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ENTERTAINMENT

Stockholm club and concert guide: August 7 – 9

Stockholm club and concert tips from Kalendarium (Click links for more information).

Commercial anarchy

A beer brand joins forces with the ever hip Vice magazine to create a night that will live long in the memory for the residents of Södermalm. The hill on Götgatan will be filled with music, dancing and people when the city’s best clubs, stores and record shops take over.

Late opening

Since some crazy athletes have decided to run all round Stockholm, Morfar Ginko will stay open late on Saturday night. Axel Boman and Dandy Digital will blast some tip-top house from the balcony while Above All will keep things messy in the cellar. Why run when you can dance?

Carnival

Viva! Thomas Gylling and his entourage are pulling out their three biggest carnival trucks and driving to Gustav Adolfs Torg. There they will be met by tons of people in the mood for dancing. A huge stage with live bands and DJs will ensure that town will be dancing to the samba beat.

Tiger rhythms

The group Tristes Tigres celebrate the release of their album Tropical Deression in memory of deceased band member Pato. A bunch of celebrated hip hop and reggae artists will join the party. Invited DJs will get things moving at Bar Brasil XL from 11pm onwards. Legendary.

Festival

It’s time once again for the Trädgården Festival. Beer on the grass, live music and food. And it doesn’t cost anything to get in.

The Swedish Model

Time for a revolution. Tired of the dull file-sharing debate, seven Swedish record labels and have decided to generate some action in the music world. Gentle Touch, The Kid, Motoboy and many more will be playing live at Debaser on Saturday.

Indie indie

Indie pop non stop. Sunday sees a gathering of the most promising Swedish indie bands at the cosy El Mundo to show that pop is back for good.

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.

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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