Saturday. There’s a couple of showcases I’d like to check out today, the Smalltown Supersound showcase from Norway and Piemontegroove to see what the Italians have got to offer aside from the dubious honour of having resurrected one of the most frightening moments of eighties Italian pop, a duo called Righeira, better known for their infernal hits ‘Vamos a la playa’, and ‘No tengo dinero’. But our first port of call has got to be Jamie Lidell from Supercollider after the taster he gave us at Herbert’s gig.

Jamie Lidell © Advanced Music

It’s something in the style of Herbert’s set without the big band. It’s noise and chaos but truly inspired and original. And the crowd just loves it. Next in line, The Puppetmastaz take the SonarVillage by surprise with their hip hop and puppetry routine which goes down an absolute treat. As far as guest artists are concerned, things don’t get much better than this: Elvis himself turns up on stage and the mastaz take off in style.

The Puppetmastaz © Advanced Music

I keep an eye on the Piemontegroove sets and catch a glimpse of Strek vs. Atzmo whose set has a lovely Squarepusher edge to it which occasionally lapses into straight electro. It’s quite a relief to hear something so original coming from what used to be such a musically challenged land. What is absolutely sizzling are the Norwegians who are fighting the heat with some flaming jazz.

Jaga Jazzist © Advanced Music

Jaga Jazzist seem to be perfectly in tune with the crowd which throws more coal onto the fire and really gets them going. The ten strong set delights us with superb vibraphone solos, an impressive drummer and a splendid brass section. Perhaps the only problem they have is at the mixing desk where the electronic beats are overshadowing the trumpet and guitar solos, which lack the central focus they deserve. Nonetheless the best set today underlining once again that if there’s something that will keep electronic music alive it’s the ever fertile marriage with jazz.

As we chill on the astroturf of the SonarVillage and enjoy the fine visuals of the last set courtesy of Pulseprogramming, I take advantage of the best of Catalan hospitality. For some reason most of my friends stayed at home for this edition of sonar so my hosts have provided me with a ready packaged neat little group of friends to go partying with. This happens every time I come to Barcelona. It’s their first time for these guys they’ve got more energy than a bunch of teenagers. I myself feel quite proud of having made it this far with so little sleep and only hope I can keep up. A swift trip home to pop my head under the shower and we’re off, sandwich in hand, to see Underworld.