Ever since its early days, one of the main objectives of Sonar has been to track down talent, the cutting edge and innovation anywhere in the world. And the 2011 festival is no exception.

South Africa brings us Die Antwoord, who have made a big impression with their image, their musical style (rap, pop, electronica) and their overwhelming live shows; the same country is home to Shangaan Electro, an updated sound of the streets of Soweto with contemporary features, which has gone down a storm and received excellent reviews from the international media; from Australia, there is the internationally acclaimed synth pop of Cut Copy; from Sweden, Little Dragon and their dreamlike melodies bathed in synthetic outlines; the same is true of Switzerland's Filewile and the vocalist Oy, who create intriguing pop puzzles with very varied noises and sonic sources.

The showcases by Smalltown Supersound (the renowned Norwegian jazz and electronica label, represented by Bjørn Torske, Annie and Diskjokke) and the two Russian producers (DZA and Mujuice) entitled Russian Beats also come from countries that are not usually associated with the conventional circuit, as do some of the artists presented by Red Bull Music Academy: AEIOU (experimental pop from México), Jullian Gomes (the new talent in South African house) and Venice (an Italian reformer of disco music). And from Japan come two iconoclastic acts that base their musical approach on using technologies: Open Reel Ensemble and Daito Manabe.

And while on the subject of global beats, there are three major names in the Sonar 2011 line-up. M.I.A., whose roots are in Sri Lanka, is probably the artist who has best succeeded in including the rhythms of ghettos all over the world in her explosive sonic discourse. Portuguese Buraka Som Sistema's vibrant use of Angola's kuduro beat; and Munchi (from Rotterdam in The Netherlands) follows in the footsteps of both with his mix of electro, dancehall, cumbia, funk dance and any other global rhythm imaginable.