Spanish Music

El Guitarrista. Image by Landahlauts.

Last night Dan and I were treated to a live Sonic Youth concert on La 2. I doubt I will ever get to see them live, so it was pretty cool. I miss being able to go to shows and take photos…. Damn you economy! Anyhow, I realized that while I may be unable to post photos of my own (no, no word on the computer yet), I can still tell you about life here in Spain! And what aspect is more ever-present than music?

Remember how, a little while ago, I came up with this quote from  John Hooper’s The New Spaniards:

“It is in the field of pop and rock that Spain lags. During nearly two decades of association with the country, I doubt if I have heard more than a half-a-dozen numbers I would want to listen to again, and hundreds – no, thousands – I would pay good money not to.”

Well, it’s still true. (Keeping in mind that I’m a music snob.) But since I’ve been here, I’m willing to say that there is actually some popular Spanish music that doesn’t grate on the ears quite so much.

Let’s put flamenco off to one side for a minute. Well executed flamenco is awesome – absolutely awesome – and if you plan on travelling to Sevilla I’ll tell you where you should go: La Casa de la Memoria. Any show there will blow you away. But, I’m not an expert on flamenco or it’s relatives. And I haven’t been able to find any kind of indie presence since I’ve been here. (If you know of something, let me know.) So, instead, let’s talk about the ever-present chart-toppers. Pop music. Joy.

The main radio station doesn’t waste any time on pretense. It’s named exactly what it is: Los Cuarenta – the Top 40.  A quick glance at their website will prove to you the old maxim that America’s biggest export is culture. As I write, Rihanna is at #1 and Lady Gaga is following close behind at #3. The number 2 slot is held by El Canto del Loco (“The Song of the Crazy”), who are a pop-rock outfit I haven’t actually heard a lot from but am told are pretty decent. If you poke around their website, you can watch videos and get all the news to fill your Spanish pop music-obsessed heart to the brim.

As a rule, I don’t listen to the radio much, but I like to know what people are listening to in the area, so every now and then… Even so, there are some songs that you can’t help but hear because they are everywhere. Spain is no different. In the months that I’ve been here, I’ve heard a couple of songs that are relatively decent.

By far the best of them is Efecto Mariposa’s “Por Quererte,” with its chorus of “No sé quien soy” – “I don’t know who I am.” Watch:

On the little more upbeat side, we’ve got Macaco with “Moving.” Yep, you guessed it, a chorus in English. This one is a little more reggae/save the earth-ish. Fun, though. Can’t embed it, so I recommend you click through and check it out here.

Next up, we’ve got a little surprise. You know Nelly Furtado, I’m sure. But did you realize she spoke Spanish? I didn’t. Not only is she beautiful and talented, but she’s multilingual. And Canadian. From Portuguese parents. So why that equals Spanish I’m not sure, but she’s been doing pretty well with “Manos al Aire”:

And then there’s the less tolerable but still amusing stuff…

Keeping in the order of preference, let’s go with Alejandro Sanz & Alicia Keyes collaborating on “Looking for Paradise.” Half of the song is in Spanish, the other half is in English. Both of them sing in both languages, and at least Alejandro Sanz’s English accent is worth a chuckle. For the longest time I thought this was a Beyoncé song when it started – only to realize how long I was when it became Spanish. This song is EVERYWHERE. The chicas love it. Go figure:

And finally, what would any post about music in Spain be without talking about the club hits? This song is everywhere, even when it’s not actually on. It’s passed from the realm of music and into a joke… well, at least for Dietrich and I. When we first got here we would randomly hear groups of teenagers walking around and unemotionally chanting, “Wiki wiki. Wiki wiki wiki. Wiki wiki.” It kind of weirded me out. Somewhere in there, Poonam, Dietrich and I were looking for a place to get tapas and a drink and we walked in to one place to see a group of kids dancing and doing the same thing. It was probably around then that I figured out it was a song.

But it was one night at the bottelón when it really hit home. Our friend Antonio was asking one of his friends for a drink, and the friend asked what he wanted. “Wiki wiki,” he replied, pointing to his glass.

“What the heck is ‘wiki wiki’?” I finally asked, totally confused by this phenomenon. In this case, Antonio explained, he was asking for whiskey, but he was surprised we hadn’t heard the club hit of the season. I youtubed it the next day.

Hear it for yourself. Here is Buraka Som Sistema’s “Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)”:

Oh, and what better way to tell someone to look it up on Wikipedia? There isn’t one.

Wiki wiki.