Sonar 2014 – Image: mixtopia.ro

Sónar Barcelona

Constantly on the pulse of the current electronic music landscape, the festival offers a wide variety of balanced cultural entertainment and is thus divided into two main locations: the recently premiered Sónar by Day, located in Fira Montjuïc with concerts, DJs and showcases. The recently added Sónar+D area — which is about discovering and tracking new talent and enhancing professional activities — will also be part of Sónar by Day. And, of course, there’s Sónar by Night in Fira Gran Via de L’Hospitalet where the main action will go down with some of the biggest names known to the international music scene. Click here to view the full line-up.

New: Sónar+D

Launched in 2013, Sónar+D aims to unite creativity, technology, mobility, innovation and business in a transparent and accessible manner. Through bringing together experts from all over the world, the event’s goal is to shape future creative experiences (technologists, entrepreneurs, artists, companies and researchers) in the area of music, image, interactive content, and transmedia platforms. There will be conferences, workshops, an exhibition featuring 80 projects in the MarketLab and AppCafé areas including demos and product presentations, a networking area as well as Sónar Cinema designed for performances.

Among the 100 companies present will be Kickstarter (USA), Fabrica (IT), the Design Fictions group from the prestigious MIT Media Lab (USA), Universal Everything (UK), Sedition (UK), CANADA (BCN) and littleBits (USA). But most importantly, Sónar+D exclusively presents the European premiere of ‘CLOUDS’ an interactive documentary that predicts the future of cinema for Oculus Rift, as well as the world premiere of cult instrument and music controller Oval, a digital alternative to Hang. Click here for more info on Sónar+D.

New: Sónar Cape Town

As Cape Town has recently acquired World Design Capital 2014 status, it seems suitable for the city to host their own version of Spain’s most prestigious arts and culture festival. Award-winning agency Seed Experiences will bring the festival to South Africa annually, with the inaugural event planned for 16 December 2014 at the iconic Good Hope Centre in Cape Town. With top electronic local acts and two international big names as headliners, the SA installment promises to be on par with its international counterparts in Barcelona, Tokyo, Reykjavik and Mexico. Follow Sónar Cape Town on Facebook for further updates.

Lykke-Li – Image: billboard.com

Massive Attack – Image: oncetv-ipn.net

Woodkid – Image: purplesneakers.com.au

Spoek Mathambo – Image: thestarvedblog.co.za

Image: Screen Shot from You Tube

Written as the lead single for both Pharrell’s newest 2014 album G I R L, and for the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album, this song has had all of us instantly bouncing to the cheerful beat and exuberant vocals. It’s just damn catchy. In fact, so catchy that most of the world — about 97 countries to be exact — have decided to dance along to the contagiously bright tune and spread the happiness. wearehappyfrom.com is a platform created by Julie Fersing and Loïc Fontaine, from Nantes, France. The goal, as explained on the site by Fersing and Fontaine, is

To get people to understand what a hit this song is, and to display happiness all around the world. We want to spread as many videos as possible that are all inspired by one simple idea that has nothing to do with money, politics or religion

The most recent and, of course, our favourite version comes straight from the heart of Cape Town. Directed by Shamiel Soni and Tannan Woods and produced by Nicki Priem, this video showcases the gorgeous Mother City and makes us proud to be one of the many happy locals living here.

Naturally, when a song gets this big on the music radar, remixes will be abound. So far, the best and most interesting remix we’ve come across is a sad version of ‘Happy’ by Woodkid. Polish-born, French-raised director, designer and chamber-pop musician Yoann Lemoine has given Pharrell’s #1 smash a string-laden treatment that’s more likely to tug at your heart than move your feet. Pretty clever take.