Jamaican Roots of Dance Music

A good half of dance music has Jamaican roots. To reaffirm this well-known fact, the organizers of the Sonar festival decided to gather a diverse range of artists working with dub and reggae, as well as musicians whose classical rhythms take on a new sound, all in one venue. The festival program features performances by the most anticipated Jamaicans in Spain. Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell Dub Band last played here way back in 1998 and fully lived up to their previously assigned title of 'outstanding' representatives of the genre. Moving from the classic reggae of Fat Freddy’s Drop to modernized dubstep, Modeselektor will also take the stage along with Barbara Preisinger and her signature 'urban' dub. A substantial portion of avant-garde dub is promised by Pole & Band. Another dub variant – post-dub – will be showcased by Bus in collaboration with Mc Soom-T. Finally, none of Jiles Peterson's creative experiments has been without dub rhythms. This time, the maestro from BBC Radio 1 will perform with Mc Earl Zinger. As for fans of contemporary dancehall, Diplo A-Trak and the much-talked-about project Dom are highly recommended.