Sónar Barcelona, which will take place on 14, 15 and June 16, presents its first confirmed artists, including The Roots, Deadmau5, Hot Chip, Modeselektor, James Blake dj, Fatboy Slim, Richie Hawtin, Amon Tobin’s ISAM, Squarepusher, Nicolas Jaar, Luciano, Azari & III, Jacques Lu Cont, Friendly Fires, Metronomy, John Talabot, Mouse On Mars, BBC Radio 1 presents Annie Mac & guests and showcases from Hyperdub, Brainfeeder and 100% Silk, among others.
The festival travels to Africa for the first time with "A Taste of Sónar" on March the 2nd, in Cape Town (South Africa), in collaboration with the large multidisciplinary event Design Indaba. Among those performing will be Modeselektor, Byetone, Brodinski and some of the most prominent South African artists working today.
Sónar returns to Japan – for the fifth time – on 21 and 22 April forSonarSound Tokyo, with a line-up combining major international artists such as Squarepusher, The Cinematic Orchestra, Vincent Gallo, Clark, Rustie and some of the most outstanding representatives of today's Japanese scene.
Sónar São Paulo takes place on 11 and 12 May, and will be the largest of all the events organized by Sónar outside Barcelona, featuring – among others – Mogwai, Jeff Mills, Squarepusher, Za! and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, in addition to the previously announced artists Björk, Justice, Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto, James Blake, Four Tet and Modeselektor.
This year for the first time, Sónar is introducing the new payment system in two instalmentsfor purchasing the 3-day pass for the festival in Barcelona, with an initial payment of 80€ when the booking is made (before 31 March) and a second payment of 75€ before 5 May. Find all information about the Sónar tickets here
These 3 new dates make a total of 31 events that Sónar has organized all over the world, in countries like the United States, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Argentina, among others.
The other inclusions in the line-up are music star Dizzee Rascal, the rising crooner Ghostpoet, North American MC YelaWolf, backed by Eminem, Tiga (in charge of closing SonarLab on Friday night), oOoOO (the third cornerstone of the Brooklyn label Tri Angle showcase) and the showcase by the Italian label Stroboscopic Artefacts, among others.
Sónar continues to seek out the most interesting artists working in Spain right now and this year has selected 10 more names for inclusion in the Barcelona festival line-up.
Sónar Galicia adds 5 top level shows to the line-up: James Murphy, Four Tet, the techno-dubstep producer Martyn, the tech-house maestro Radio Slave and the French house duo DJ Mehdi Vs. Brodinski.
In anticipation of further confirmations, Sónar, the 18th International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art – which will be held in Barcelona days 16, 17 and 18 June – now features a total of 125 shows with these 22 new additions.
New international additions to Sónar Barcelona 2011
James Murphy, one of the most important characters in music so far this century, comes to Sónar after his tremendous recent farewell concert for his band LCD Soundsystem, to give us two sets of exquisite disco-funk-house: one at Sónar Barcelona and the other at Sónar Galicia.
Four Tet is one of the essential names in contemporary music working today. A top drawer producer, a maestro of meticulous electronica and a dj with unquestionable taste, this English artist will be presenting tracks from his most recent album, “There Is Love In You”, and his recent collaborations with Burial, Thom Yorke and Caribou both at Sónar Galicia and Sónar Barcelona.
Dizzee Rascal, probably the best MC to come out of the United Kingdom in the last decade and one of the cornerstones of the British urban sound, returns to Sónar by popular demand after his excellent show last year.
As well as Dizzee Rascal, the festival also presents his fellow British artist Ghostpoet whose debut “Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam” – a treatise of modern hip-hop, tending towards blues and the dark side of trio hop – is one of the most pleasant surprises of this year.
As is the music by the enigmatic oOoOO, one of the cornerstones of Tri Angle who joins the showcase by the Brooklyn label to provide a set for horizontal listening halfway between a live show and a dj session.
Sónar also presents the showcase by the Italian label Stroboscopic Artefacts (dark and penetrating IDM with the brand new names of Lucy and Dadub); the renowned Canadian dj Tiga, who will be responsible for bringing Friday to a close on the SonarLab stage; and one of today’s most interesting MCs, America’s YelaWolf, an Eminem protegé with a powerful personality able to rap at truly devilish speeds. The international additions are rounded off by the Canadian Marc Messier’s unusual Sewing Machine Orchestra, whose name says it all: it is an orchestra consisting of amplified computer-controlled sewing machines.
New Spanish additions to Sónar Barcelona 2011
In its global tracking of the most stimulating talent working today, Sónar looks particularly carefully within Spain’s borders to select the best of the country’s electronica and advanced music.
There are ten new additions to the Sónar Barcelona line-up, all of which are outstanding in terms of their contemporary sensitivity and their commitment to quality: the Barcelona darkwave duo Stendhal Syndrome (with visuals by Alba G. Corral); the disco-house-pop magic of Pffff; the amalgam of styles of Shelby Grey (the new project by Barcelona’s Vicknoise); Aster, the outstanding new duo of djs on the Hivern label; the fascinating world of the electronic luthiers of the Barcelona Laptops Orchestra; the tender and intimate IDM of Ragul; the Aragonese dj Chelis, one of the most creative djs in Spain; the mixture of jazzy grooves and beatboxing of Beat’A’Boom; and selectors from Spain’s two leading music publications: Half Nelson and Vidal Romero (Go-Mag djs) and Joan S. Luna (MondoSonoro), as well as the showcase by Natura Sonoris, one of the country’s leading techno labels, with its main man Henry Saiz and the dark and profound Sistema.
Latest international additions to Sónar Galicia 2011
With these 5 new additions, Sónar Galicia 2011, the 2nd Festival of Advanced Music which will be held in A Coruña on 17 and 18 June now has a total of 27 confirmed shows.
As well as the star turns by James Murphy and Four Tet, Sónar Galicia includes four of the most consolidated and renowned names in modern European electronica in its line-up.
Holland’s Martyn, a key figure in the new school where dubstep and electronica converge, will be presenting tracks from his forthcoming album on Brainfeeder – Flying Lotus’ label – with his new live show.
Matt Edwards, the man behind Radio Slave, has been giving us remixes and his own tunes in the best European tech-house tradition for more than decade, while always keeping the quality threshold high.
Finally, the French duo consisting of DJ Mehdi + Brodinski (sharpshooters of carefully woven house and techno on a party tip on Ed Banger and Turbo respectively) promises to provide some of the highlights on the SonarHall stage at Sónar Galicia.
List of new confirmed additions
Sónar Barcelona 2011
James Murphy (DFA/US) Four Tet (Text/UK) Dizzee Rascal (Dirtee Stank/UK) Ghostpoet (Brownswood Recordings/UK) Tiga (Turbo/CA) Yelawolf (Shady Records/US) oOoOO (Tri Angle/US) Sewing Machine Orchestra (CA) Chelis (Lo-Fi Funk/ES) Stendhal Syndrome (ES) PFFFF (New York Club/ES) Shelby Grey (Holographic People/ES) Barcelona Laptop Orchestra (Esmuc/ES) Ragul (Discontinu/ES) Beat’A’Boom (Col·lectiu Cazique/ES) Aster (Hivern/ES) Half Nelson + Vidal Romero (Go Mag/ES) Joan S. Luna (ES) Showcase Stroboscopic Artefacts :: Lucy + Dadub (IT) Showcase Natura Sonoris :: Henry Saiz + Sistema (ES)
Sónar Galicia 2011
James Murphy (DFA/US) Four Tet (Text/UK) Martyn (3024/NL) Radio Slave (Rekids/UK) DJ Mehdi vs Brodinski (Ed Banger-Turbo/FR)
Steve Reich, a key figure in repetitive minimalism, takes centre stage at the inaugural concert of Sónar 2011 in Barcelona’s L’Auditori. The North American artist will be performing accompanied by bcn 216, L’Auditori resident instrumental group, and the British vocal group Synergy Vocals.
Magnetic Man will perform both in Sónar Barcelona and Galicia. The British trio, consisting of the producers and Djs Benga, Skream and Artwork, is considered the first group providing dubstep for the masses, and threatens to dynamite the star system of dance music, the true pop culture of our age.
Barcelona, A Coruña, London and Tokyo, the dates of Sónar 2011
Sónar 2011 will take place in Barcelona on the 16th, 17th and 18th of June in the usual venues for Sónar by Day (CCCB and MACBA) and Sónar by Night (the Auditori and the Fira Gran Via).
The second edition of Sónar Galicia will take place the 17th and 18th of June in A Coruña. Sonar Galicia comes back next year with a simultaneous edition to Sónar Barcelona. Sónar strengthen its ties with its second venue in ExpoCoruña after a successful first experiences of doubling up the festival in two different cities in Spain during the same weekend.
In 2011, Sónar will celebrate again in London on 19th of March at the Roundhouse the sixth helping of ‘A Taste of Sónar’. Each year, the event is a preview of the line-up of the festival in Barcelona.
On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of April, Tokyo will be the next stop before Sónar Barcelona and Galicia. Sónar returns to Japan for the 4th SonarSound Tokyo edition. After five years away, the event will take place in the ageHa / Studio Coast venue and is preparing for the touchdown of over 20 artists over the three days.
Passes and the special 2-Night Ticket for Sónar Barcelona 2011 on sale now
Sónar Barcelona passes are now on sale at the special price of 130€ (155€ from the 16th of January). Tickets for access to the two nights of Sónar by Night in the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona are also available through the usual sales channels.
The Sónar passes and night tickets are not valid for the L’Auditori access. Tickets for the inaugural concert on the 16th of June at L’Auditori are on sale for the price of 30€.
Sónar Barcelona, which will take place on 14, 15 and June 16, presents its first confirmed artists, including The Roots, Deadmau5, Hot Chip, Modeselektor, James Blake dj, Fatboy Slim, Richie Hawtin, Amon Tobin’s ISAM, Squarepusher, Nicolas Jaar, Luciano, Azari & III, Jacques Lu Cont, Friendly Fires, Metronomy, John Talabot, Mouse On Mars, BBC Radio 1 presents Annie Mac & guests and showcases from Hyperdub, Brainfeeder and 100% Silk, among others.
