Monthly has the answers (Click links for more information) "/> Monthly has the answers (Click links for more information) " />

Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

ENTERTAINMENT

Gothenburg club and concert tips – May 8 – 11

Where to go out in Gothenburg this weekend? Monthly has the answers (Click links for more information)

Published: 8 May 2008 17:41 CEST

First Floor Power

After five years of side and solo projects they are finally back! First Floor Power entered the Swedish music scene with the much celebrated record We Are The People in 2000. They haven’t released an album since 2003 and lead vocalist Jenny Wilson left the band not long afterwards. But now the three remaining members have pulled their vocals and instruments together and are celebrating the release of their third album: Don’t Back Down. The music of First Floor Power is maybe best described as creative pop, experimental rock and electro vibes. On Friday they are playing together with Speedmarket Ave at Pustervik!

Comb your hair sideways, put on your polka dotted dress and/or your skinniest Cheap Mondays and head out for the indie party at Röda sten. E du go Eller is one big, warm, happy indie fiesta! Tonight: Release and after-party for the boys in the band Samtidigt som.

Ice Cream Parlour

What feels more like summer than ice cream and partying until dawn? The people behind the club ice cream parlour decided to combine the two and are throwing a grand ice cream parlour party at Respect this weekend. The night’s theme is Blueberry. Free ice-cream at the bar, house music and a laser show are some of the things to expect at Respect.

Club Radio London

The much successful club Radio London are moving their DJ-set to the tropical-inspired bar Kontiki in Änggården. The music is like the name implies: influenced by Britannia, in all shapes and forms. Britpop, indie, rock, garage, beat and psych. And if the dance floor gets too hot, Kontiki surely has one of the best outdoor terraces in town. Sun all night.

When all the downtown pubs and bars are either closed or empty, Kelly’s is there like a dear friend for those with the hangover blues. Chill out with some cheap pizzas, beer and participate in their Sunday pub quiz. Try your knowledge in music and films and you might win a gift card at the bar!

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.

Url copied to clipboard!