Hungary

I cannot deny that my personal favourite is Csaknekedkislány. That dance-band (the expression sounds much better in Hungarian) grew so big in this year that even the middle-sized clubs in Budapest do not have enough place for their audience.

Due to the intelligently humorous lyrics and fast rhythms the concerts drive the audience mad (in the best way) and make them dance unconsciously. Last year was really great for them, not just in the aspect of the concert but their first album is almost finished as well.

I’m sure this year they’ll show us they can be even more successful.

Csaknekedkislány on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube,

The biggest hit and biggest bomb to the Hungarian alternative music last year was Deep Glaze. These confident young guys from Budapest really know what they do.

This is the generation that was born and raised up after the system changing. And it doesn’t know the borders or censorship.

The music they do is obviously based on the Western rock music from the second part of the 20th century, mixed with new wave and the feelings or experiences of the nowadays’ young adults.

Deep Glaze on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube.

If “The New Hope” had been a film about Hungarian music, the protagonist would have been definitely Fran Palermo.

Sometimes they are together, sometimes not. But in the last year they published more songs than ever. We could call it as a return, but they still don’t give as many concerts as they used to (maybe in 2016).

Still I feel like I would have done a crime if I had not written them onto this list. Here, the indie-folk is mostly living just because of them. I trust you, guys.

Fran Palermo on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

2015 was a great year for Gustave Tiger, after Hungary they also could reach something out of the borderlines. They were selected by Rough Trade Shop for their 2015’s compilation album and they played at SXSW.

Beside these facts, they played before a great number of equally great musicians. What they do had so many different names, but my favourite one is cathedral-punk.

Maybe Hungary is not famous for its punk bands, but well, you never know…

Gustav Tiger on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube.

Makrohang is one of those bands that always get the cliché: “cannot be categorised”. But these common places usually based on facts, and what Makrohang does is actually something unique. They also getting more and more well-known not just in Hungary but in the whole Eastern-Central Europe.

They haven’t produced their first album yet, but they have some single and so many records of their live performances, because that is what they did in 2015: played at concerts and festivals as many times they could. Hopefully the first LP will be published soon.

Makrohang on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, www.

The “psychedelic-retro” is a common phenomenon (mainly) in the English-speaking countries and it arrived to Hungary a couple of years ago as well. And in spite of the fact that we already had some quite good representatives, this year gave us a huge number of surprises.

METEO is exactly the band you would imagine if someone asked you to think of a group from this genre. They have everything what psychedelic musicians usually do.

And apart from that, they are still young enough to have time to find something that could be considered as a “plus”.

METEO on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr.

Puma Danger was not actually new in 2015, they won a competition in the year before. But a full album is still a full album, and this was also the year when they became a real name as a concert-band as well.

They are also the member of the Hungarian psychedelic “club”, but they have something what is not so common: a singer with a really interesting and confident voice. They really know how to behave on the stage and can prove a quality with their live performances.

Hopefully in some years not just we here in Hungary can listen to them live, but other parts of Europe too.

Puma Danger on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube.

I have already written an article about Seaside, and those who have read that text know why I should not leave this project out of this list.

Despite the fact that Hungary is a “crossroad” in Central Europe, the Scandinavian melodies are not very common here. But Seaside knows what he knows.

Dániel Garamvölgyi makes a brilliant, melancholic and pure music with some Northern influents. His songs prove that the youth of Hungary actually follows what is happening in other parts of Europe (or some of them, at least).

Seaside on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube.

Last year, the Hungarian music-scene finally started to reform itself. The old, well-known bands which formed right after (or before) the system-change lost their authority in the concert halls. The missing voice of the youth finally found it way.

The first band in 2015 that made something really interesting was the Szabó Benedek és a Galaxisok. They are the musicians who can truly present the tragedies of the young Hungarians, who have to face the struggles of the real life after school, to older generations.

Szabó Benedek és a Galaxisok on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube.

Probably the odd one out of this list is Szeder. She sings in a kind of mixture of blues, pop and Hungarian folk. It is for a different type of audience than the one which is usually partying to the other bands here. Her most well-known music video came out at the end of 2014 and it was quite a unique hit in the radio in 2015.

Szeder’s latest video clip (see above) was published in November. Beside her own songs, she also writes for other singers, furthermore she was the vocalist in the song with which Hungary entered the latest Eurovision Song Contest – decide whether it is good or not.

Szeder on Facebook, YouTube, www.