Black music and the sounds of Japan will top the bill of Sónar 2006. Furthermore a big part of the artists performing this year are revealed; Jeff Mills, Tiga, Modeselektor, Laurent Ganier, Isolée, Goldfrapp and of course Richie Hawtin will take the stand amongst many others.

The Sónar 2006 line up is heavily influenced by a tribute to black music culture, which has had such an extensive influence on the development of electronic music. Reggae, dub, hip-hop, jazz, funk and disco music will be represented on the festival's various stages by classic acts including the Digable Planets, Linton Kwesi Johnson & the Dennis Bovell Dub Band and Chic feat. Nile Rodgers, and current performers including Fat Freddy’s Drop, Pete Philly & Perquisite, Bus feat. MC SOOM-T, Jeff Mills, Kenny Dope, Ugly Duckling, Jake The Rapper and Gilles Peterson, to mention just a few.

The sounds of Japan, one of the most fertile, neglected and complex scenes in today's electronic music, are one of this year's reference genres. The SonarComplex stage will be almost exclusively given over to them - watch out for live performances by Yanagisawa Marina, Horio Kanta, Hawai Taeji, Doravideo, Optrum, Nobukazu Takemura and Softpad - but their extensive participation does not end with Sónar by Day and they will also be a central feature of the night-time schedules.

Nightmares on Wax will offer one of the most eagerly awaited concerts in Sónar by Night, with “In a Space Outta Sound”, their fifth LP, operating at full capacity. Other important performances at Sónar by Night will be those by Rahzel & DJ JS-One, Ryoji Ikeda, Herbert & Dani Siciliano, Infadels, Goldfrapp, Isolée, The MFA, Tiga, Superthriller, DJ Krush, Afra & The Incredible Beatbox Band, Diplo + A-Track, Sasha and DJ Vadim’s One Self.

L’Auditori de Barcelona will host an exceptional event for the fourth consecutive year. Carsten Nicolai - better known as Alva Noto - and Ryuichi Sakamoto will give a live performance of their acclaimed “Insen”, the sequel to the equally well-received “Vrioon”, in which the sensitivity of piano melodies and the abstraction of minimal electronica converge in a highly unusual way.

SonarMática, the festival's multimedia area, completes this year the trilogy of projects based around the concept of territory in the modern world, with an exhibition focusing on the most lively and significant art scene using new media: mobile culture and location projects.

Once again this year, Sonar by Day will be using its regular stages, SonarVillage, SonarComplex, Sonarama and the Hall stage; and its other classic exhibition and disclosure areas, SónarCinema, Conferences and Debates, and SónarMática.

This year, one of the most well-known daytime stages is being moved to the night-time schedule. The SonarLab programme will take place in the Montjuïc 2 venue.

As it does every year, Sónar by Day will review the latest trends in electronica, advanced rock, electro, hip-hop, electronic pop, digital concretism, electronic folk and experimental jazz, with names including Liars, Shit And Shine, Seeland, Pole & Band, Eliot Lipp, Birdy Nam Nam, Phoenecia, Kimmo Pohjonen, Kapitalband, The Considerate Builders Scheme, Radicalfashion and Hifana.

Labels including Stating Caravan (US), Kindred Spirits (NL), Mosz (AT), Combination (DE), Plop (JP), Capsule (UK), Schematic (DE), Spectral Sound (US), Scape (DE), Hefty (US) and New Sonic Performance (JP) will take centre stage at the showcases.

The music program so far:
12Twelve (Acuarela/ES)
Afra & the Incredible Beatbox Band (Oddjob/JP)
AZ Rotator (Ad Noiseam/Madrid)
Birdy Nam Nam (Uncivilised World/FR)
Chic feat. Nile Rodgers (US)
Circlesquare (Output/CA)
Dave Clarke (Skint/UK)
Digable Planets (Blue Note/US)
Diplo vs A-Trak (Big Dada/US)
Disco D (Disco Digital/US)
DJ Krush (Sony/JP)
Dom Sotgiu plays Blood and Fire (Blood and Fire/UK)
Doravideo (Macaroni Records/JP)
Fat Freddy's
Drop (The Drop/NZ)
Gilles Peterson & MC Earl Zinger (Talkin' Loud/UK)
Goldfrapp (Mute/UK)
Herbert & Dani Siciliano (Accidental/UK)
Hifana (JP)
Horio Kanta (New Sonic/JP)
Infadels (World Of Sound/UK)
Insen: Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto (Rasternoton/DE-JP)
Isolée (Playhouse/DE)
Jeff Mills (Axis/US)
Kenny Dope (Kay-Dee Records/US)
Kimmo Pohjonen / Samuli Kosminen Kluster (Westpark Music/FI)
Laurent Garnier & Bugge Wesseltoft feat. Philippe Nadaud (FCom/FR)
Liars (Mute/US)
Linton Kwesi Johnson & Dennis Bovell Dub Band
Marc Richter plays Dekorder (Dekorder/DE)
Miguel Carvalhais & Return Cruz play Cronica Electronica (Cronica Electronica/PT)
Miss Kittin (NOBODY'S BIZZNESS/FR)
Modeselektor (B-Pitch Control/DE)
Mondii aka Nao Sugimoto plays Spekk (Spekk/JP)
Nightmares on Wax (Warp/UK)
Nobukazu Takemura (Thrill Jockey/JP)
One Self (Ninja Tune/UK)
Optrum (JP)
Rahzel & DJ JS-One (MCA/US)
Richard Chartier plays LINE (12k/US)
Richie Hawtin vs Ricardo Villalobos (Minus/CA-CL)
Sasha (Global Underground/UK)
Satoshi Tomiie (SAW/JP)
Señor Coconut and his Orchestra feat. Argenis Brito (Essay/CL)
Shit & Shine (Riot Season/UK)
Softpad (JP)
Superthriller (Mint/UK)
Tape. (Spa.rk/ES)
The MFA (B-Pitch Control/UK)
Tiga (Pias/CA)
Tucker (Oddjob/JP)
Ugly Duckling (All City/US)
Yanagisawa Marina (JP)

More info: www.sonar.es

(source: Press release)