It's not exactly just round the corner, but sometimes that can work in your favour. Bucharest's don of twisted garage TRG has been putting shower faces on dance floors all across the globe, from the dub steppers spiritual homes of Croydon, Mass, and Plastic People, to the techno-crats of Rotterdam and Manchester's breaks and d'n'b scenes.

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As Catalonian primavera is coming to an end, the accordant festival takes place at Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona for the fourth time. Starting today, the city will see three days of exquisit entertainment offers, ranging from Clipse’ white lines to a healthy dose of Belleville Three nostalgia courtesy of Academy lecturer Juan Atkins (as Model 500) to Vampire Weekend’s afro-tinged indie pop, that currently has student dormitories raving from Soho to Soweto. Check the full line-up for more dubstep royalty, teuto-trance, fast rap retromania, Sebadoh reunions, ghetto tech-infused stag party-ism, and local turntable heroes here.

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After years of heavy backpacking with Deutschrap’s fan favourites Blumentopf, revisiting AC/DC classics for his ‘Fraud’ project, and presenting his very own take on Manfred Krug at this year’s Berlin Workshop Session, Munich’s Sepalot is now set to drop his debut on Compost Records, with lyrical contributions by Frank Nitty (the Frank in ‘Frank-N-Dank’), Saigon, New Zealand songstress Ladi6 (who is currently prepping her solo joint with Fat Freddy’s Drop’s Mu), L.A. rapper Blu, and the likes. Here’s a definite album highlight, “How Can I Say” featuring future Berlin soul supastar Miss Platnum.

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bRUNA’s “With Your Fingers”, recorded at the 2007 Academy in Toronto and originally featured on the latest edition of the Various Assets sampler series, has been selected by Spanish music scribe Javier Blánquez and Sónar organizers Advanced Music SL for this year’s Catalan Electronic Music comp that will be available at Sónar and as a supplement in several music magazines such as Rockdelux.

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2008 marks the fourth annual collaboration between the Red Bull Music Academy and Sónar Festival, celebrating synth tones and rhythm tracks with our Red Bull Music Academy Lounge. This time however, things are a bit different. Not only is it the tenth anniversary since the first Academy edition altogether (LINK), but Barcelona is destined as the location for the Red Bull Music Academy when it kicks off later this year from September 21 to October 24. What better place to preview the Academy experience than Sónar, with a selection of producers, MCs and DJs who have all called the Academy home at one time or another. The Red Bull Music Academy Lounge will be our daily EQ HQ at Sónar By Day, while Red Bull Music Academy Radio will host a showcase with performances by the ultimate minister in the church of vinyl, Theo Parrish, and kuduro superheroes Buraka Som Sistema on Friday June 20 at Sónar Lab as part of Sónar By Night. In addition to that, several Academy participants and lecturers will whip crowds into a frenzy on other stages as well, from Flying Lotus, Jneiro Jarel, and Pilooski, to Ewan Pearson, A-Trak, and M.I.A.

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