Last week, XLR8R—along with just about everyone else in the electronic music sphere—made a trip to Barcelona to check out the 2013 edition of Sónar, which happened to be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Heading into the festival, Sónar faced a lot of potential question marks, including a venue change, a line-up seemingly lacking in star power, and, yes, the inclusion of EDM on the bill. Yet despite all the public grumbling and hand wringing during the lead-up to the festival, in the end it certainly didn't seem like fewer people were taking part in this year's Sónar. Barcelona's nightlife calendar was absolutely stuffed throughout the week, and the festival itself, which effectively took place over three days and two very long nights, was very busy. With a dizzying number of acts to see and precious little time to sleep, Sónar was, as always, a bit overwhelming, and checking out everything proved impossible. That said, the weekend was certainly marked by a number of highlights and lowlights, so we've once again crudely designated the various "winners" and "losers" and of Sónar. Read more »
