The God of music that resides in Barcelona
Fans, and non-fans of Sonar, thank you for waiting. Starting from today, I will spend a couple of sessions introduce Sonar 2006. And don't worry, all video footage streamed on this website is free.

Now, how many of you have been to Sonar? I went for the first time this year, and I was able to experience "music" and "sounds" that I had never before encountered, during the course of 3 days. As loud music filled the old town of Barcelona, young, lively girls and boys came in droves and danced like crazy, chilled, drank and smoked and showed off their tattoos to one another, then drank some more. Architecture by Richard Meier, as well as the beautiful white contemporary art museum MACBA that Barcelona boasts, were swallowed up in the confusion. People enjoyed the advanced music and multimedia art here in the capital of Catalonia, a unique cultural city.

Affection for travel, music, architecture, art, and sometimes desire (which occasionally turns to love)... All of this is spread throughout Barcelona, and Sonar lets you experience it all.

Firstly, an especially cool, stoic performance.

Clickety-clack it goes. The sound makes me shiver, as if I'm being made to listen to the sound of a "phenomenon" occurring then and there. Wondering what it could be and eyeing the stage, I see a laptop on a board, and above that, a wooden board with a small iron rod dancing on it like crazy. The sound of this iron-rod dance is captured not by a normal microphone that only picks up aerial vibrations, but instead a contact-microphone that records solid vibrations.

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This isn't really my thing, and I don't even think it's very cool, but they're a local DJ unit from Barcelona. I was amused by the photograph of the three of them in their sunglasses and decided to go (much like buying an album just for its cover), but I was disappointed to find that they were mediocre, even from a DJ-ing perspective. Then again, I guess it was interesting to see such a large percentage of the audience wearing shades.

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The artists I unearthed at Sonar. Donning suits, they make music using toys. Very experimental. But the nostalgia of it all makes me feel an affinity towards the sounds and the artists themselves.

The real thrill of music festivals are those fateful encounters with artists that you don't know. Such moments are exhilarating.

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They were so good that I ended up interviewing the leader of Modified TOY ORCHESTRA, Brian Duffy, about his group.

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sonarvillage
Last time, I mainly introduced indoor gigs, but this time I will talk about 2 outdoor gigs and 1 gig held in a tent. The symbol of Sonar is Sonar Village, built in the inner courts of the MACBA. Even if a famous musician played at Sonar By Night, the media would use images of Sonar Village, giving the impression that all gigs are held outside. The sounds resonate under the blazing sun, blue skies, and bouncing back off the walls of the tent, while people lazily bask in the music. You can enjoy it however you like dancing, lying around, making out. Each person has their own way of participating and experiencing the festival. This is what makes Sonar so attractive.

This will give you goose-bumps. This is rock, no doubt. As you can see from their name, Paul leads the band, which consists of calm drums and bass as hardcore as those Midwestern policemen. Although I didn't get to see Senor Coconut, I would say that this band got the audience hyped up the most. I'd love to see them again, or better yet, another two or three times, and immerse myself in their groove once more.

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Also from Germany - well, at least the mixing guy and the other one with the laptop are. Joining them is MC Scoom T from Scotland.

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A harsh, continuous shot. The MC furiously pumps up the audience, but they don't seem interested... I wonder why, they're not all that bad…

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sonarsound tokyo
1 week until sonarsound tokyo 2006. We will show artists' performances at sonar 2006. May you be united with the piercing, extraordinary music in Ebisu at night...

Couldn't find a guest in time
What?! I was away from Japan for 3 weeks reporting on ARS Electronica 2006 and Berlin, so I was unable to schedule a guest... So, this time I've asked my partner Kenji, in charge of filming, to watch the Sonar footage. Only Igarashi and I went to Sonar, so Kenji has yet to experience it himself. I think Igarashi's photos will be posted sometime this week... I'll make sure we have a proper guest next time.

We combined various footage and wanted you to feel as if you’ve gone to Barcelona and Sonar. It’s pretty silly, but please click if you feel like it.

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For me, this performance by Mr. Sawai was the highlight of Sonar. It was so cool. I got goose-bumps, and was so caught up in his groove that I often forgot that I was filming. The sounds pierced through my flesh and set fire to my musical heart. So the camerawork might be a bit dodgy, but I guess that in itself gives the footage a certain flavor.

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I caught up with Mr. Sawai in the venue the next day. Please have a look.

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Last year I introduced Toshio Iwai's TENORI-ON performance at part of last year's ARS Electronica 2005. Following on, Sonar sees Mr. Iwai creating sounds from 3 of his "instruments" - Sound Lens, TENORI-ON, and Electro Plankton.

Rootsy sounds of Sound Lens, TENORI-ON's short sound loops slowly overlapping to create music, and Electro Plankton's catchy, poppy sounds... Although very experimental, Mr. Iwai manages to present it as entertainment. Apparently this was the first live performance of this sort for him, and I feel immensely happy that I was able to see and record it.

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After performing at Sonar, what new possibilities did Mr. Iwai discover for TENORI-ON and Electro Plankton...?

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sonarmatica
Sonarsound Tokyo 2006 has finally ended. How was it? I was unfortunately unable to attend due to work.

This week, I will introduce artworks displayed in Sonarmatica at Sonar 2006. From what I could tell, it didn't really stand out at Sonar, seeing as everyone was here for the music, and it was tucked underground at the MACBA... However, I rather enjoyed getting away from the bustle of the festival and slowly observing the artworks. At ARS and DEAF, it's interesting because whether it's arty or cyber-y, the live performances and artworks exist in the same atmosphere, but at Sonar each venue has its own distinct flavor, so it's as if you're resetting yourself each time.

Apparently, in recent years the multimedia exhibition is getting smaller than the musical side of the festival. Or rather, the musical aspect is growing. And although it isn't as bad as other music festivals, I can still smell the stink of commercialism. What surprised me the most was the fact that most live performances were entertainment-oriented. The most avant-garde artists out of the lot were from Japan, such as Mr. Iwai, Mr. Sawai, Mr. Horio, and Doravideo.

I guess Sonar is in the midst of expansion. It'll become a major event, attracting major musicians and a mass audience... And the multimedia team will become cool supporting acts, providing eye-opening experimental experiences for the audience and keeping Sonar's avant-garde tradition alive.

If that's the case, there's no way that we can avoid talking about Sonarmatica on our website.

Part 2 of combining B-grade footage and wanting to make you to feel as if you've gone to Barcelona and Sonar... For when you're feeling bored.

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Jens spoke a lot for us. We taped this in the morning, after talking over coffee for 30 minutes prior. But he just kept on talking and talking throughout the interview too… Please watch this interview, it runs just under 10 minutes.

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Reunion part 2. Blast Theory won the Golden Nica for Interactive Art at ARS 2003. This piece uniquely mixes real and virtual worlds, which they often do in their work. The figures and town look very cool... but the system itself doesn't quite work properly...

By becoming a resident in this imaginary town, the piece lets you exchange messages on your mobile with other people about disasters and events that occur in the town. However, I couldn't send or receive any messages... Up to 1000 people can participate, and yet due to errors in the system, I was unable to interact with anybody during my turn… In the end, I couldn't experience the full potential of the game, but if I ever get another chance to play it again, I promise I'll record it and show it here.

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Matt, the leader of Blast Theory. Once you hear him talk, I'm sure you'll understand how good the piece really is...

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Endlessly typing out strange, nonsensical letters. Waste of paper. Take a look.

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Although Duque mentioned that he doesn't really like parties, it was interesting that he mentioned after the interview that "I was at a party till late last night and haven't slept", and "I'm going to a party after this today, I'm so busy".

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Hello everyone! Nice to meet you, I'm Igarashi and I've joined the AAL team since the Sonar series. I apologize for not being able to introduce myself last time due to delays in the editorial work. I really do regret not introducing myself earlier.

Anyway, onto the main topic. My first overseas report was much more difficult than I expected. I was struggling to keep up with Mr. Maeda, who I went with.

Basically, Mr. Maeda is one tough guy. At times I thought that the guy was insane. That's how tough he was. Overall though, I was able to have a really good experience (thanks to Mr. Maeda). Looking back, I feel like I was always sweating during my time there. Of course, it's natural to sweat in the summer heat, but I was also sweating of joy over exciting encounters, and once also broke out in a cold sweat after a huge mistake I made... I also sweat while having beer and dinner after a long day of reporting, and generally sweated a lot over myriad things. I feel like physical experiences like this make the memory so much dearer. I had fruitful experiences every single day that I was at Sonar. Today, I'd like to introduce my interviews with 4 artists. It was my first time, and yes, I messed up too. Our guest is bookbinder Isao Mitobe. We were in the same grade at University and I was constantly troubling him. I interviewed him this time at his house, and wow, his book collection is bigger each time I go.

First up is Ms. Yanagisawa's performance. I actually shot this video at the very start of the first day of the festival. I went to the venue an hour before the performance to check the stage out, and confirm the positioning of the camera. However... once the performance began and I started rolling, I realized that her face and hands aren't in the picture. The stage is high up, and the instruments are larger than I thought. And Ms. Yanagisawa is petit. I should have known... I break out in a cold sweat! Oh no! I can't shoot anything. Time is ticking away. I desperately try to swing the camera to the sides and place the camera on stage, but the performance soon ends. The results were miserable. Mr. Maeda, coming from the back of the venue, asked me how it went. My reply: "I couldn't get a thing". Truly awful.

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An interview with V-SCRATCH. By the way, I finally realized that he was V-SCRATCH when I asked for this interview. I dashed to the scratching guy after the performance, and he said “Wait there” and brought the skinhead over. That's when I realized "Oh, so this is V-SCRATCH". As I don't speak English, this was my first ever interview with a foreigner. I'm very grateful to V-SCRATCH for kindly answering my nonsensical English questions.

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An Argentinian star. The uncoolness of his costume, his performance on stage... I don't know what exactly it was, but anyway, it was awesome. Check it out.

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The last band of Sonar 2006. They used small, strange instruments like maracas and harmonicas, and the crowed loved it. The rapper who came on stage as a guest also hyped up the audience. Once the festival drew to a close, a sense of sadness lingered in the venue... but there's always next year!

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