For two decades, it's entertained, educated and — on more than a few occasions — polarized electronic music fans. As Barcelona's Sonar festival enters its 20th year, it's still as contrary as when it first started: an event with equal space in its heart for abstract electronica and the Pet Shop Boys, and whose lofty subtitle — International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art — doesn't preclude it from booking Deadmau5 and Skrillex.
In its teenage years, Sonar has branched out beyond its Catalonian base, organizing sister festivals in São Paulo and Reykjavik, and a tour of cities in the United States and Canada last autumn. Its most regular stop-off, however, has been Japan: the first SonarSound Tokyo was held here in 2004, and since 2011 it's been an annual affair, split between a late-night Saturday session and a more leisurely daytime gig on Sunday.
While it shares some of the international acts that will appear at the mother festival in Barcelona in June — including Underworld's Karl Hyde, narcotic dance polymath Nicolas Jaar and dub/dubstep tag team Sherwood & Pinch — this weekend's SonarSound Tokyo also showcases some of Japan's more cutting-edge talents.