Rolling with Heat
The 24th edition of Sónar was maybe the hottest I did ever attend. The sun was so heavily sharing its love with us, that each act playing one of the inside stages was automaticly super popular with team kaput.
As every year, there was so much to experience – as part of the official Sónar programming and, psst, also outside of the mothership. So, where to start and where to end? Let´s just get this started.
Most fun having djs of Sónar 2017: Star Eyes & Jubilee
High energy moves to club music from primary Baltimore and Jersey, delivered by those two fun loving gremlins. Too bad this had to end.
Most challenging performance: Marie Davidson Seeing the Montreal producer perform „Bullshit Treshold“ for the first time in Europe was both, wonderful and awkward. It is rare that an artist is opening up so honestly for us, we should appreciate it.
Marie Davidson debuting her new show at Sonar. #mariedavidson #sonar Ein Beitrag geteilt von Kaput Magazin (@kaput_mag) am
Most intense stage diving journey: Princess Nokia
If there is one thing Destiny Nicole Frasqueri does not like: rules. She ain´t gonna follow them at all. That said she came super late on stage, again (like at Moogfest) loved to put the microphone away to showcase the playbacks, and she decided to ignore all “nos” and went for a super long stage diving journey through the pit. You must be dead if you were not up for that ride.
Most interesting panel: Marie McPartlin, Dimitri Hegeman and Ralph Christoph Three cultural activist sharing their inside of how to to turn abandoned spaces into blooming art fields. Or something like that. Initiated by We Are Europe.
Most sadly missed Sónar by night b-2-b: Daphni & Hunee
Why we missed it? Blame Andre Weatherall! ☺ Photo by Severin Most.
Best stalker photo of this years Sónar: Soulwax Lovely to see some artist caring about the programm and walking around to check the others out.
And one more stalker moment: Suzanne Cianis hands on the legendary Buchla.
Best tapa of this years Sónar: beans with ham
Most outlandish Off-Sónar moment: Sake served by Richie Hawtin I do not really understand how we ended at this little thing. But I am grateful for all the sake and mineral wine we were offered.
Most ambitious performance: Dopplereffekt, Antivj, Sceintists, Artist-Coders and Entropy This cometogether of arts and artists set the bar high and presented nothing less than the story of the world from the beginning till today. Intense. Curated by We Are Europe.
Most doggy style singing: Arca I really like him, as a person and dj, and there are moments in his productions when I understand all the fuzz about it, but girl, this boy should not sing. That was yodeling as a friend said it well. Yodeling to the video art of Jesse Kanda by the way.
Best hat of the festival: black turban I like to have my stalker moments and photograph unknown people I like – you should know this by now. This men I liked a lot.
Most absurd Off-Sónar moment: Moscoman at Pacha Do not ask how I ended up in this dark hole of club culture – but I only lasted for 28 minutes and in the end someone told me I should not be so elitist. I was not at all, I was just sad.
Most uplifting moment of my days in Barcelona: Andrew Weatherall It was a decision of seconds to stop the cab on the way to Sónar by Night and jump out to run to Moog Club, pay our way in and sweat and dance to the magic of the one and only Andrew Weatherall. Still getting goose bumps when thinking about it.
Most dark performance: Andy Stott
At the end of a sweaty day, we sank down in the chairs of the SónarComplex-Auditorium – and suddenly there was the blackest ever black and the drony minimalism of Andy Stott field the air with ist beauty. Curated by We Are Europe.
Andy Stott. The Blackest ever black. #andystott #sonar Ein Beitrag geteilt von Kaput Magazin (@kaput_mag) am
Most white performance: Roosevelt I have to be honest here, when I saw my Cologne fellow for the first time live with his current show, right after the record was released, it did not touch my heart at all. Ok, the circumstances at the opening concert of Pop-Kultur Festival in Berlin were tough – anyway, since then each concert is better then the one before and so after last years Primavera Sound and his home coming show in Cologne this spring, the Sónar one was the one trip to drop. The perfect soundtrack to a perfect day.
Most people bevor me at an Optimo set ever: Optimo
Normally I am able to put my hands on the bodies of Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes when they play records, but this time there were so many people dancing between us. Still great to see the Glasgow originals dropping the last beat of Sónar by Day for this year – they might have closed with Slayer, at least it sounded like that to me.
Most ridiculous dancer: Tommy Cash
I do not wanna know what they smoke up there in Tallinn, Estland. While the trap sound of Tommy Cash had ist half-life quite fast, I could keep on watching his duck dancing moves forever and everever.
Most minimal wave set: Veronica Vasicka
The Minimal Wave Records and Cititrax owner played exactly the set I hoped to hear from her. Dry, dark and funky.
Best not music moment of this years Sonar trip: Mies von der Rohe
I made it. It took me something like 30 visits to Barcelona to finally climb up those stairs to tha Mies pavillon. And suddenly the air was fresh and my body came down.
Best photo call moment of the festival: this bottle is empty
Thank you to the model, who, of course did not drink anything from that bottle.
And now: Sónar as seen with the eyes of photograph extraordinaire Katja Ruge:
- Princess Nokia
- Björk in conversation
- Marie Davidson
- Lena Willikens
- Miss Kittin & Kim Ann Foxman
- Anderson Paak.
- A man under the influence of light
- Sophia Kennedy & Mense Reents
- J. Cervelló Composer of Concerto di Maggio
- Two woman under the influence of aesthetics
- Pan Daijing
- Innervisions superstars
- Todd Terje live (innervisions)
- âme (innervisions)
- Suzanne Ciani
- Katja Ruge & Brian Eno