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Gothenburg club and concert tips – May 22 – 24

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

Published: 22 May 2008 14:09 CEST

On Friday night the theatre Storan will transform itself into one, big synth party. Synthklubben invites you to old and new synth pop, electro, new romantic and experimental electronica. Here people take the 80s seriously. Expect black outfits, panda eyes and slick ponytails. Tonight the band Thermostatic are celebrating the release of their record “Humanizer”.

If you thought Gothenburg didn’t have any decent scene for techno music, keep reading. Hatet is a pure techno club housed at the ever trendy Uppåt framåt. Here the electronic music will make your knees weak, set the speakers on fire and have your body dripping with sweat from all the jumping around. Dj’s are: Dimitrios K and Joachim Nordvall.

Culture festival

On Saturday the first ever culture festival in Härlanda will be held at the cultural venue Kulturhuset Kåken! It will be an “All day – in the name of culture – festival” Great live bands, a handicraft market, dance performances, art, video screenings, magazines and much more. All for free!

I Love Pustervik

Prepare for a very special night at Pustervik this Saturday! The great Pustervik clubs: Locus, Woody west, Soulastatic, Slippery People and Scratch are throwing a joint party. The music will be as diverse as the clubs. House, hip hop, pop, country, northern soul and much more.

On Sunday it is the grand premiere for a new rock club in town. Once a month the club Super rock will be the hangout for all the rockers in town. For the opening night there will be both Swedish and international acts on stage. Among others, the Swedish hardcore and metal band Backyard Babies.

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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