Cool Hunting

After our strange multimedia experience at Sonarama, it was time to get our dancing shoes on for Sónar. I was so enthusiastic about getting there that I was the first person off the first bus Friday night. Why in such as hurry you ask? Just one name: Gilles Peterson, the main man for funky soulful electro beats in the UK, with his amazing worldwide show on Radio 1. Of course, he didn’t disappoint, playing an amazing set with MC Earl Zinger. The highlight was an incredibly beautiful Minnie Riperton moment when the dramatic symbols took over during Les Fleur.

Up next was the godfather of beat boxing himself, Rahzel (below left), who was breathtaking, naturally, but unappreciated by the crowd. It was fantastic to see Rahzel live at last, but I'd really like to see him with someone else.Why not perform tracks from Medulla with Bjork, for example?

The odd thing about Sónar this year was the opposing themes of Japanese electro, which fits Sonar like a glove and old school hip hop, which, uh, doesn’t. Running from a hip hop room to a techno room, the clashing change of sound and pace was challenging. Can someone please explain to me why Barcelona doesn't get Hip Hop?!! All the Catalans and Spanish were in the electro rooms (Jeff Mills and Miss Kitten (below right) were favorites, the Brits and Americans were in the Hip Hop rooms, and a smattering of other nationalities ran between the two.

Further into the night a lot of people (probably not Spanish) enjoyed the pure Disco indulgence of Chic and Nile Rogers on the main stage and their unrepentant 70s and 80s take on electro music. I was seeking out something a little more edgy and was happy to find DJ Krush impressing the crowd in the next door room.

The most eagerly-awaited act of the night (which also turned out to be the weirdest) was DJ Shadow's set, which he began by announcing that this was "an experiment." It was all about The Hyphy Movement, hardcore krunky stuff, with MCs Keak da Sneak, Turf Talk and Nump throwing "free ecstasy pills" into the crowd, whether they were actually asprin or not, who knows?

The night finished on an upbeat note when we caught the end of Matthew Herbert (above right). It was just the right tonic with beautifully melodic jazz sounds and—in true quirky Herbert style—all the band dressed in their pajamas, including my friend Dave Okumu on guitar. Dave is a ridiculously talented jazz guitarist so keep an eye and an ear out for Jade Fox, Dave's own band with Tom Herbert of Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland. Gilles Peterson has been promoting their stuff and hopefully their first album will be out soon.

After just enough hours sleep to still be enthusiastic, Saturday night started off retro-style with Miss Alison Goldfrapp (above left) giving a fantastically glittery electro-glam-rock performance. For such a tiny little thing, she has a huge stage presence and knows how get the night off to a great start. After that I just managed to catch the excellent Isolée (above center) and his abstract beats before dashing over to the Digable Planets (right), who did their very best groovy-jazzy-funky for us. They were very cool like dat! Then time for another change when the whole of Sónar flocked to the main stage for Miss Kitten’s set. She’s incredibly popular here in Barcelona for her clean, open electro sounds with live vocals and her irrepressible enthusiasm for the music. How many times have you seen the DJ get out from behind the decks and dance across the stage in a tight lamé mini dress!

Another highlight was Ugly Duckling (left), who were keeping their "Eye On the Gold Chain" with their humorous anti-bling stance. They reminded us that we don’t have all the money, or all the girls, or a hit record label with all "the typical drama" and "just a little samba." And so, as the night became morning and the sky faded to blue, Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos led us into the new day. It was hard to accept, but our feet gradually lost the will to move, so we said goodbye to Sónar for another year and shuffled our way home to the sound of the birds singing.