Norbert Kristóf

Norbert Kristóf is a bit like the youngest brother from a tale. He left his home, Miskolc, a mid-sized industrial city with nearly nothing but a guitar, in the hope of finding something bigger and brighter, and maybe some recognition as a musician. He tried Budapest, London and Stockholm, still, he's a 28 year-old a singer-songwriter always moving on for new paths and hopes. It was feelings and girls and love what kept him moving, and this is what’s his music is about.

His great voice and musical creativity combined with mature, bright and moving lyrics create a special atmosphere which reminds the listener of a dark and rainy world past time and place, where human beings are hopelessly fell in love with each other.

So far he’s been in two short-lived formations: The Band Called Russel and Karate Dog. His active sideproject is The Tree, in which he is accompanied by Gergő Dorozsmai (The Moog) on drums, and they also managed to produce a debut album.

Norbert Kristóf is sure that someday he’ll be the big thing in pop music and he’s got everything to make it happen.

Righ now, in Hungary he is somewhat of a cult status musician, acknowledged by some of the biggest, still, not the public.

The videoclip of the song “Forget your name” started to get airplay on Hungarian MTV in 2008, the artist right now is seting out again: this time the destination is Berlin.

DOWNLOAD Norbert Kristóf discography

Forget Your Name video
The Sadness Comes on Big Buses LIVE video

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The Moog

I will start with Hungary's biggest musical export since Franz Liszt. These twenty-something indie-rocker guys nearly have achieved what so far no other Hungarian band was able to: become a mainstream success.

They are the first rock band in the region to be signed to an American record label, MuSick Records, they are preparing for their 3rd American tour after a European one (and one in Japan still to go) and their two videos got airplay on MTVU (an MTV channel designed to aim American university students). Still, they're not 'there' yet.

The Moog consists of Tonyó (vocals, keyboard), Gergő (drums), Ádi (guitar), Csabi (bass) and Miguel (guitar) and they play 60s garage and 70s punk influenced, mellow indie rock.The Moog name is a tribute to a bar the group attended when they were 18 years of age. Moog Music allowed use of the name for the band on the condition that they precede it with "The". Tonyó also noted that "they gave us a synthetizer, so we use it now."

Their 2007 debut Sold for Tomorrow has its ups and downs, some indie pop clichés come around often. At times, The Moog finds its own special voice and thus gives great standout tracks, Your Sweet Neck, Everybody Wants, I Like You and Survive has to be mentioned here.

The second album, which is said to be finished since the summer of 2008 but is not out yet, is propably another step away from the thousand Libertines-copy band out on the market. The three samples from the new album available for listen on their Myspace vouch to a new, darker sound. Of course there are the tingling guitars, there is Joy Division, there is The Cure but there is something even more. Sure as hell I don't know shit about 'goth' music, but I guess this is it.

Now some about The Moog's Hungarian background. Indie rock in Hungary is not considered pop music, instead it is a subculture which is present exclusively in Budapest, the capital. During a 2008 interview when fans could ask questions directly to the band via IRC chat, it turned out that some fans thought that The Moog was an 'emo' band (instead of 'emo', 'emo-bashing' is widely popular in Hungary, so everyone wearing tight pants is considered 'emo'). The core of indie subculture is connected to music, fashion, and visual artist communities with a broading range of 'outsider' listeners thanks to MTV Hungary and Rádió Petőfi. Other Hungarian indie rock/pop artists include Amber Smith, EZ Basic and Jacked.

DOWNLOAD 'SOLD FOR TOMORROW (2007)'

Popmatters critics (Sold For Tomorrow)

I Like You video
Everybody Wants video

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