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Move isn't so much a festival as a pan-European movement. It's about diversity in music, theater and cinema, and an opportunity for Prague's top clubs to strut their stuff. Most importantly, it's a chance for this country to show that it's just as creative as its European counterparts.

"It's about moving ideas, moving people and moving feelings," says Palác Akropolis spokesman Lukáš Novotny. "It's a mix. We want to do something together from living pieces, and these pieces are always moving."

A variety of venues were used last year for the first installment of the festival, but everything was organized by Akropolis and Gato Loco Productions, which for a long time helped coordinate the Euro Connections nights. This year, Roxy, Matrix, Abaton, Cross and Rock Café have been given free license to do their own thing.

Not surprisingly, Akropolis has opted for progressive electronica — that is, electronic music with a natural live vibe. The Sofa Surfers, Austria's post-rock trip-hop experimentalists, have been called back only a few months after their last decidedly cerebral performance in Prague.

The night before that, expect to see the walls closing in on local rockers Khoiba, formed in 2002 after the band members served apprenticeships in groups like Hummingbird and Roe Deer. In the process, they seem to have contracted a severe case of Weltschmerz.

Taking its cue from the likes of Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Bjork, Aphex Twin and Radiohead, to name but a few, the Khoiba quartet has moved beyond the laptop to produce some quite-inspiring electronic music. That said, it's often difficult to determine how singer Ema Brabacová's mind works. Ditties like "Make No Silence" and "Terribly," with the dreaded line "One day I will leave you," reflect a rather emotional character damned by ill-fated relationships ... or so it seems.

"She does like to sing about her problems," agrees Misek. "But 'Terribly,' " he adds with a smug grin, "is just about the bass player from Roe Deer at the time we left him."

Khoiba is beginning to make serious inroads abroad. Nice Traps has been picked up all over Europe, and plans are under way for a Japanese release. At times, the sound is a touch understated on record, particularly the vocals. But thankfully the live experience is a lot more aggressive without losing any of the band's trademark dark atmospherics.

Portugal's Micro Audio Waves, minimalistic techno deviants, is the perfect act to follow. The debut album, No Waves, probably best known for the quirky opener "White Beard Birds," was introduced at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona in 2004 to much critical acclaim. And the band was hotly tipped by John Peel in the United Kingdom right up to his untimely death. No Waves also ended up winning Best Album at the Qwartz Music Awards in Paris recently.

In between music acts at Akropolis, expect to find "Sperm Cinema" showing various video clips and experimental films of VJs.

As for the other venues, Roxy will be stepping things up a notch or three with the club's major scoop, Coldcut from the United Kingdom, making its debut appearance in Prague. DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More hit it big in the mid-'80s with their cutting-edge remixes for the likes of Yaz, Lisa Stansfield, Blondie and Queen Latifah. Revelers at Roxy can expect new advances in urban breakbeat styles such as hip-hop, ambient dub and jungle.

Cross will also be out to impress with its exquisite interior and special lighting effects. And there will be a plethora of DJs spinning all the latest club beats.

Punk is still not dead to judge by the schedule at Matrix, which features Texas meatheads Born To Lose and a whole rabble of other noise merchants. Rock Café mixes things up the most, with ska and reggae. The best band to check out is the Afro-Cuban outfit Son Caliente.

Winding things up admirably will be DJs galore at Abaton. London's Visionary Underground sound system now includes Dr. Das, a founding member of Asian Dub Foundation, on bass. So expect everything from nu skool breakbeat to ragga roots and Asian vibes.