Best Concerts of Sziget 2016 #2: The Last Shadow Puppets

For about five fractions of a second I was planning to pen a super objective review which would make no reference whatsoever to the slightly subjective points below, but there’s absolutely no fun in that so I gave up immediately and I will therefore, in random order, very much insist on:

• how in my (not so humble) opinion Alex Turner is by far the best song writer of his generation, both when it comes to melody and lyrics. I sometimes spend restless hours, days, weeks trying to decide which he does best, I re-listen to the entire Arctic Monkeys, Last Shadow Puppets and solo catalogue and then give up and listen to the whole thing all over again just for fun.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion having them play from 7 PM was frankly ridiculous- also, newsflash this is the last time I complain about programming for a few months, time to be either very sad or very jubilant- but they made the best of it because they’re cool like that coastal air which gets girls to reflect.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion there are few things more entertaining in today’s music than these two guys posturing, bromancing and referencing whatever cultural tidbits caught their eyes as of late. They are taking not taking themselves seriously very seriously indeed. (This sounds almost as muddled as an Alex Turner award acceptance speech, I am clearly under the influence here.)
• how in my (not so humble) opinion that silk dressing gown Miles was wearing was extremely fetching and made you want to own it,  wrap yourself in it, recline on some decadent sofa in a seaside villa and sip whiskey while waiting for Alex to write that next perfect song of his.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion after several days of being treated to lip syncing divas, soulless thumping and oversophisticated performance acts it was refreshing bordering on redemptive to have some people come with a real band, complete with strings and all, and really excited background singers too. There was that one guy reaching fits of delighted hysteria in a spotless suit as Alex and Miles were making joint love to the microphone stand, and honestly, can you blame him? Of course you can’t.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion those fireworks lying in wait for the end show were on the verge of blasting off each time Alex was wielding his guitar dangerously close to the edge, but politely refrained because they did not want to ruin his hair.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion I have rarely seen so many happy to ecstatic grins in the audience at a Sziget concert, also, the crowd was absolutely ridiculously well mannered,  politely dancing around your glass of cider (which you otherwise completely foolishly placed on the ground) so as not to tip it over and moving sideways to allow you to focus your shot. That’s what it’s like when a rascal and an arctic monkey play at being gentlemen and it rubs off.
• how in my (not so humble) opinion there’s nothing wrong with Alex Turner looking plast..I mean, moderately confused on stage. The whole business of modern pop and rock music is basically a surreal fever dream, any person in their right mind will either go totally bonkers or become just odd enough to remain sane. 
• how in my (not so humble) opinion it was a pretty nice touch to have Budapest written onto the drum kit, testament to at least someone in the crew being aware of where in the world they happen to be playing and why. The next natural step would be to realize it went down gloriously well, come back, and do it again. 

Listopia 2014

I like writing my yearly summary lists on the first of January- because what if something universe altering will happen late on the 31st of December? Well, nothing ever did, but I am still somehow hoping. Maybe I can organize a movie marathon this year, or listen to all the overlooked albums in one go and find a hidden gem. As things stand however, here is a totally subjective list of concerts, songs, albums and movies I loved this year.

 Anna Calvi/March/A38

 Foals/July/VOLT

  Arctic Monkeys/July/VOLT 

La Roux/August/Sziget

 Miles Kane/August/Sziget

Yasmine Hamdan/August/Sziget

Queens of the Stone Age/August/Sziget

Stromae/August/Sziget

St Vincent/October/A38

Triggerfinger/November/A38

It's been a pretty sweet year overall- I had dreamt of seeing St Vincent live at the beginning of the year, and not only did she come to the wonderful A38, but in the meantime she also released the album that would finish first on so many year end lists. (My preferences have no particular order, but let's say the top 3 is mostly accurate.) 

I dreamt of Arctic Monkeys and Foals- well they came as well, and although at first I was a bit cross about hurtling through half of Hungary all the way to Sopron, I have to say it was one of the highlights of the year. There's a particular bliss to being so dead tired waiting for the first train in Sopron station that the whole world basically melts into a lucid dream. 

And then there's the Horrors, who were supposed to come, but cancelled in the end, so I decided why not cross half the continent for them. And that was also wonderful,for I finally my eternal dilemma of London vs Paris and well, there is of course a definite plus to seeing a British band on home turf. As I already mentioned, I was however slightly traumatized by the exile of my camera- while I do agree that having people shove smart phones into each other's faces or flash the band at the worst of times is a pure nuisance, I see no point in banning enthusiasts who actually come with the proper equipment and take good pictures. The live the moment argument also fails in my case- for I see no better way of living the moment than capturing it forever.

Given the epic success of my 2014 dreams, I'll aim for Interpol, Lykke Li and Perfume Genius this time, and see what comes out of it. It's quite encouraging that Sziget already has Florence and the Machine, ALT-J and Fauve on the line up- I sense another vintage year coming our way.

Perfume Genius- Queen
St Vincent- Digital Witness
Interpol- My Desire
The Horrors- I See You
Damon Albarn- Heavy Seas of Love
Jamie T- Love is Only a Heartbeat Away
Lykke Li- No Rest for the Wicked
Elliphant feat MO- One More
Triggerfinger- By Absence of the Sun
FKA Twigs- Two Weeks

St Vincent- St Vincent
Perfume Genius- Too Bright
Interpol- El Pintor
The Horrors- Luminous
Lykke Li- I Never Learn
La Roux-Trouble in Paradise
Leonard Cohen- Popular Problems
Jamie T- Carry on the Grudge
Caribou- One Love
Damon Albarn- Everyday Robots

When it comes to the movies, try as I might to restrict the list to 10, I felt physical pain each time I attempted throwing out one of the movies, so I said, 12, why the hell not, it will be my not at all dirty dozen. 2014 proved its greatness again. Well truth be said, some of the movies do actually date back to 2013, but I will spare you the rant about Eastern European film distribution and say I included the movies that I saw in 2014 and shaped my year and yet again, maybe it's for the best like this, because I actually love all these twelve movies and the more I look at them, the more I see them uniting into a strange wholeness. 

Only Lovers Left Alive
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inside Llewyn Davis
Under the Skin
Snowpiercer
Two Days One Night
Van valami furcsa és megmagyarázhatatlan (For Some Inexplicable Reason)
Ida
A Most Wanted Man
Guardians of the Galaxy
Her
Nebraska

Best Concerts of Sziget 2014 #2: Miles Kane

Miles Kane gets to be The Other Guy a lot. Being the other guy to Alex Turner is of course spectacularly better than being the other guy to say Macklemore, but it's still grandly unfair. And frankly the best he could expect in Budapest was to be no guy at all- many people crowding the A38 tent had no inkling of either the Rascals or the Last Shadow Puppets and were there only for the party. Which is exactly what they got-it's a great compliment to Miles Kane's craft as a songwriter and showman that he could have such a consistently strong show on the tail of only two albums. Well, calling it just strong is pretty much understatement: it started off great, veered into the amazing around half time and ended up being so good it makes you giddy. Just one of those concert moments that totally suck you in and you keep repeating to yourself, oh Lord, I wish this would never end.I still think it's unfair to always gloss on Alex Turner when mentioning Miles Kane, but I just could not shake off the thought that there is no way on earth Alex could ever pull off a solo show without looking and sounding awkward as hell. Which is exactly the opposite of Miles Kane- there's seemingly no effort is his being just cooler than mere mortals and there's so much raw energy in his reassured cockiness that it gets contagious and you walk around with a stupid grin on your face for several hours after the show. What on earth happened to you, your friends inquire. Miles Fucking Kane.

Sziget 2014 Diary- Day One

It's the first day in full swing, and a hot and humid one- long queues clog the entrances and all the locations are now up and running. There's circus and opera, street theatres and movies, a beach and a gym, so it seems a bit of a stereotype choice to start the day at the main stage but Jake Bugg is definitely an act to check out. Barely 20, he already has a flock of dutifully screaming groupies, but his music should go down well with more mature audiences as well. There's nothing mind blowing about the performance, it' basically him and his guitar, plus a small band-whose drummer seems out of synch at times- in spite of this, Lightning Bolt ends the set on a high, signalling hopefully grander things to come. Time is definitely on Jake's side.

Jake is followed by one of those bands I can't really fathom- Imagine Dragons. The very name irritates me and I go all grumpy cat style, no, I won't imagine them just because they tell me so. Thier music is also something indefinite, a bit The 1975 style- should be nice in theory, but fails in practice. Unlike The 1975 though, the live show seems to work for these ones- what was utterly dull and lacklustre on the radio comes alive on the stage, and sucks the audience in its vibe. Imagine Dragons might not be your music of choice for home listening, but were born to play festivals. I would hazard saying that Sziget should have kicked old school Placebo in the butt and shoved the Dragons in the later slot, for the snooze fest to follow fell particularly flat between Imagine Dragons and Skrillex. This is not necessarily a compliment to the two though. It's just a fact- they're not sleep inducing, whereas this time Placebo truly were.

It's safe to say that the quality of Placebo's Sziget concerts can be predicted based on Brian Molko's hair day- and this one was rubbish. The hair was a classic Darth Vader helmet, unmoving like the coiffure of a wax statue. The feeling of the concert itself was something alike a statue's unmelted heart- they pretended to he happy to be back, but seemed to be actually, utterly bored, like a 9 to 5 office worker who decides today will be the day she will spend browsing cat videos and taking long trips to the coffee dispensing machine.If she is then asked to do anything worthwhile she'll just mess it up quietly- and so did Placebo, rushing into some songs at a frenetic but out of place speed and inexplicably slowing down into others. They'll probably be back some time soon though, hopefully in the wake of a better album and well, let's just pray Brian finds a proper hairdresser as well.

The moment Skrillex dropped his first bass on the unsuspecting crowd was the moment I ran for my life to the A38 tent. Miles Kane is often mentioned as the other guy, and people glide over the fact that his Last Shadow Puppets project works so sublimely because both Alex Turner and himself are so pivotal to the sound and the atmosphere of the tracks. His evening slot on Sziget came to prove what an extraordinary musician and showman he is.For 75 minutes it felt like meeting an alien, coming from a planet of superlative music, where we're all guitar gods, we all dance flawlessly to the rhythm and everyone is a good guy out to have the time of their lives. Every Sziget has one concert that you expect to be good, but it turns out borderline perfect. In 2014, although this was only the first official day, Miles Kane most definitely takes the prize.

You know a concert was awesome when any other music listened to immediately after it sounds like an insult to your ears. Therefore we cannot say anything about Clean Bandit except that they filled in for London Grammar and looked rather spectacular on stage.As for the music, give me some more Miles Kane, thank you.