Mini Hungarian language lesson: music.

As my series is drawing to its close, I thought I might as well post something 100% self-indulgent: a list of bands I like.

Most of them aren't even well-known in Hungary, so take it as an exercise in alienating the audience.

Most of them are defunct too for one reason or another, but mainly because I'm old and the underground scene's high point was the early 90s.

Before 1989 being underground was political: you couldn't get an official release without the nod of approval from the powers that be.

After 1989 everything seemed possible. New clubs, new publishers appeared but there were still very few "templates" for new bands to follow, so there was an amazing variety of different styles you could suddenly discover.

The usually trio called Karabély (meaning "carbine") for example described themselves as chanson punk. While their gigs rarely drew an audience of more than 200, they were hugely influential, especially their lyrics, teeming with invention and enjambment.

Starting out slightly earlier was Barbaro, who developed their own unique mix of progressive rock and folk music, and stood out for their very tight sound in a scene that as a rule wasn't famous for its technical skill.

Even older was Vágtázó Halottkémek ("Galloping Coroners"), known affectionately as VHK; they were banned for most of the 80s probably because of their weirdness. Or maybe they just didn't like the shamanism of lead singer/astronomer Attila Grandpierre.

But the band that turned up shamanism to 11 was undoubtedly Úzgin Űver, who directly sought out Mongol influences to define their generally instrumental music.

Speaking of instrumental music, it is quite rare for a band playing it to break through the glass ceiling of mainstream but Másfél ("one and a half") did exactly that with wild, heavily effected saxophone lines taking the sonic place vocals would occupy.

Másfél was part of a (unique?) trend of guitar-based dance music, not entirely uninfluenced by the same drugs that led to more traditional dance scenes elsewhere.

A more typical example of this trend is the hypnotic music of Korai Öröm ("Premature Joy").

My personal fondness for this scene also stems from the fact that it was another prominent band in it, Colorstar (named after an infamously explosive brand of Hungarian-manufactured television set) that inspired friends and me to start our first band.

But my other favourite genre is metal and this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning some of the odder contestants. Æbsence is hard to google, easy to like: a mix of stoner/grunge and Magyar folk music that on paper should not work but does.

Now you may suspect my love is really for folk music and all these other genres are just an excuse. To prove you wrong, here's a standard* black metal band: Sear Bliss.

*Okay, apart from the trombone. I mean a fucking trombone, how fucking metal is that?

But to finish it off, here's a 20 minute epic of straight-up avantgarde metal from the magnificent and still active @thycatafalque, set over a lecture on the biochemistry of proteins.

P.s.: although on their latest album they did release a folk song too because of course they did.

Enjoy!