SOUNDTRACK: C. TANGANA-Tiny Desk (Home) Concert #194 (April 20, 2021).
It’s surreal seeing this many people standing so close to each other singing and having a good time. It’s also an incredible reminder of how good it sounds when a lot of people sing together.
The blurb is surprisingly lax about explaining who C. Tangana is–but I gather he must be pretty huge.
From Mexican Regional to Spanish flamenco, C. Tangana is simultaneously coming home and reaching out to bridge Latin music boundaries. He’s building a community of cross-cultural collaboration, rooted in a unifying love of language and tradition, making it clear he’s intent on giving everyone a seat at the table.
The blurb does say that this gathering is Tangana’s extended family (the clinks of salud certainly suggest familia).
After more than 13 months amid a global pandemic, C. Tangana’s extended family basking in the warmth of sobremesa with easy smiles and effortless baile looks otherworldly. (Check his mama and tía vibing in the corner.)
They open the set with
This first live performance of his latest album, El Madrileño (including a global premiere of a fresh single, “Me Maten”) buzzes with communal energy, spotlighting talent from across Latin landscapes.
C. Tangana sings with Antonio Carmona, on “Me Maten” and the whole show gets off to a warm, relaxed feeling. The backing singers (Lucia Fernada Carmona, Pilar Cerezo, Marina Carmona, África Heredia, María Rubio, Mariola Orellana, Patri Alfaro and Mari Estrada) do an amazing job of fleshing out this and the other songs.
The concert’s star-studded cast of Spanish collaborators, including long-time friends (producers Alizzz and Victor Martínez) and new contributors (rumba legend Kiko Veneno and flamenco-pop icon La Húngara), are each spotlighted for their contributions to the record.
Up next is C. Tangana and Kiko Veneno singing “Los Tontos.” Kiko plays guitar and opens the song. When everyone sings along (especially the la na na na) it sounds wonderul. Then Alizzz, who has been playing the keys, sings the New Order line “Every time I see you falling…” into the vocoder and it fits perfectly. Kiko ends the song with lovely guitar melodies.
Tangana switches positions for “Demasiadas Mujeres.” He walks away from the table to a nearby string octet (Pablo Quintanilla, Paula Sanz, Franciso Palazón, Marina Arrufat, Paloma Cueto-Felgueroso, Adrián Vázquez, Irma Bau, Daniel Acebes). Huberto Morales (I think) plays a martial drumbeat. Tangana raps this track and it sounds pretty great with the strings–the octet is really into it–rocking and bopping around. They play a pretty solo as Tanagana heads back to the table.
There’s lots of friendly chatter before “Tú Me Dejaste De Querer.” Alizzz once again plays keys and sings into the vocoder to introduce this wonderfully catchy simple guitar riff. I’m not sure who is playing guitar as there are so many guitarists: Victor Martínez, Juan Carmona and Niño De Elch who sings a verse. He’s also joined by La Húngara whose female voice brings a wonderful change to this great set.
[READ: February 1, 2021] Hasta el Mismísimo
I saw Hasta el Mismísimo which Google translated as “Even the Very” at work. It was in Spanish but the cover was cute and I was curious what it was about. The translated title certainly didn’t help. I flipped through the book and found that it was mostly cartoons. So it seemed easy enough to translate.
The first text is a big thank you page, the final line of which is Thank you to @glorianietophoto who gave me the brilliant idea of drawing a talking pussy [Google translates that last word a bit more harshly when it is by itself].
So THAT’s what this book is about and what’s on the cover.
The second pages says A los Mismísimos del mundo, !Bienvenido! which gets translated as “To the themselves of the world, welcome.” Clearly “Mismísimo” is a hard word to translate inthis context.
The first cartoon shows the talking pussy with a cup full of blood painting on a cave wall: “It seems that a long time ago we painted in the caves, but really today there are still a lot of cavemen. That’s why it’s easy to finish UP TO THE SAME [Hasta el Mismísimo].
The next page clarifies what some of the other drawings are throughout the book: cute depictions of sex toys and parts. Like the adorable smiling penis.
Half of the world’s population has a vulva and lets say we haven’t been heard from much.
The penis says “A shooting star. Make a wish.” And the little vulva says she has so many she doesn’t know where to start.
Then comes a diagram of the sexual organ and a sagging penis saying how can you keep it up for so long? The weightlifting pussy says “weak sex, the balls.”
The next section is about different friends: the cultured, the sporty, the one who speaks under water, the warrior, the fashionista and the rebel (each describes a different drawing).
In the next chapter the pussy asks a woman why she lets the world brainwash her. It’s followed by a scene in school with a teacher pointing at stick figure saying “Well, don’t look to much but this is the human body.” When a student has a question she replies “Don’t ask! Shut up and memorize.” Other brainwashers include a priest saying no sex before marriage and someone else saying “Don’t be such a tomboy,” or “It’s not ladylike” Or “Do you want to see this model for girls?” or “No man will marry you if you can’t iron.”
How do you react? With the middle finger!
You have now seen the power of one finger, imagine what you can do with two–wink, wink.
What else brings happiness?
Work? If you were paid the same for any job would you still work where you do?
Then there’s an amusing example of a work email:
When someone asks you to send an email to another person and then tell the original person what the second person replied.
Up next is a magazine cover showing how nothing is realistic, including a phone saying it would have put a filter on that picture.
And dieting: When a plate with eggs and fries doesn’t look like a diet food. Aha, add a lettuce leaf–much better.
Then a woman finds a gray hair and voices tell her to dye. But she says look at George Clooney.
But George says, “Excuse me, sweetie, I am a man. Gray hair does not make me old, it makes me interesting.”
Just repeat the mantra: I can’t be any more perfect–I am perfect!
Bravery is going to a public restroom without checking the three Ps Peste Pestillo Papel (smell, latch, paper).
Hold the door with one hand, the bag in the other making sure the light doesn’t go out. Stand on tiptoe, don’t splashing.
Then the penis looks at the pussy and says you have a nosebleed. The pussy say s it doenst have a nose. So it must be….
There’s a story of love with an old woman (an old pussy) saying how hard it was in the old days where she was untouched until she was married.
The end section is very funny with the pussy scratching her head and making her mouth water. The penis says “open sesame” but she says there’s a much easier way…scratch her head.
Another mantra: I am the one who matters in this story.”
And: “No balloons no party.”
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