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ENTERTAINMENT

Euro music, African cinema, Swedish mentality: what’s on in Sweden

Something for the weekend:Feast of film at Stockholm CinemAfrica festival, Eurovision qualification in Gothenburg, and Fredrik Lindström dissects the Swedish mentality in Malmö

Published: 7 February 2008 16:44 CET
Euro music, African cinema, Swedish mentality: what's on in Sweden

STOCKHOLM

Concerts/Music:

Kalle and Friends

The award-winning Swedish folk musician, Kalle Moraeus is performing twice this month with Sven-Bertil Taube, Hej Kalle, and a special guest star.

Location: Vasateatern, Vasagatan 19-21

Time: Friday, February 8th, 7.30pm

Phone: 08- 665 01 00

Tickets: 077- 170 70 70

More information: www.vasan.se

Manifestgalan 2008

Manifestgalan recognizes fantastic music and musicians from independent record labels. It also gives the public an opportunity for new musical experiences.

Minimum Age: 18

Price: 150 kronor

Location: Nalen, Regeringsgatan 74.

Time: Friday, February 8th, 8pm

More information: www.manifestgalan.se (English).

Hampus Bankler

Bankler’s texts and melodies are interesting, funny, and sometimes even cynical and his topics range from relationship problems to cannibalism. He is inspired by both classic Swedish musical tradition and jazz.

Price: 80 kronor

Location: Musikvalvet, Kåkbrinken 5.

Time: Friday, February 8th, 7pm

Phone: 08- 21 95 05

More information: www.musikvalvet.se (Swedish).

Theatre/Entertainment:

London the Musical

This gritty musical might be written by a British team, but its world premiere is taking place in Swedish in Stockholm on February 1st. The musical depicts London in all its multicultural, urban, edgy glory. See Kathleen Harman’s preview.

Location: Filadelfiakyrkan, Rörstrandsgatan, Stockholm.

Time: Friday, February 1st, 7.30pm (premiere), Saturday February 2nd, 3pm and 7.30pm

and continuing….

More information: www.londonthemusical.com.

Tickets: www.ticnet.se or 077 170 7070.

Pippi Longstocking

Relive Pippi’s infamous adventures in the form of ballet with a performance from the well-known team from the Opera Ballet’s biggest success, “The Nutcracker.”

Location: The Royal Opera, Jakobs torg 2.

Time: Saturday, February 9th, 3pm and 6.30pm

More information and voting: www.operan.se (Swedish).

Galleries:

Vårsalongen

Vårsalongen, the Spring Salon, has been holding art exhibitions since 1921 and this year’s exhibition displays 214 works of art by 101 different artists. The youngest artist is just 19, and the oldest is 82.

Location: Liljevalchs Konsthall, Djurgårdsvägen 60.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday

Northern Light Fair

An international lighting fair for both homes and public spaces that will be open to the public this Sunday.

Location: Stockholm International Fairs, Mässvägen 1.

Times: Sunday, February 10th

Phone: 08- 749 41 00

More information: www.stockholmsmässan.se .

Konstfack Showdown

Textile graduate students from the Univeristy of Arts, Crafts, and Design have their fashion concepts on display at Kulturhuset.

Price: Free.

Location: Kulturhuset, Galleri 3, Sergels torg.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday 2pm-5pm

…and continuing until March 2nd.

Phone: 08- 508 31 508

More information: www.konstfack.se.

Films:

CinemAfrica Film Festival

Scandinavia’s largest festival dedicated to African films. This year’s festival shows 24 films from 14 different countries. You also have the chance to talk to visiting directors, and attend seminars about tradition and modernity.

Location: Biograf Zita, biograf Klara in Kulturhuset, biograf Sture, and Etnografiska Museet.

Times: February 7th-17th

For the full timetable and more information, visit the website below

More information: www.cinemafrica.se (English available).

Other:

Stockholm Tango Festival

The Swedish-Argentine Tango Society invites you to the seventh annual tango festival in Stockholm. Classes are offered to everyone from beginners to tango masters. The classes are all held by world-renowned tango dancers.

Location: Dieselverkstaden, Marcusplatsen 17, Sickla.

Time: Friday/Saturday/Sunday (check website for a specific timetable).

Phone: 08- 718 82 90

More information and tickets: www.tangonorte.com (English).

GOTHENBURG

Galleries:

Boats

Summer may still be far away, but the summer feeling begins again in Gothenburg this weekend with the opening of the annual Båtmässa, or Boat Fair. This traditional start to the boating season brought over 94,000 visitors to the exhibition last year alone.

Location: Svenska Mässan, Mässans gata.

Times: Saturday/Sunday 10am-6pm

…and continuing.

Phone: 031- 7088000

Tilda Lovell

Lovell creates a unique world of pictures using found objects, new materials and even bones from animals.

Location: Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Götaplatsen.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday, regular open hours

…and continuing.

Phone: 031- 612 980

Filmklipp at Röhsska

Frozen Moments – an exhibition about design in film in collaboration with Gothenburg’s Film Festival.

Location: Röhsska museet, Vasagatan 37-39.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday 12pm-5pm

…and continuing.

Phone: 031- 368 31 50

Films:

Samtidskonst

Röda Sten presents Magnus Bärtas’ film about Johnnie Walker, a Japanese, Jewish, homosexual man in Tokyo who finds it difficult to be accepted. A Stefan Römer documentary containing interviews with over 40 internationally recognized artists about the Concept Art of the 1960s is also playing.

Location: Röda Sten, Klippan vid Älvsborgsbron.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday 12pm-5pm

…and continuing to Monday, March 2nd.

Phone: 031- 12 08 16

Concerts and clubs:

Melodifestivalen 2008

Melodifestivalen 2008 begins in Gothenburg this weekend. For the seventh time Scandinavium will host the competition.

Location: Scandinavium, Skånegatan.

Time: Friday, February 8th, 7pm-9.30pm

Saturday, February 9th, 1.30pm and 7pm-9.30pm

Phone: 031- 615 680

Angie Stone

The soul queen comes to Sweden! With her hit song “No More Rain (In This Cloud),” Angie Stone acquired a loyal fan base, and it has continued to grow. Her latest record, “The Art of Love and War,” her fifth as a solo artist, received positive reviews from the critics.

Location: Trädgår’n, Nya Allen.

Times: Thursday, February 7th, 7pm

Phone: 031- 10 20 80

Theatre/Entertainment:

Fredrik Lindström

A stand up comedy show about the Swedish mentality. Lindström shows that he is just as Swedish as everyone else with personal anecdotes and text messages.

Price: Free.

Location: Storan, Kungsparken 1.

Time: Friday, February 8th, 7.30pm-11pm

Saturday, February 9th, 2pm-5pm and 7.30pm-11pm

Phone: 031- 60 45 00

Other:

PULS

Go with the family or a group of friends to PULS and compete against them in handball, motocross, and much more.

Location: Universeum, Södra vägen 50.

Times: Friday/Saturday/Sunday 10am-6pm

Phone: 031- 335 64 50

MALMÖ

Galleries:

Bombay

At the Form/Design center, art from the Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Competition 2008 is on display.

Location: Form/Design Center, Hedmanska gården, Lilla Torg 9.

Times: Friday, February 1st, 11am-5pm

Saturday/Sunday 11am-4pm

…and continuing.

Phone: 040- 664 51 50

Malmö Golf Expo

To start the golf season, MalmöMässan is holding a golfing fair with new golf products, ideas for golf travel, and training/training equipment.

Price: 110 kronor (Children – 50 kronor)

Location: Malmö Konstmuseum, Slottsholmen, Malmöhusvägen.

Times: Friday, February 8th, 12pm-6pm

Saturday/Sunday 10am-5pm

Phone: 040- 690 85 50

Concerts and Clubs:

Tower of Power

Tower of Power comes to Sweden this weekend presenting their new singer Larry Braggs.

Price: 395 kronor

Location: Kulturbolaget (KB), Bergsgatan 18.

Time: Sunday, February 10th, 8pm

More information: www.kulturbolaget.se

Phone: 040- 30 20 11

Theatre/Entertainment

Wallman’s Festival

The Wallman’s Festival is back full of pranks, songs and a barbeque buffet!

Price: 345 kronor

Location: Wallmans Golden Hits, Generalsgatan 1.

Times: Friday/Saturday, 6.30pm-1am

Phone: 040- 749 45

Other

Trotter Races

It is time for more trotter races this weekend.

Price: 60-80 kronor (under-18’s free).

Location: Jägersro Trav och Galopp, Jägersro.

Times: Saturday, February 9th, first race begins at 1.05pm

Phone: 040- 671 82 00

More information: Jägersro (Swedish).

Let’s Go

Let’s Go amusement park is always full of activities. Why not take the family bowling or for a few rounds of “adventure” golf this weekend? Or pick three out of the five activities offered and do battle in a two-hour competition.

This Friday there is also a live band performing.

Price: 60 kronor after 9pm

Location: Let’s Go, Krossverksgatan 3.

Times: Friday, January 11th, 4pm-1am

Saturday, January 12th, 11am-1am

Sunday, January 13th, 11am-6pm

Phone: 040- 440 000

More information: Let’s Go Swedish.

Ice Skating in Folkets Park

You can ice skate outdoors all winter this year at Malmö Folkets Park. Ice skates (sizes 27-45) are available to rent 4pm-7pm on weekdays and 10am-5pm at weekends. Rental costs: 30 kronor/half hour.

For group skate rental at other times, contact Föreningen Ponnygården Arken at 0705 – 17 65 05.

Location: Folkets Park, Amiralsgatan 35.

Times: November 24th to March 2nd 10am-7pm

UPPSALA

Winter Sauna at Fyrishov

Warm up in Fyrishov’s large, wood-fuelled sauna, then give the body a refreshing shock in the adjacent ice pool. A 25C warm pool is available for the faint-hearted.

Location: Idrottsgatan 2, Uppsala

Open until the end of February.

More information: www.fyrishov.se

MUSIC

Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop

Spanish rapper C. Tangana was taking a big risk when he started mixing old-fashioned influences like flamenco and bossa nova into his hip-hop -- but it's this eclectic sound that has turned him into a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.

Published: 23 May 2021 08:38 CEST
Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop
Spanish rapper Anton Alvarez known as 'C. Tangana' poses in Madrid on April 29, 2021. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

The 30-year-old has emerged as one of the world’s biggest Spanish-language stars since his third album “El Madrileno” — the Madrilenian — came out in February. That ranks him alongside his superstar ex-girlfriend Rosalia, the Grammy-winning Catalan singer with whom he has co-written several hits.

C. Tangana, whose real name is Anton Alvarez Alfaro, has come a long way since a decade ago when he became known as a voice of disillusioned Spanish youth in the wake of the financial crisis.These days his rap is infused with everything from reggaeton and rumba to deeply traditional styles from Spain and Latin America, with a voice often digitised by autotune.

“It’s incredible that just when my music is at its most popular is exactly when I’m doing something a bit more complex, more experimental and less
trendy,” he told AFP in an interview.

And he is unashamed to be appealing to a wider audience than previously: his dream is now to make music “that a young person can enjoy in a club or someone older can enjoy at home while cooking”.

‘People are tired’

The rapper, who sports a severe semi-shaved haircut and a pencil moustache, has worked with Spanish flamenco greats including Nino De Elche, Antonio Carmona, Kiko Veneno, La Hungara and the Gipsy Kings.

In April he brought some of them together for a performance on NPR’s popular “Tiny Desk Concert” series, which has already drawn nearly six million
views on YouTube.

Shifting away from trap, one of rap’s most popular sub-genres, and venturing into a more traditional repertoire was a dangerous move — especially for someone with a young fanbase to whom rumba, bossa nova and bolero sound old-fashioned.

“I think people are tired. They’ve had enough of the predominant aesthetic values that have previously defined pop and urban music,” he said.

Parts of his latest album were recorded in Latin America with Cuban guitarist Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club, Uruguayan
singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, Mexican folk artist Ed Maverick and Brazil’s Toquinho, one of the bossa nova greats.

“What struck me most everywhere I went was the sense of tradition and the way people experienced the most popular music, and I don’t mean pop,” he said.

A new direction

C. Tangana started out in 2006 rapping under the name Crema. When the global economic crisis swept Spain a few years later, hard-hitting trap was
the perfect way to voice the angst of his generation. But after more than a decade of rapping, things changed.

“When I was heading for my 30s, I hit this crisis, I was a bit fed up with what I was doing… and decided to give voice to all these influences that I
never dared express as a rapper,” he said.

The shift began in 2018 with “Un veneno” (“A poison”) which came out a year after his big hit “Mala mujer” (“Bad woman”).

And there was a return to the sounds of his childhood when he used to listen to Spanish folk songs at home, raised by a mother who worked in
education and a journalist father who liked to play the guitar. The Latin American influences came later.

“It started when I was a teenager with reggaeton and with bachata which were played in the first clubs I went to, which were mostly Latin,” he said.

Studying philosophy at the time, he wrote his first raps between stints working in call centres or fast-food restaurants.

As to what comes next, he doesn’t know. But one thing he hopes to do is collaborate with Natalia Lafourcade, a Mexican singer who dabbles in folk, rock and pop — another jack of all musical trades.

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