- If, like me, you don't find the idea of five consecutive all-nighters particularly appealing, don't panic: there still might be a Croatian festival for you. Sonus, held on Pag Island, runs for almost a week, but it's easy to make it a worthwhile 36-hour affair. Each year, organisers smartly schedule most of its more artful selectors—Zip, Ricardo Villalobos, Dana Ruh, Binh, Rhadoo—towards the end of the festival, which means that, if you time your trip right, Sonus is a sure shot for anyone who likes their beats lean and loopy.
Most of these artists played at Kalypso, one of three Zrce Beach clubs used by Sonus throughout the week. Kalypso is Zrce Beach's cosiest stage, with an atmosphere closer to a beach party—thanks to palm trees and plenty of wooden decking—than the super club vibe the other cavernous venues offer. The sound on the dance floor, which is surrounded by raised platforms, is crisp and never overbearing, which perfectly suits the stripped-back and percussive tunes that get played there.
Since Sonus started in 2013, Kalypso's final three days have always hosted the who's who of minimalist dance music—this year, Rhadoo, Raresh and Praslea played on the Wednesday, while Alexandra, Zip and Nicolas Lutz played on Thursday, the last day of the festival proper. Perhaps the biggest draw, though, was Friday, when an afterparty held in conjunction with Club der Visionaere, Berlin's home of minimal, ran all day. CDV sent along some of its key affiliates, including Zip, Ricardo Villalobos, Binh and Sonja Moonear. It was a rare chance to catch all of them in one place, and for some that alone would have made the trip worthwhile.
For me, things began at 11 PM on Thursday with Nicolas Lutz, currently one of the more versatile artists in a circle of CDV-associated DJs known for long sets and deep-digging. He was in house mode at Sonus, stringing together loopy, low-slung tunes as the Kalypso dance floor slowly filled up. The energy rose steadily, partly thanks to Lutz's smooth and long transitions, leaving Zip with a perfect jump-off point. The Perlon boss was his usual self, serving up shuffling tunes from the likes of Gemini and Thomas Melchior with typical finesse. Ricardo Villalobos played the night's rowdiest solo set, before being joined by Zip for a back-to-back, signalling the start of the afterhours programme.
Villalobos and Zip's set went down like most of their recent appearances together—the former played boisterous house and tech house tunes with big breakdowns and what sounded like the occasional explosion sample, while the latter took a more subtle route. The situation was comically endearing—time and time again, Villalobos would play some monstrous, festival-style banger while a squinting Zip hurriedly skimmed through his record bag looking for anything that might match its energy. Somehow he always found the most suitable tune. (Boo Williams' pumping "Make Some Noise," a Zip staple, did well to keep the energy up after a particularly intense Villalobos selection.) Sonja Moonear followed with a tough house set, and Binh delivered an up-tempo three hours of techno, electro, house and garage. Cabanne brought things to a close with his usual bag of delicate, stripped-back house, which, for the weary crowd, seemed to be the perfect way to end the day. There were rumours of tINI and Seth Troxler joining the Frenchman behind the decks, but by then I was long gone, thoroughly content with the preceding 17 hours-worth of tunes.
Villalobos and Zip's set went down like most of their recent appearances together—the former played boisterous house and tech house tunes with big breakdowns and what sounded like the occasional explosion sample, while the latter took a more subtle route. The situation was comically endearing—time and time again, Villalobos would play some monstrous, festival-style banger while a squinting Zip hurriedly skimmed through his record bag looking for anything that might match its energy. Somehow he always found the most suitable tune. (Boo Williams' pumping "Make Some Noise," a Zip staple, did well to keep the energy up after a particularly intense Villalobos selection.) Sonja Moonear followed with a tough house set, and Binh delivered an up-tempo three hours of techno, electro, house and garage. Cabanne brought things to a close with his usual bag of delicate, stripped-back house, which, for the weary crowd, seemed to be the perfect way to end the day. There were rumours of tINI and Seth Troxler joining the Frenchman behind the decks, but by then I was long gone, thoroughly content with the preceding 17 hours-worth of tunes.