Goldfrapp, Justice, Erol Alkan and Hercules and Love Affair are among the first names out of the bag for this summer’s Sonar Festival in Barcelona.

Held over three days, Sonar is the big electronic festival on the European calendar, not least because of the dozens of spinoff club nights held around the city during festival time. The official Sonar Festival is generally split into two halves: a low-key daytime concert/expo held in the heart of the city and a monster rave held in a 20,000-capacity exhibition hall in the Southern suburbs.

Big names at this year’s festival include UK pop duo Goldfrapp, who will be performing live on Thursday night, and X-102, aka Detroit trio Jeff Mills, Robert Hood and Mike Banks, who will be recreating their 1992 album Discovers The Rings of Saturn at the fest. Dance music-wise, the bill includes a dubstep showcase (feat. Shackleton, Mala), an Ed Banger showcase (Busy P, SebastiAn) and a Freerange showcase (Jimpster, Milton Jackson).

Elsewhere on the bill there are festival regulars Diplo, A-Trak, Justice, M.I.A and Miss Kittin, and new names to Barcelona such as Hercules and Love Affair, Frankie Knuckles, Konono No. 1 and Kalabrese. Check the event listing below for the full lineup so far.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the picture, Sonar's visual theme for 2008 is based on a series of joke genetic mutation videos which were apparently spread around the Chinese internet. Read all about it here or check out the videos. 476 Comments