Sonar After Primavera

After the Primavera Sound, we are having another big music festival in Barcelona, the 13th International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art (aka Sonar 2006).
Last Thursday Jordi and I got to see one of the main attractions of this edition: Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto performed at L’Auditori (nothing to do with the Primavera Sound venue at the Forum). It was a duel between Sakamoto’s piano and Noto’s laptops, punctuated with figures and shapes lighted on a LED display at the background.
Yesterday I walked to the “Sonar by Night” (the night shows are held in L’Hospitalet, not far from where I live) and spent some time going around the different stages and checking some of the performances. I stopped at the stage called SonarPark, to watch Linton Kwsesi Johnson & Dennis Bovell Dub Band.
Finally I decided to stay at the SonarLab, listening to Masami Shimomura DJ’s session and Sora’s show, and I even think I had a little doze while lying on the artificial turf.
After that refreshing rest I could watch part of Jimmy Edgar’s show and Jeff Mills’ session. I admit that is not my kind of music, but I could see why they invite Mills to perform at the Sonar so often. He’s always a sure winner.

As for the Primavera Sound, I can’t add mucho more to Martin’s lists of highlights and lowlights, and John’s comments on some of the bands at the festival. I’d just like to mention some bands few people seemed to notice.
One of the very first bands to play was Southern Arts Society, which caught my interest with their use of a drum machine, especially in an edition with a considerable number of tough guitar bands.
The most crowded band in the festival performed at the smallest stage. Nobody had heard about I’m From Barcelona before their main song (titled “I’m From Barcelona”) was chosen as a kind of hymn for the promotion of the festival. They are not even local. Actually they’re from Sweden.
And I’d also like to mention 12twelve, with their instrumental jazzy rock, because they, like me, are from L’Hospitalet. That’s a good reason to mention them, isn’t it?