June is bringing a ton of great artists to town, and I'm not even mentioning anyone playing at Sónar in this post. This one goes out to the other great artists, bands and musicians like St. Vincent and Portishead, who are doing their part to make June an amazing month of music in Barcelona.

St. Vincent, the musical alter ego of Annie Clark, has steadily carved out her own musical universe, stepping out of the shadows of Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens to reveal a darkly beautiful world, as delicate and poetic as it is unsettling and angry. Listen and look beyond the pretty vocals and ceramic doll face and St. Vincent will show you dysfunctional relationships, loneliness, alienation – and they've rarely sounded so good.

The biggest music event this month is no doubt the Primavera Sound Festival, followed closely by the Boss' visit to our fair city. Bruce Springsteen has a loyal following in Barcelona and his concerts are always cause for much excitement. After making music for this many years and reaching the dizziest heights of fame, there's really not much left to write about Springsteen except to say he's giving local audiences two nights of dyed-in-the-wool rock at the Palau Olímpic on May 17 and 18.

If mega music festivals and mega stadium shows aren't your thing, there's still plenty of music to get excited about. My three picks of the month: The Magnetic Fields, Eleanor Friedberger and Yacht.

The second half of April could be described as “the reign of the unconventionals” as Barcelona welcomes three unique and unexpected musical talents. Two of them are celebrating important birthdays this year and have decided to share the occasion with their fans. Daniel Johnston turned 50 and is on the road playing concerts throughout America and Europe. Philip Glass is turning 75 and touring with a new production of his 1976 opera Einstein on the Beach. And of Montreal... well, the band is turning 16, which in light of today's fleeting-fame music world is pretty impressive too.

Read on for more info on these concerts as well as a sneak peek at what's happening in May as the music festival season kicks off with a very promising edition of Primavera Sound...

Let me take a moment to describe what might be one of my favourite concert scenarios: a small space, good music - preferably something a little unusual or unexpected - and a bar that serves interesting wines and knows how to mix a decent cocktail. Sounds pretty straightforward, but it's surprising how often these things don't coincide.

Although its name might make you think otherwise, Houston Party is one of Barcelona's most consistently interesting concert promoters. They bring people like Andrew Bird, Chuck Prophet, Mark Lanegan, Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Deer Tick to town. They really know and love music so when they announced a new event called El Decantador that would bring an eclectic mix of artists to a small and most unusual stage, I checked it out right away.

The days are getting longer and warmer, the light is starting to have that spring shimmer, and everyone is itching for some fun. Good news: there's so many great bands and artists playing the city this month that you could pretty much go out every night and catch some amazing music.

Looking at the list of March concerts, I felt so overwhelmed, I had to seek help from my friends. Andrea got all giddy when she heard Summer Camp was playing the Razzmatazz. Alejandro stopped at a poster of Tinariwen and launched into the band's entire – and admittedly amazing – biography. Finally, as a big Sonic Youth fan, I'm particularly excited about Thurston Moore playing at the Sala Apolo's [2]. And that's just the highlights...

Keep reading to find out more about our three concert picks as well as a list of other exciting concerts!

Chilly evenings are a great time to squeeze into a dark, warm club and shake off the winter doldrums to some seriously invigorating music. February is a great month for music in Barcelona, with three great little festivals and several stellar concerts. Both In-somni Festival at the Sala Bikini and Emergencia! at the CCCB offer an exciting look at what's happening in independent music, both locally and abroad, whereas MicroMUTEK brings us an amalgamation of electronic music and digital art. As for concerts, my top picks for the month are The Sounds, CW Stoneking and Megafaun...