On 12 June the new Plastikman album EX will premier exclusively at Sónar Barcelona with a special adaptation for SónarVillage. And, the Sónar 2014 app to check up all you need to know about the line-up is available now. More info below!
The exclusive show featuring the new Plastikman album
EX is the eagerly anticipated new album from Plastikman – the project with which Richie Hawtin gained worldwide recognition in the 1990s. The album was recorded live at the Guggenheim Museum in New York and will be presented live worldwide exclusively at Sónar by Day with the special show “Objekt” on Thursday 12 June. The date at Sónar will be Plastikman’s only live show in the entire year 2014.
The Plastikman show (which extends the closing time at Sónar by Day on Thursday 12 until 11 pm) arrives in Barcelona with a special adaptation for SonarVillage, including a spectacular central LED obelisk. On the next day, Friday 13 June, Hawtin will be performing at Sónar once again – this time with one of his high-precision technological sets at SonarClub (Sónar by Night).
EX will be released digitally on 10 June and in physical format on 14 July, on MINUS/Mute. Mute is the label run by Daniel Miller, who will be responsible for the set that provides a prelude to Plastikman’s performance at Sónar by Day.
Listen to the EX preview here.
The Official Sónar 2014 App
The Sónar 2014 app is available now. The new application, available in three languages (Spanish, Catalan and English), allows you to check the line-up by day, time, stage and artist, for Sónar by Day, Sónar by Night and Sónar+D.
The options include MyAgenda, the customized calendar of favourite shows, synchronized with the diary created by the user at MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from “mandrillapp.com” claiming to be www.sonar.es. To do this, you can access the list of the artists and mark them as favourites by clicking on the star: MyAgenda sorts them and gives an alarm 5, 10, 30 and 60 minutes before each show begins.
The application also includes interactive maps of the various stages at Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night in the Venues option, all the Sónar+D activities sorted by area (with a Networking Tool for accredited professionals only), the basic information about the festival (such as directions, how to get there and how to buy tickets, for example).
The App also includes two very special new features: the tracklist with the songs at the festival that can be listened to continuously at any time using Deezer; and the Augmented Reality function, which enables you to locate any festival space easily, as well as providing information about who is performing live at that time.
The application for Android and iPhone can now be downloaded via Google Play and App Store.
Major premieres and essential shows at Sónar by Night
Hedonism, dancing, spectacle and the groove have been intrinsic elements of Sónar’s DNA since its first edition. And of course, they will once again be the protagonists of the festival line-up in 2014, focusing especially on the two days and the four stages at Sónar by Night.
Massive Attack have chosen Sónar Barcelona for the international premiere of their new show, which promises to be a further step forward in their audiovisual exploration of political propaganda and technological influence. Röyksopp & Robyn will combine their talents in a show for which the first international date will be Friday 13 June at Sónar by Night: the duo will be performing live their extensive repertoire of hits and tracks from their new EP Do it Again. Meanwhile,
the charismatic Lykke Li will be presenting her recent album I Never Learn at Sónar by Night, on which she shows that she is able to combine pop, soul and electronica with a great deal of talent. Yelle will also be arriving with a new album, which they will be performing live with a powerful and completely new show.
A special mention is warranted for Chic, the legendary band led by Nile Rodgers, whose contribution to funk and the disco tradition is essential for understanding and enjoying the present and future of music; and Richie Hawtin, probably the world’s most acclaimed dj, who is always one step ahead of the pack with his high-voltage technological sets, who will be playing the day after the premiere of the new Plastikman show.
Dancefloor benchmarks
This year, the festival welcomes several artists with an acknowledged capability to bring any dance floor to the boil, including Boys Noize, who expertly operate in the territory between techno, house and electro; 2manydjs, internationally acclaimed for their encyclopedic knowledge of the history of dance music and the genius highlighted in their sets; France’s Brodinski and Gesaffelstein, both at the frontline of international danceable techno: and Tiga, one of the most respected figures of the last 20 years and a dj with very experienced hands.
Sónar by Night also hosts several recent projects, including dance electronica, hip hop beats, dubstep breaks and British jungle: Flux Pavilion, Rudimental and I Am Legion, three British acts all with shows with pure energy on stage; Pretty Lights, perhaps the foremost producer in the new American cohort, with an impressive live show; and the rhythmic forcefulness of Camo & Krooked, whose sets redefine the power of drum’n’bass with a completely contemporary sound.
Global house
House and its many mutations will be lighting up the four Sónar by Night stages in their own right with some of their most important representatives: The Martinez Brothers, the most consolidated reality in New York house: from Norway, Todd Terje, the maestro of cosmic disco, with his recent It’s Album Time!; James Murphy, a specialist in
uncovering the genre’s hidden gems in bewitching sessions; the showcase by the legendary Leeds label 2020 Vision, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary with performances by Debukas, Paul Woolford (with a house set) and its founder, Ralph Lawson, one of Britain’s finest djs of all time. Daphni and James Holden will form an unprecedented and highly stimulating duo behind the decks; and Monki, star dj and presenter at BBC Radio 1, will be giving us a set with the best in bass music, new forms of techno and contemporary house.
Click here for info on Sónar Cape Town.