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In between panic attacks, I had the chance to absorb more good music in three days at Barcelona's Sonar festival last month than I have in the past three months in this much beleaguered city. Luckily for Sonar participants, the best stuff was not saved for last, as members of the super-hyped Nortec Collective were among the first to perform. The buzz surrounding Fussible, Panoptica, and other Nortec-ers was so loud it almost drowned out the superb Tex-Mex-style house and breaks they were spinning and performing live. The Nortec posse also boasted one of the best records of the festival: Panoptica played it later on the first day and I also heard it during the Compost Records showcase. It is called "Casino Soul" and features a brilliant horn line that stuck in my head for days. It reminded me of the first time I heard "Hi-Tech Jazz" on Underground Resistance. Yeah, like that. Come to find out Fussible is responsible for this little ditty, and the record will be appearing shortly (one hopes) on Compost. You might get a sneak preview of said track and many other fabulous bits at the next installment of La Leche, which features the aforementioned Fussible, plus Plankton Man (not to be confused with Plastikman) and Terrestre. They do triple duty this weekend, putting in an appearance first at La Leche, then at the SummerStage, and again at P.S. 1. Friday @ 9, FUN, 130 Madison, 964-0303; Saturday @ 1:30, Central Park SummerStage, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, 72nd and Fifth Ave, 360-2777, and AGAIN, Saturday @ 4, P.S. 1 Contemporary Arts Center, 22-25 Jackson Ave, Queens, 718-784-2084.

Old-school Chicago house badass DJ Sneak puts in his first appearance in five years at the weekly Plant. He's got an inimitable style, and you can pretty much blame Sneak for all the filtery-funky-choppy-disco-ey house records that started slamming dancefloors a few years back. We're still reeling from those aftershocks-in a good way. Saturday @ 10, Centro-Fly, 45 W 21st, 627-7770.

tromano@villagevoice.com