Dates and Participants of Sonar-2012 Festival Announced

Every year, thousands of fans of cutting-edge music and contemporary art change their usual rhythm of life and home for three days of unrestrained fun and delight at the Sonar festival in Barcelona. Daytime concerts by musicians and DJ performances are held in open-air venues in the city center, where the most friendly atmosphere prevails, and it's so easy to find like-minded people among the crowd of music lovers from around the world. The nighttime program is a real rave a few kilometers from Barcelona, a treat for your ears and feet, a gift for all dance and spacious venue enthusiasts. Sunday is dedicated to the youngest fans of the festival: Sonar's children's program is no less rich than the previous days for "adults." Alongside concerts and DJ sets at Sonar, there will be exhibitions of contemporary artists, video installations, and cute surprises for festival guests, such as photo cards from a fancy photo booth or the opportunity to test the latest gadget from Ableton. The lineup for this year's Sonar festival includes names such as Lana Del Ray, Azari & III, Modeselektor, Hot Chip, Richie Hawtin, Nicolas Jaar, Deadmau5, Kode 9, Fatboy Slim, James Blake, Luciano, Maria Minerva, Mary Anne Hobbs, Metronomy, Mouse On Mars, Amon Tobin, The Roots, When Saints Go Machine, John Talabot, and others. More than half of the listed artists have already visited Moscow and performed at venues in the capital. Eight names were on the posters in 2011. Nevertheless, Sonar is a unique event in terms of atmosphere and audience composition, which is worth attending at least once in a lifetime. The main headliner of the festival this year can confidently be called American Elizabeth Grant, better known as Lana Del Ray. International fame came to Lana Del Rey with hundreds of thousands of views of her Video Games video on YouTube last summer. Just the numbers: Lana Del Ray's Facebook page is about to reach a million fans, and the singer's aforementioned video has garnered over 33 million views on YouTube in 6 months. On February 21 of this year, 25-year-old Lana Del Ray was honored with the title of "International Breakthrough" at the prestigious BRIT Awards. Elizabeth will perform at Sonar by Night and present her album 'Born To Die' to the public. Her music is glamorous, tender, and very girly pop mix, in which influences of musicians such as Elvis Presley, Nirvana, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and The Beach Boys are clearly heard. Elizabeth herself defines herself as "Nancy Sinatra in 'gangsta' rap key," making the right connections and friendships by entering into creative collaborations with artists such as Balam Acab, Joy Orbison, Clams Casino, Jamie Woon, Odd Future, and Damon Albarn (Blur frontman). Another 4 reasons not to miss Sonar-2012: Richie Hawtin (Minus / CA): The extravagant classic of modern techno and founder of the Minus label, producer, DJ, and showman in the best sense of the word, Richie Hawtin, without accepting any labels, has been in a state of constant development and search for 'new self' for over twenty years. He, the master and global techno legend, is awaited and loved with a special love. This is how we honor the mentors who pass on to us the art of living on the edge between endless fun and daily work. Richie Hawtin will give you euphoria. Fatboy Slim (UK): This will be Norman Cook's first performance at Sonar. An inexhaustible inventor, whose dance hits still sound loudly at raves, will be liked by every festival guest. Fatboy Slim is useful and necessary for each of us, as he invariably evokes the most pleasant (and sometimes distinctly nostalgic) emotions in the heart. Better Living Through Chemistry - this is where the world's obsession with Fatboy Slim began, and today Norman Cook easily fills dancefloors with the natural and unspoken slogan 'dance - dance is the highest form of pleasure and happiness.' Amon Tobin - ISAM (Ninja Tune / UK): Amon Tobin's mystical audiovisual presentation 'ISAM' is one of the most eagerly anticipated performances at the festival. The ISAM Live production is a unique experiment and installation, a show resulting from the creative collaboration of three creative studios V Squared Lab studio, Blasthaus, and Vitamotus. The mesmerizing dialogue of music and visual art with huge sculptures brought to life through cutting-edge video mapping technologies will unfold before you. Enthralled with science fiction plots and being a skillful experimenter, Amon Tobin invites viewers to share emotions and experiences with him, passing through the dark landscapes and three-dimensional sculptures of this stunning imaginative performance. Nicolas Jaar (Clown & Sunset / US): Nicolas Jaar returns to Sonar, and this time he will perform in the Sonar by Night program. Jaar, only 22 years old, is often called 'The Kid' by his senior colleagues in the industry, and the audience hungry for impressions usually admires his every move. And Nico manages adeptly with the fame and success that fell on him last year after the premiere of the album 'Space is Only Noise.' Nico's debut album was highly praised both in America and Europe. 100 beats per minute is the signature style of the wunderkind musician with an original perspective on modern music. We invite you to watch the latest video with Nicolas Jaar from the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Tickets for the festival can be purchased now. This year, the organizers have introduced a new ticket payment scheme, in stages: the first payment must be made by March 31 (80 euros), the second - by May 5 (75 euros). Official festival website: [Sonar Festival](http://sonar.es/) .