Over three days and three nights, Barcelona hosts Sonar, Barcelona's International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Scanning the latest creations in electronic music and multimedia, Sonar includes a wide selection of cinema, video and new media art, music and more... with more than 89.000 people attending over the three days this year, Sonar is now at his twelve edition and is considered as one of the best Electronic Music festival worldwide. The Sonar by Day programme includes a variety of showcases from new labels and different countries, contemporary new media projects and performances, a crowded Record Fair and highlights such as this year's Music & Gastronomy concerts or the SonarCinema screenings. Sonar by Night is dedicated to clubbing culture, but also focuses on showing new musical trends through peculiar vocal performances like Jamie Lidell, Roisin Murphy or Soft Pink Truth. A global event with one main aim: reflecting the next future in contemporary electronic culture.

www.sonar.es

For your chance to win a sonar 2005 Addidas Bag and a copy of the excellent sonar 2005 CD answer this simple question:

Q: Name two tracks off the sonar 2005 CD

Answers in an email to competition@samurai.fm, don't forget to include your name and address!!

Competition closes 15th August 2005

Luke Vibert was born in Cornwall. Influenced by early heroes of the scene such as Aphex Twin and Tom Middleton/Global communications, Luke decided to try and release some of his own music.

A new label called Rising High contacted Luke; they were looking for new ambient acts and told them he was making ambient music. Wagon Christ was born. Having convinced the label and many of the people buying his records that he was a new ambient guru, Wagon Christ continued to make sizzling, funky chunks of exotic business culminating in the masterful "Throbbing Pouch".

But by this time, he had also discovered the joys of name-changing. Rephlex released his Vibert-Simmonds project and Blue Planet released his drum 'n' bass numbers under the moniker Plug. Mo'Wax signed him up for an album under the most radical title yet: Luke Vibert. Wagon Christ saw some major label action courtesy of Virgin, while Luke Vibert began collaboration with renowned steel guitar player BJ Cole. And in between he pumped out a host of remixes for, amongst others, Nine Inch Nails, Squarepusher, Tortoise, Lamb and Stereolab.

His home now is Ninja Tune where he has released two albums, Musipal and Sorry I make you Lush. This show is his live laptop set at Sonar 2005, a typically Vibert-esque slice of some deep, lush electronica with random samples thrown in for fun.

www.ninjatune.net

Michaela Dippel, aka Ada, started her musical career as a singer in a rock band back in 1994. As the band slowly incorporated synthesizers and samplers into their repertoire, Ada too started exploring electronic music. Whilst already receiving acclaim for her remix work, it was her debut release 'Blindhouse' that signalled there was much to look forward to from Ada and Areal Records. During the next two years she released two more singles, 'Believer/ Arriba Ameba' and 'Lovelace/ And More'. Skip ahead to late 2004, Ada's debut artist album 'Blondie' is released, and it delivers. The ten sumptuous mini-symphonies of synth-pop, techno and omnipotent minimal sounds further herald Ada as part of the nouvelle vague.

Consistently danceable she delights with melancholic profundity. Her music crosses oceans with loud volumes from New York to Toronto to Lisbon to Paris and especially renowned clubs like Click/ Hamburg, Maria/ Berlin, Studio 672/ Cologne which have all been ruptured by her live-performance.

www.kompakt-net.de

Music film and documentary makers Studio Rarekwai presents a special Japanese showcase of stars from their latest documentary on Japanese hip hop culture: 'Scratching Below the Surface - Japan' that was shown at a number of international film festivals and broadcast on TV channels around the world.


The most influential and revered beatboxer to emerge from Japan, Afra acquired his beatboxing skills in Brooklyn, New York where he caught the eye of the legendary Rahzel. Coached by the masters and produced by the kings of glitch hop, Prefuse 73 Afras first album, 'Digital Breath' gave the beatboxer popular acclaim as the most influential beat boxer from the Orient.

An innovative mix of melodies and rhythm his distinctive sound is given even greater depth when joined by the other two members making up The Incredible Beatbox Band.
With vocal cavities as adept and versatile as Afra's the two members of the band add yet more depth to his perfectly timed frequencies and do what all good MCs do, help to get the party going!

Afra and his band come together at Sonar to recreate rap classics such as Tried by Twelve, Top Billin and Simon Says. Check out when they do a beat box version of seven-nation army, incredible.

www.oddjob.jp
www.studio-rarekwai.com

Track-maker and DJ of Danish group Blue Foundation, Tatsuki resides in both London and Copenhagen, basing his activities in Europe performing at events and festivals of diverse genres. He has attracted attention as a unique and exceptional turntabalist by his use of 3 turntables, 2 mixers and an effecter, which combined with his innovative scratch techniques allows him to manipulate an original sound-scape.

Recently following his activities with WhaKhaKha (a turntabalist unit with DJ BAKU, DJ KLOCK), he has worked with OPIATE, NUMB and also TOBI of Blue Foundation on their unit "Switch". Tatsuki has performed at various major festivals and his innovative production method of constructing a track using only scratch samples was recently demonstrated on DJ Krush's 8th album 'Jaku'. Blue Foundation won the award for Best Producer at the STEPPEULVEN Critics Choice Award in January 2005, and in March 2005 wins the Grammy for the Urban Music category at the DMA2005 Danish Music Awards.

This summer he will be performing at a festival in Sarajevo alongside Coldplay, REM, Bjork. Both as a DJ and producer Tatski's enthusiasm to be active in both the major and underground music scenes is the fundamental to his success.

www.bluefoundation.dk

Matthew Herbert is a musician and producer working predominantly in the field of electronic music. His methods and techniques of producing sound are quite exceptional and have won him international acclaim.

Known for ignoring the boundaries and mangling the conventions traditionally associated with the genre, he is one of the few independently minded artists to have made a considerable impact on both media and public while striving to be innovative and experimental. As a recording artist since 1996 he has released music on a variety of record labels under aliases such as Doctor Rocket, Wishmountain, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, under his own name and with a Big Band.

He began making music out of objects at Exeter University in the 1990s, where he was studying Drama. From bottles, jars and pepper pots he progressed to recording friends, places and experiences, effectively using the sampler, his choice of instrument, as an audio diary on many of the Doctor Rockit and Herbert releases.
In recent years he has played at The Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals, Paris' Pompidou Centre, Tokyo's Blue Note, Sonar and Glastonbury and supported Bjork at the Hollywood Bowl.

At this years Sonar festival, Mathew Herbert played with Plat Du Jour live in a special culinary musical showcase with sounds made from variety of edible and non-edible items usually found in the kitchen.

www.magicandaccident.com

Mu is singer and performance artist Mutsumi Kanamori. Her debut album 'Afro finger and gel' was one of the most surprising and acclaimed debut albums of 2003. It received glowing reviews from around the world being awarded 'Album of the Month' by DJ Magazine and is featured as one of the top Albums of 2003 by US music website Pitchfork Media.

Mu's current album 'Out of Breach' features her current single 'Paris Hilton', a tribute to everyone's favorite media princess, which has been making big moves on dance floors worldwide with it's pounding beats, acid squelches and crazed chicken squawks.
Elsewhere on the album Mu turns her attention to all the haters, and also calls for anyone who's forgotten that there will only ever be one king of pop to ' Stop Bothering Michael Jackson'. 'Tigerbastard' sees Mu wreck more havoc on her enemies over a thundering bass attack, while 'Like a little Bitch' will make them squeal like surrender monkeys to her ruff house onslaught.

Appearing at Sonar 2005 on the back of the hit single 'Paris Hilton', her live performances are a sonic assault of demented discoid punk and twisted beats, and unusually, aerobics. Chic electro disco punk.

www.outputrecordings.com

Towa Tom is live collaboration between Dee Lite's Dj Towa Tei and German, Atom Heart.

Japanese-born DJ Towa Tei first earned notice for his production work on the Jungle Brothers' 1989 LP 'Done by the Forces of Nature'; the following year he shot to fame as a member of the downtown New York club trio Deee-Lite, scoring an international hit with the classic "Groove Is in the Heart." After two LP's, 1990's World Clique and 1992's Infinity Within, Towa Tei left the group to begin working on solo projects; his debut LP Future Listening, a montage of bossa nova, jazz and electronic dance music, appeared in 1995. His second album for Elektra, 1998's Sound Museum, was followed by Last Century Modern in 1999.

For almost 20 years, the German Uwe Schmidt has produced no less than 70 albums under various pseudonyms, including Senor Coconut, Erik Satin, Flanger, LB, Lisa Carbon Trio, Lassigue Bendthaus, and perhaps his best-known alter-ego, Atom Heart.
After his entry into the techno/dance/ambient/trance scenes in the 90s, he formed his own label - Rather Interesting - on which he released a plethora of albums as well as signing many young and talented artists. In 2000 he moved to Santiago De Chile where he created Senor Coconut, a new electronic excursion that blended Kraftwerk-esque electronica with Caribbean flavours.

Following their get-together at Tokyo's SonarSound last year, the two prolific producers join forces on a project that brings out the best in both of them. Pop risk, Latin touches, exuberant electronic music and digital exoticism.

www.towatei.com
www.atom-heart.com