Žagar (or Zagar) is a leading band in Hungarian indie and electronic music. Their sound is based on contemporary electronic music, jazz and indie rock. The results are heavy beats, atmospheric mood and sound clips from the psychedelic era of the late 1960s. Andor Kovács and the leader of the band Balázs Zságer were the co-writers of the Yonderboi album Shallow and Profound in some track.
Žagar | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Budapest, Hungary |
| Genres | Electronic, indie |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Mole Listening Pearls |
| Members | Balázs Zságer Tibor Lázár Ákos Zságer-Varga |
| Past members | György Ligeti DJ Bootsie Kovács Andor |
| Website | www |
History
Their debut album was, Local Broadcast (UCMG/Ugar 2002), was selected for the chart of the 50 all-time most important Hungarian records by the music magazine WAN2. They made many soundtracks for short and feature films; the most important is Eastern Sugar (Fillcell/Universal 2004), which was the best soundtrack in 2005 in Hungary. Their music has been used in the US television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spin-off CSI: NY.[1] The band released their second studio album, Cannot Walk Fly Instead (CLS Records), in September 2007 and 2009 worldwide on the German label, Mole Listening Pearls.
The band has been performing since 2001. They have played in Hungary, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Russia. They supported Depeche Mode on the Budapest leg of the Tour of the Universe 2009. Its first single "Wings of Love", featuring the Underground Divas - six of Hungary's most popular independent singers[2] - earned heavy radio airplay and secured a no1. spot on MTV's video chart. They earned numerous awards for this record, most notably the Hungarian Record Industry's Fonogram Award and prize in the International Songwriting Competition. They were nominated for the Regional Award in the MTV European Music Awards 2008 and 2009.Their tracks were remixed by Terry Lee Brown, Jr., Moonbotica, Eriq Johnson or Cottonmouth, among others.
Discography
| Žagar discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 4 |
| Singles | 7 |
| Soundtrack albums | 2 |
Studio albums
- Local Broadcast (2002)
- Cannot Walk Fly Instead (2007)
- Light Leaks (2013)
- Woods, Spirits & Sorcery (2019)
Soundtracks
- Szezon.Eastern Sugar (original soundtrack of the feature film "Szezon"; 2004)
- My Night Your Day (original soundtrack of the feature film "Az éjszakám a nappalod"; 2015)
Singles & EPs
- Wings of Love (2009)
- Learn to Fall (2010)
- Space Medusa (2012)
- We Are Alone EP (2014)
- Ghost Orchid (2019)
- Anata Wa Watashi (2019)
- Lost Tribes (2019)
Remixes
- Bosssa Astoria/Revolution Remixes (2003)
- Wings of Love Remixes (2009)
- Cannot Walk Fly Instead extended version (w. Wings of Love Remixes) (2009)
- Prophet is a Fool Remixes (2011)
- Never the Same Remixes (2012)
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cosmic Disaster | Fillcell |
| 2003 | Bossa Astoria | Fabricius |
| 2004 | Eastern Sugar | Daniel Garas |
| 2004 | Taste of Snow | Patyomkim |
| 2004 | Bossa Astoria (Erik Sumo rework) | B.A.L. |
| 2005 | Screen Cowboys | Sándor Kristóffy |
| 2006 | Sounds and Lights | Fabricius |
| 2007 | Three Seasons Fall (werk video) | Menzkie |
| 2007 | Wings of Love | András Nagy |
| 2009 | Escape from the Earth | Menzkie |
| 2010 | Prophet is a Fool (Live at Sziget Festival) | E357 |
| 2011 | Never the Same (Live with Fire Brass Band) | Bálint Szimler & Marcell Rév |
| 2012 | Never the Same | Szilvia Bolla |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Film | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Taste of Snow | Patyomkim | |
| 2004 | Bossa Astoria | B.A.L. | |
| 2004 | Monuments | The Bottle Opener Lady | Ferenc Török |
| 2004 | Tower | Fabricius | |
| 2004 | Eastern Sugar | Szezon | Ferenc Török |
| 2004 | Blindfight | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | |
| 2006 | VJ film about the Sziget Festival | Fabricius | |
| 2007 | Commutted Sentences | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | |
| 2007 | Go To Hell | CSI: New York | |
| 2009 | Adrenaline and Turbulence | documentary DVD | |
| 2010 | They Came From... | Norvegian snow board documentary | Factor Films |
| 2010 | Mission London | UK-Bulgarian-Hungarian feature film | Dimitar Mitovski |
Members
Current band members
- Balázs Zságer (rhodes piano, keys, electronica, programming)
- Tibor Lázár (drums)
- Ákos Zságer-Varga (bass)
Former band members
- György Ligeti (vocals, guitars)
- DJ Bootsie (scratch)
- Andor Kovács (guitars)
Contributors
- Edina Kutzora (vocal) (2002, 2004)
- Underground Divas: Edina Kutzora, Sena, Németh Juci, Hodosi Enikő, Judie Jay, Péterfy Bori (vocal in Wings of Love song 2007)
- Ferenczy Bukky (vocal) (2019)
- Zsófia Hutvágner (Lyrics)