday is the first full day of Primavera Sound 2018, with a line-up that, as we’ve come to expect, is extensive and impressive, and starts off with a bang on this day that features headliners such as everyone’s favourite Islandic avant-garde artist, Björk, with her latest album, ‘Utopia’ (2017), on which she collaborated with Arca, who you’ll also be able to catch at the festival; and elegance as music with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, blasting out tracks from their emotional and a bit sad ‘Skeleton Tree’ (2016), which they’re performing for the first time in Barcelona. Also getting you moving between stages are Philadelphia band The War on Drugs, who, with ‘A Deeper Understanding’ (2017), have garnered as much praise as with their acclaimed previous album, ‘Lost in the Dream’ (2014), which had the international press kneeling at the feet of their classic rock; legendary band Sparks, that unclassifiable duo from Los Angeles made up of brothers Ron and Russel Mael, who present their 23rd album, ‘Hippopotamus’ (2017); the return of American hip hop artist Vince Staples; electronic and energetic pop from British trio Chvrches, with their much-anticipated new album, ‘Love Is Dead’ (2018); Fever Ray, a solo project for Swedish artist Karin Dreijer (The Knife), who’s also got a new album out, the contagious ‘Plunge’ (2017); electronica from Floating Points, also known as producer and doctor of neuroscience Sam Shepherd, performing live as well as a six-hour DJ set on Friday; Nils Frahm and his experimental electronica; the meloncholy of the all-women quartet Warpaint; iridescent psychedelic pop from New Zealanders Unknown Mortal Orchestra; and American artist Kelela, who impresses with her versatility and perfect adaptation to dominant trends in current electronica and pop.

Daphni + Floating Points al Monestir del Poble Espanyol

Avui en el monestir del Poble Espanyol es produirà la trobada de dos genis de la música electrònica: Daphni i Floating Points. Daphni, el projecte paral·lel i en solitarii de Dan Snaith de Caribou, fou creat un temps després d’atènyer l’èxit com Caribou amb el seu àlbum de debut “Swim”. Samuel T. Shepherd, àlies Floating Points, natural de Manchester i instal·lat a Londres és considerat amb 24 anys un dels músics  electrònics més avançats de la seva generació, gràcies al seu projecte Floating Points. A partir de les 18h i fins la mitjanit.