As one half of The Knife, Olof Dreijer made music that sounded like nothing else. His solo releases, first under the incognito alias Oni Aynhun, and now under his own name on esteemed labels like AD93 and Hessle Audio, have continued to redefine club music, full of inimitable colours and textures. Now he’s stepping out of the shadows as a DJ, and SonarMix 042 once again finds him pushing the envelope, packed with polyrhythms, homemade mashups, and his own productions.“I tried to capture the creative and playful energy of my DJ sets” is how he introduces the set. It starts with Olof’s inimitable steel pans and bright synths blended into Portuguese batida rhythms. It’s a mashup of his own ‘Camelia’ and DJ Lilocox’s ‘Ritmos’, the first of many throughout the mix, with Olof deconstructing and reconstructing tracks and rhythms from gqom and amapiano to samba and baile funk. You’ll also find an unreleased track with Colombian-Swedish percussionist Diva Cruz - who’ll appear with him at Sónar by Day - and handfuls of vocal acapellas (“a lot of fun to make”) ranging from salsa queen Celia Cruz to queer rapper Cakes da Killa.It comes to a furious crescendo 10 minutes out - the vocal from D-Train’s soul-disco classic ‘You’re the One for Me’ over a full samba school band, anyone? - before Björk & Rosalia’s voices intertwine with the liquid groove and sparkling melody of his own track ‘Rosa Rugosa’. It’s the kind of mix that only Olof could create: colourful, creative, playful, and percussive in equal parts. Get ready for more of the same on Thursday 13th June. TracklistDJ Lilocox - RitmosOlof Dreijer - CameliaOmagoqa - Back To Ebombeni Laya - Too Up (Acapella)Marlon D - Jesus Creates SoundKenny Dope - WakkiYaya Bey - me and all my n****s (Acapella)Olof Dreijer & Diva Cruz - AcuyuyeNKC - HD AnthemCelia Cruz - Azúcar NegraTSVI - Aziza (feat. Dj JM)KG & Scratchclart - Strings Of DeathMC Carol - Ki Suco E Xereca (Acapella)Scratcha DVA - Ammo (feat. Citizen Boy)Gloria Groove - Radar (Acapella)DJ Lilocox - RitmosMC Kevin O Chris & MC Caja - Papinth4ys, Yuri Redicopa & DJ Caio Santos - Cypher Da Bolha (feat. Bia Soul, Cunha & Hidvn)DJ Lycox - Rapaz SinistroDJ João Marconex - Matagal do CasarãoMC ZL, MC Dkennedy & DJ Dh - Funk Do Toninho Tornado (feat. CLUB DA DZ7)Olof Dreijer - IrisF38 - Te AviseiCakes da Killa - Cakewalk (Acapella)MC Livinho & Dj R7 - Vai CavalaJohnny Bravo - PISAD-train - You're the One for MeEscola De Samba Mocidade Independente De Padre Miguel - Esquentando O CouroOlof Dreijer - Rosa RugosaBjörk & Rosalia - Oral (Olof Dreijer remix)
Music is at the frontier of the development and use of Artificial Intelligence in 2024. This June,AI & Music powered by S+T+ARTS debuts at Sónar, with a transversal programme of performances, talks, forums, workshops, and exhibits exploring the links between AI and musical creativity and performance. All activities take place within Sónar by Day and Sónar+D, and with one exception, are open to the general public at Sónar by Day.SonarHall features three genre-defying performances, headlined by Sevdaliza’s AI-enhanced, forward-thinking and physical live show on Thursday. On Friday the same stage hosts innovative UK producer Lee Gamble’s concept show ‘Models’, co-produced with Krakow’s Unsound festival. Based on his most recent album for Hyperdub, it rejects the norm for electronic live shows with a performance choreographed by Candela Capitán. Earlie on the same day, Rob Clouth performs an entirely improvised algorithmic audiovisual set. On the seven screens of Stage+D, Chilean artistNicole L’Huillierdelivers an AV lecture explaining how she’s connecting AI with her work in playful, innovative ways. Radical performance artist Myriam Bleau will also explore how she’s integrating AI into her practice, with a special talk ahead of her collaborative show ‘Second Self’ with Nien Tzu Weng.
Both of these activities take place on Thursday, as does visual artist Marta Verde’s masterclass, which explores the randomness of AI-generated work. Beforehand, Sónar+D ticket holders can hear how artists, technologists, and researchers are revolutionising the music-making process in the forum ‘We are the Music Makers’*. On Saturday, experience the results of Peter Kirn and Cibelle Cavalli Bastos’s AI PerformancePlayground with a special collaborative showcase conceived during a two-day intensive hacklab on Thursday and Friday.Those looking to get hands-on can head to Project Area, with a special section of the interactive exhibition area dedicated entirely to AI & Music projects, or take part in one of our ‘Tardes de Prompting’. Join Stability AIand level up your music and audio prompting skills, or learn how to get the most out of AI-generated visuals with Krea.ai and Boldtron.
