Formed in 1974, The Stranglers suffered an initial alienation from the press just as other pub-rock classic bands such as Eddie & The Hot Rods or the Tom Robinson Band were. However, their approach was different and they proved it with the publication of their first two albums: ‘Rattus Norvegicus’ and ‘No More Heroes’. Two virtuous punk-rock classics with a progressive touch thanks to the personal and virtuous solos and riffs of Dave Greenfield’s keyboard. From that moment on, the band developed a notorious discography full of great classics and great moments such as the mentioned albums and the essential ‘La Folie’.
PendulumDrum ‘n’ Bass and an electronic Rock shape up the Australian band– although currently based in the UK – Pendulum. The band came together in 2002 in Perth thanks to Rob Swire and Gareth McGillen but also counting with DJ Paul ‘El Hornet’ Harding’s help. Their frenetic discography started with the single ‘Trail of Sevens’ in 2003 and, from that moment on, have published 20 singles, a live album – ‘Live at Brixton Academy’ (2009) and three studio albums, the last one being ‘Inmersion’ (2010). Their flaming live shows have placed them among the best electronic shows of the moment.
Scottish singer and songwriter Paolo Nutini energetically burst into the British Pop scene thanks to his harsh and subtle voice and a bunch of great compositions that made up his debut album ‘These Streets’. ‘Jenny Don’t be Hasty’, ‘Last Request’ and ‘These Streets’ show his pop-rock excellencies. In 2009 he published ‘Sunny Side Up’, album which confirms Nutini as one of the most promising British soloists.
The Juan McLean is the artistic name of North American John McLean, whose career in DFA Records started a while after having finished with his band Six Finger Satellite, thanks to the insistence of James Murphy – LCD Soundsystem. McLean published his first album, ‘Less Than Human’ back in 2005.
Name under which a first class lineup with international projection is hosted, Congotronics Vs Rockers have universal representation from Congo to Sweden. For FIB 2011, they’ll present a proposal that unites tradition and vanguard on equal quantities. Formed by Konono No.1 (DR of Congo), Deerhoof (US), Kasai Allstars (DR of Congo), Juana Molina (Arg), Wildbirds & Peacedrums (Swe) and Skeletons (US).

Stephen Paul Maderson, aka MC Professor Green got Mike Skinner’s (The Streets) attention thanks to his disrespectful lyrics. The Beast – Skinner’s label – launched his first works becoming part of the label’s payroll until it had to close in 2008. In 2010 he published his first album ‘Alive Till I’m Dead’.
Bilbao band Atom Rhumba will debut in FIB with their recently published album ‘Gargantuan Melee’. Rober!’s band now returns after a break induced by all sorts of difficulties, to give continuity to the great ‘Backbone ritmo’ and rock’n’roll influenced by Tony Joe, The Gun Club or The Scientists.
California based The Morning Benders – and particularly the main composer, guitarist and Singer, Chris Chu – have Phil Spector and The Beach Boys engraved in their bones transmitting beach, sun, sand and ‘echo’ in every beat. The title of their second album ‘Big Echo’ is a declaration of intentions in which the outstanding ‘Excuses’ shines with a light of its own. A final mention dedicated to those passionate for the ‘Wall of Sound’; the unbeatable ‘Delicatessen’.
Jack Beats is British duo Niall Dailly (also in The Scratch Perverts) and Ben Geffin (The Mixologists). From the moment they came together back in 2007, they’ve become a must see of the British club scene.
Singer Gerard Whelan led, during part of the 90’s, Dublin’s band An Emotional Fish; who saw their first two single published by Mother, label owned by U2. In 2002, Gerard formed Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club. A project in which pop, jazz and lounge cohabit in a natural way. They’ve published two albums: ‘Be Yourself’ in 2002 and ‘The Beautiful Untrue’ in 2009.
The French electronic duo and fans of first generation analog keyboards and horror movies, Zombie Zombie, is formed by Etienne Jaumet (keyboard) and Cosmic Neman (drums). They debuted in 2006 with the EP ‘Zombie Zombie’ and had their first album, ‘A Land for Renegades’ published by 2008. Their last album up-to-date ‘Plays John Carpenter’ includes 5 tracks for five classic moments of American director and creator of “Halloween”, among which ‘Halloween’ and ‘The Thing’ stand out.
Are a quintet from Waterford (Ireland) whose debut album, and the only one they’ve published up to date, ‘Hither Thither’ (2010) was placed among the first places in sales in their country. As the band says, this album could’ve been recorded in California back in 1968, although there are nu-folk, post-rock and ‘indie’ elements in it that give their contemporary influences away. From our point of view, ‘Hither Thither’ is a marvel that includes jewels such as ‘Don’t Mind Me’, in which Feet Foxes and Grizzly Bear blend together naturally.
Young Louis Jones is the name behind the Spectrals and ‘Extended Play’ (2010), title of his only published work up to date. Reverberating and crystalline guitars with a 60’s vocation and joyous pop melodies are the main ingredients of Jones’ magical recipe. Tracks such as ‘Peppermint’ or ‘7th Date’ won’t leave any good pop music lover indifferent.
Irish quartet based in Belfast And So I Watch from Afar, came together in 2005 and between 2007 and 2009 they published 3 EP’s and a homonymous album. Jonathan Adger (The Bearded Dragon), Rory Friers (The Chip), Tony Wright (The Grounded Pounder) and Chris Wee (The Big) create, an intense, instrumental rock somewhere between post-rock, hardcore and metal.
The 1945, previously known as Three Times Daily, is a young pop-rock combo from the south of London that is currently working on publishing their second album ‘I Know’.
Def Leppard are a global rock phenomenon with hit singles spanning an incredible three decades such as Animal, Love Bites, Pour Some Sugar On Me, Lets Get Rocked andWhen Love And Hate Collide.
Karl Hyde and Rick Smith aka Underworld are the undisputed heavyweights of the electronic world. Famed for their spine-tingling techno/rock fusion, their sound has been widely acclaimed in both commercial and underground domains for over 20 years. ‘Born Slippy’ smashed both, the perfect marriage of house, techno, drum & bass and pop. Those chords forming arguably the greatest dance track ever, it was included in the film Trainspotting and sold over 750 000 copies in the process. Such epic crossovers have been a sturdy platform for success, having released six monstrous albums – including the best selling ‘Oblivion With Bells On’ and the most recent ‘Barking.’
M.I.A., a key figure in the collision of styles that characterises the beginning of this century, arrives at Sónar revved up and ready to go with her explosive live show and her recent mixtape, “Vicki Leekx”. Her shows in Barcelona and Galicia will be the only ones in Spain this year.
their native South Africa with a ground-breaking image, blown-up light shows and a musical style that takes on dirty rap, naïf pop and even eurobeat.
Arctic Monkeys released their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ in 2006. That same year, the phenomenal four-piece made another stunning debut on the Main Stage at TITP (T in the Park). They followed this with a headline slot in 2007 and released their 2nd LP ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’. In 2009 they released ‘Humbug’ their 3rd consecutive Number 1 LP. Arctic Monkeys are a band of the people, totally in tune with a new generation of live music lovers and top of festival fans’ wish lists for favourite festival headliners.
Foo Fighters are set to release their highly anticipated seventh studio album and frontman Dave Grohl (NME Godlike Genius 2010) recently revealed he wants to play it live at night in front of tens of thousands of people – “It’s a festival album because it f**king rocks!.” Grohl will do exactly that as the
Hailing from Southern California, pop punk trio