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What’s on in Sweden: June 6 – 13

What’s on in Sweden: Football, football and more football. And food and art and music.

Published: 5 June 2008 17:39 CEST

STOCKHOLM

National Day

Skansen open air park and zoo is the place to be to celebrate Sweden’s national day. There are activities all day, with the Royal Family putting in an appearance in the early evening.

Location: Skansen

Time: June 6th, 11am – 8pm

More information: Skansen

A taste of Stockholm

Some of Stockholm’s best restaurants gather one place to sell some tasty morsels, often at a knock-down price.

Location: Kungsträdgården

Time: Thursday, Friday 11am – 11.30pm, Saturday 11am – 10pm

More information: A taste of Stockholm

Euro 2008

Follow Sweden’s fortunes at Euro 2008 at a club named after battling midfielder Tobias Linderoth. First up, Sweden v Greece on Tuesday.

Location: Street, Hornstulls strand 4

Time: Tuesday, 6.30pm

More information: Klubb Linderoth

GOTHENBURG

Happy Gothenburg

The Happy Gothenburg society brings together some 4,000 musicians, singers, dancers and gymnasts for a long weekend of festivities.

Location: All over the city. Check out the website below.

Time: All weekend

More information: Happy Gothenburg

Tomorrow always belongs to us

A new exhibition featuring some of the most exciting young painters in the Nordic region.

Location: Göteborgs Konsthall, Götaplatsen

Date: June 5th – September 28th

More information: Göteborgs Konsthall

Euro 2008

Dig out your yellow jersey and watch Sweden take on holders Greece at Euro 2008.

Location: Kajskjul 8, Packhuskajen

Time: Tuesday, Doors open 6pm

More information: Kajskjul 8

MALMÖ

Amanda Jenssen

She came second in Swedish Idol and she’s just released her first album. And here she is, performing free at Folkets Park.

Location: Folkets Park

Time: June 6th, 5pm – 5.45pm

More information: Folkets Park

Gary Louris

If football’s not your thing, Gary Louris from the Jayhawks might be just the thing on Tuesday evening. It’s a free concert too.

Location: Friisgatan 26

Time: Tuesday, On stage at 9pm

More information: Kulturbolaget

Euro 2008

Big screen football for free at Folkets park. And not just Sweden’s games either.

Location: Folkets Park

Time: June 7th – 12th, 5pm – 11pm

More information: Folkets Park

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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