Sunday 22/06/08 Day Four, Sonar Festival @ Barcelona, Spain

Neon Neon brought some studied '80's glamour with Cate Le Bon's high heels, a keytar and padded electronic drums. Midnight and they opened with the fabulously dated Moroder-style instrumental 'Neon Theme'. On 'I Lust U', Boom Bip's bullet-direct synth riff together with Gruff Rhys and Le Bon's call and response vocals meant perfect pop alchemy. 'Trick For Treat' was jaw-dropping, Har-Mar Superstar note-perfect for his own falsetto part and absentee Spank Rock's macho rap. Har Mar also stood in for Yo Majesty, cranking up the funny on the already hilarious 'Sweat Shop'...

"Ooh la la, pop pop say mama" 

On record, 'Stainless Style' is fragile and sorrowful, whereas live it was tough, with triple-drummer goodness near the end.

Next, Buraka Som Sistema were on again, this time as DJ's and MC's. At this point, it was unclear whether Gigwise was stalking them, or the other way round, like that scene in 'Memento'...

"Am I chasing him, or is he chasing me?"

*gunshot*

"Oh, he's chasing me"

Soulwax were exceptional, especially the drummer, every other dance act this weekend had to use a computer for beats, but Soulwax were at least as banging. The man's an animal, or machine, he wasn't human during Daft Punk's 'Robot Rock'. Soulwax's viciously choppy take on LCD Soundsystem's 'Get Innocuous' was another standout.    

Radioactive Man was quite different music to Fall Out Boy, despite both acts probably getting their names from the same Simpsons episode. The blunt techno beats were surprisingly regular given some of Keith Tenniswood's previous experimentalism with Andy Weatherall in Two Lone Swordsmen. He had a couple of irate calls from behind him to say 'times up', but Tenniswood was enjoying himself and so were we.