Top 10 July / August

2010 // July 15 – August 31

When	What	Where	Genre	Price
08.07 - 01.11 Tuesday to Saturday 10:00h – 20:00h / Sundays 10:00h – 14:30h	*Exhibition / Pipilotti Rist* If you judge wine by the label and books by their covers, you won’t get around this Swiss video artist, whose first name conjures up happy memories of Daddy reading Lindgren before bedtime. And, in fact, her large-scale video installations do seem overwhelmingly lush and vivid at first, inviting you to absorb colors and sound. When her 7354 cubic meter installation Pour Your Body Out showed at the MOMA last year, visitors were enthralled. The Fundació Joan Miró may not have that much space at its disposal, but they have made room for nine installations created over the course of the past ten years. And once you are in Pipilotti’s universe, you’ll realize that this woman doesn’t create kitschy, colorful wonderlands, but searches for the female body, the disappearing body, the canny in the uncanny, and the clash between what we commonly call Nature and Culture. fundaciomiro-bcn.org	montjuïc Fundació Joan Miró @ Parc de Montjuïc s/n	Art	4€
Thursdays / Until 10.09 22:00h	*Nits d’estiu a la terrassa / Nova Cancó* As part of the temporary exhibition La Nova cançó. La voz de un pueblo, currently running at Catalunya’s National Art Museum, established and upcoming musicians who belong to the official Catalan canon are invited to share their tunes, open-air, in the museum’s courtyard. Every Thursday until the beginning of September, a different band will sing in Catalan about things that concern us all – the passing of time, love, misery and memories. Up next is Joan Isaac (15.07) followed by Mazoni (22.07), Sanjosex (29.07), Pi de la Serra (05.08), Francesc Burrull (12.08), Toti Soler (19.08), Anna Roig i l’Ombre de Ton Chien (26.08), Miquela Lladó (02.09), and, last but not least, Roger Mas (10.09). A visit of the exhibition is included in the ticket price and the museum opens until 10pm on Thursdays during the summer months. mhcat.net	montjuïc MNAC @ Plaça de Pau Vila, 3	Music	4€
15.07-26.09 11:00h – 21:00h	*Exhibition / The London Punk Tapes* There are many interesting things to say about Jordi Valls, responsible for the conceptual design of this exhibition. His main body of work has appeared in the form of Vagina Dentata Organ (VDO ), an art and sound project that has been successfully alienating audiences all over the world for the last 30 years (check YouTube for the infamous 1984 VDO performance on the show La Edad de Oro). But this expo is not about Valls himself. In 1976 and 1977, he recorded nine audio cassettes of some of the early live punk gigs in London featuring The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned, Subway Sect, Billy Idol & Generation X, The Slits and Buzzcocks. Sound, photographs, an audiovisual on punk iconography by Franc Aleu-Urano Films, and an installation combine here to profile a rebellious attitude firmly committed to its time. artssantamonica.cat	raval Arts Santa Monica @ La Rambla, 7	Art	Free
16.07 21:30h	*Paraula en escena / Cecil Taylor + Amiri Baraka* Cultural globalization may have some very nasty consequences, but it comes with some beautiful side effects as well. How incredible is it that these two African-American legends, musicians, and poets, who are also revolutionaries and Marxists and contemporaries of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, perform together at ages 81 and 75 on a Friday night in Poblenou, Barcelona, for five pavos entrance fee? I’ve looked it up three times. I called them. It’s true: we get to see the pioneer of free jazz, Cecil Taylor, whose piano technique has been described as “eighty-eight tuned drums”, and Amiri Baraka, the controversial beat poet, writer and publisher of icons like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, for a mere fiver. I had a dream… cafelebab.cat	poblenou Fàbrica Can Ricart @ Marroc / Pg de Santa Isabel	Spoken Word	5€
16.07 20:00h – 01:00h	*Concert / BCNmp7* Moroccan hip hop comes pounding through the B-Sizzle this month, thanks to the excellent BCNmp7 series. They’re bringing the beats and voices of the Casa Crew along with Dj Key, Vj Kalamour and more. The CCCB website prompts us to “discover and enjoy rap beyond the barriers of culture and language”, and that’s no joke, ‘cause you might not be able to understand a single fucking word of this shit. However, the beats are dope (hot and hard, fast, a throwback to Dr. Dre-type shit at times) and well produced, and the lyrics (at least rhythmically) fit in tight. Dj Key does a solid job both on the mix and the scratch (maybe you remember him from Sonar 2008?) and this Vj Kalamour character is capable of throwing together some cool, modern visuals that give a new and über-urban perspective to traditional stereotypes of Moroccan landscapes. What’s more? This shit is free, thanks to the fiesta mayor del Raval! cccb.org	raval CCCB @ Montalegre, 5	Music	Free
18.07 21:30h	*Concert / Erykah Badu* Erykah Badu is beautiful (vocally and physically), different (musically and aesthetically), diverse, spiritual, political, original, hip hop, blues, soul, funk and jazz. She’s the soundtrack to your break-ups and your far-off hopes for a better love (listen to “You Got Me” by the Roots feat. Badu) and a more genuine, if grimy, fidelity (“Danger”). She’s in those purest moments when you realize how much you love hip hop, all it’s composed of, and all it represents (listen to “Love of My Life” feat. Common). She’s the best head-bobbing music around (“Woo”), and she’s smooth classics that’ll never die (“On & On”). If you still don’t know this musician, listen to the songs listed above and go to the concert. Pay the money. Don’t hesitate if you think you don’t like hip hop. She’s pure soul in a bottle. There’s funk. There’s rhythm and blues. And if you’re already a fan, then you already know everything you’ve just read, you already have tickets, and I’ll see you there. poble-espanyol.com	montjuïc Poble Espanyol @ Av. Marquès de Comillas, 13	Music	45€-65€
22.07 21:00h	*Concert / Kings of Convenience* Self-described as “music your parents like, too”, the songs of Kings of Convenience blend soft acoustic tunes with velvety smooth vocals for an experience comparable to sipping chamomile tea in silk pajamas. This awkward indie/folk-pop Norwegian duo compose their Simon & Garfunkel-esque harmonies themselves and sing them so soothingly that you wonder if they’re ever stressed. Last year’s release, Declaration of Dependence, is a bold and beautiful assertion that we are better off together than apart. So grab your partner in crime - or mom and dad - for some quality time and head to the Poble Espanyol for an evening of relaxation that won’t cost you a single brain cell or the content of the nevera. Quiet is king... theproject.es	montjuïc Poble Espanyol @ Avinguda Marquès de Comillas, 13	Music	35€-45€
24.07 16:00h	*Funny Games / Encuentros polaroid #1* Playa, platja, beach – that’s all you hear when asking what people are up to on the weekend. Is it really too hot to do anything else? Isn’t there something just a little bit more demanding to be done on a day off than playing roast chicken on a jam-packed strip of sand whilst having to listen to others’ unexciting opinions on Sarkozy’s Airbus A319? (Btw, the chutzpah!) At least the peeps from the ingenious hodgepodge shop Chandal in Raval think so. They’ve invited everyone to join a little photo competition with instant cameras (the ones with self-developing film, remember?). Bring yours (the one catching dust on a bottom shelf) or arrive early to snatch one of the six they’ll loan out. You’ve got two hours to roam the streets of the Ciutat Vella and return with glorious snapshots of the urban habitat, and the best instant photo wins a small “thank you for playing with us” award. Game? souvenirofchandal.com	raval Chandal @ Valldonzella, 29	Funny Games	Free
31.07 22:00h	*Concerts / Sorrofest* How do you choose to release the adolescent angst that you’ve bottled up inside you all these years? Start running ultramarathons might be an option or paying 50 bucks an hour for “professional” advice from a person you would never choose to talk to if you were to meet them at a party. Others decide to go to punk shows and jump around for a few hours to short songs that even the most distraught teenager could understand. If the latter option sounds appealing, then make your way down to Sala Rocksound in Poblenou, where some of the best punk that Barna has to offer (namely Spoilers, Los Brackets, Ningoonies, and Fanta) will be blasting for hours on end for a mere eight euritos. Set yourself free. salarocksound.com	pbolenou Rocksound @ Almogavèrs, 116	Music	8€
03.08 – 25.08 22:00h / Tuesday-Thursday	*Cine / Gandules 2010* Rotten mileurista life! Friends traveling to Peru or the Seychelles this summer have already generously announced that they’ll host a Powerpoint party upon their return to share their adventures with the poor sods stuck at home in the heat with the tourists. We can’t wait. But seriously, darlings, you don’t have to travel far to travel far – be a gandul: relax in a deck chair and let the world come to you. This year’s lineup for the CCCB’s annual open-air cinema festival couldn’t be better suited to your situation. Poignantly entitled Lost, lost, lost, it’s full of fiction: aimless characters, endless searches, journeys to the unknown. It’s a cycle about the desire for movement, escape and transformation. What’s important may not be the choice of path, but the possibility of starting a new one... Please check the day-to-day listings for the detailed line up. And don’t forget to arrive early; there’s never been a Gandules night that wasn’t jam-packed. cccb.org	raval CCCB @ Montalegre, 5	Film	Free