Scene and Unheard Issue #35

Budapest

By Aniko Greger
Published: March 1st, 2008 | 12:31pm

ERIK SUMO BAND
LABEL: Pulver Records
PLAYERS: Veronika Harcsa (vocals), Erzsi Kiss (vocals), István Pápai (percussion), Zoltán Farkas (drums), Gergely Drapos (bass), Ádám Mészáros (guitar), Ambrus Tövisházi (keyboards).
INFLUENCES: Eastern European jazz, library soundtracks, twisted funk, cutting-edge Baltic breakbeats, post-punk, Portishead, Beck, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
SOUNDS LIKE: Beautifully contrasting vocal styles over the sometimes dreamy country cowboy, sometimes trippy funk and soul-inspired music of the band.
THE LOWDOWN: At turns soulful and energetic, this is one of those versatile groups that sounds completely different on each track. Harcsa’s lovely, smoky voice hovers over the music while Kiss’s bolder style is known to explode into highly energetic bursts of sound. The seven-member group was founded by Hungarian musician and producer Ambrus Tövisházi (Erik Sumo is Tövisházi’s pseudonym). Tovishazi describes Sumo as “the surrealist in our band of outsiders, since his business is surreal amusement with a strong influence of musical genres from past decades.”
URL: myspace.com/eriksumo

Barabás Lörinc Eklektric
LABEL: self-released
PLAYERS: MC Sena, MC Kemon (vocals, rap), Julianna Fábián (vocals), Mátyás Premecz (keyboards), Barabás Lörinc (trumpet), Jávor Delov (drums), István Bata (bass), Márton Élö (DJ, trombone).
INFLUENCES: Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, DJ Krush, Alpha Blondy, Lucky Dube.
SOUNDS LIKE: Melodic rap paired with pure jazz grooves and punched up by reggae and hip-hop sounds.
THE LOWDOWN: Lörinc’s trumpet has an aching, haunting quality that is reminiscent of Miles Davis. Barabás Lörinc Eklektric manages to present a sampling of what seems like a million different styles and sounds: DJ samples and scratching, reggae vocals, some serious instrumental solos, and straight-up hip-hop moments. But, happily, Eklektric manages to make it sound whole and harmonic instead of all-over-the-place. Sena’s spunky reggae rap (but boy, can she sing, too) and Julianna’s full, mature sound are sometimes evocative of Massive Attack, but the trip-hop mood gets a shot of soul when Eklektric performs funked-out, rap-heavy songs like “Famous” that get the crowd dancing. The dancing stops and the staring begins when the band members step up and shine in their impressive solos. Eklektric appears to truly enjoy performing, which translates to a fun show where you will definitely be feeling their extremely good vibes.
URL: myspace.com/barabaslorinc

A38
LOCATION: Petofi Bridge, Buda Side Budapest; 464-3940.
THE LOWDOWN: A38 is one of the best and most welcoming places to see a show in Budapest. The door staff at A38 is almost comically rude, but they are easily ignored in favor of the fantastic selection of both international and local artists that perform there. The sounds range from jazz to world to electronic to basically anything else you can think of. A38 is known as the allohajo, or “docked boat” — the venue is actually a docked boat on the Danube, which is the river that bisects Budapest into its two parts: Buda and Pest.

The outdoor bar and dance floor are on the top deck (usually closed in the winter), the restaurant occupies the middle deck, and the main concert area is downstairs on the bottom floor of the boat. Since many of the shows at A38 sell out, the concert area is often packed and notoriously cramped and smoky, but the crowd is usually upbeat and friendly.
URL: a38.hu