Artists

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Æ, or AE as they call themselves when leaving their Norwegian home, Træna, and setting out for Europe. Træna is an island  situated on the Arctic Circle, where AE and quiet fishermen, stranded sailors and the ghosts of lost souls live side by side. AE`s music is like their everchanging and manic depressive-like surroundings: tough, but not hostile. Wry, but not totally insane.  Poetic, but understandable. Pounding, but not necessarily destructive. But even the hardest places are sometimes graced with glimpses of sunlight and soft, feminine caresses.  Æ is the sound of a group of quite nice people, drinking wine and blood from the skulls of Arctic Angels. In other words: This is the new wave of Hard Acoustic Polar Pop.

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The two actors of Beer Tourist play British football fans visiting Eastern Europe for whom Hungary is the equivalent of a giant pub. They vent their opinion on the country in a rude and arrogant way, however their characters are not be mistaken for simple caricatures of the occasional „beer tourist“ from the UK. Their performance is also a subtle and critical satire about the European Union and in each country they adapt their story to the local context.

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Named after a famous Dutch proverb, these two young cats have definitely put the south of Holland on the map as the leading area for Dubstep and Grime. After releasing a free album a couple of months ago, they have played all across the land with their blend of poetic hiphop and dubstep beats. Headlining major events, their live reputation is excellent and has created a steady audience following them across the land. The next level in hiphop from Holland is here and they are called Boef & de Gelogeerde Aap!

Silvia Real makes theatre without text and her minimalist universe gives home to Miss Domicília who lives her lonely life in a small cubicle. One would believe without interference, but as it is, each nook and cranny of the tiny room holds a different challenge. The witty and thought-provoking performance is inspired by cartoons and the films of Jacques Tati, as well as futuristic visions of „space-efficient“ city life.

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The members of Chicks on Speed joined forces in Munich in 1997, after meeting at the Academy of Fine Arts where they organised exhibitions and illegal parties and even gave shocking and quite chaotic concerts that evoked the punk years. The musicians combining strong visuality and surprising musicality, next to releasing several EPs and albums, are still active in the field of fine arts as well.

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Students of the ACaPA (Fontys Academy for Circus and Performance Art from the Dutch city of Tilburg) are bringing circus art into public spaces. With their performances the artists relate to the character of the sites, putting the spectators focus on architecture and re-interpreting the function of public spaces. Studying in the Netherlands, these 16 future artists are representing 8 European countries.

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One of the best current producers in the Netherlands, Coco Bryce covered quite a distance from being fascinated by the beeps and clicks of early computer games to providing music for The Acid House, the film based on the novel by Irvin Welsh, author of Trainspotting. Passing by his laboratory, one will see him immersed in putting his sound creatures into perfect shape.

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Copy & Paste, the wacky Electro-Trash-Pop duo from Switzerland, beats the punk out of their synthesizer and enhances 80s-synth-pop with a good pinch of humour. Once members of a punk rock band, the wild pop-duo is today one of the most authentic elements of style and taste within the contemporary Bern music scene. They already proved this with their first release “Disco Romance”. With the new EP “Itʼs Ok If Itʼs You” they made yet another rapid step forwards. Mainly handmade music and hefty tunes are on top of their list. Always with a nicely exhilarating voice; always with a good deal of oomph in the beats; yet accompanied by playful melodies that are hard to remove from your ear channel. Whatever Mischu (Copy) Loosli conjures up from his many gadgets delights ear and heart likewise. Their music inheres happiness and serenity and yet doesnʼt sound mundane. Ironic style-breaks are served in refreshing intervals in the form of disharmonies, wacky beats, sudden stops or trashy overworked melodies. In addition to this, there is Cheyenne (Paste) Mackay Loosliʼs somewhat wacky and sometimes mental singing that blends seamlessly into the synthetic soundscapes.

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The Dutch choreographer’s dance guerilla will surprise festival-goers with short, unexpected dance actions. The guerilla will also take the city, appearing in different spots around town. Jelena Kostic’s interventions are always inspired by the characteristics of the selected location and integrate them playfully in the performance.

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In the driving seat of the new and strong electropop road roller of the Netherlands sits a suggestive diva (Jeditah van der Meulen), while two young fellows (Joeri and Erik) provide deafening riffs behind her. Parts that are subtle and aethereal are followed by steely guitar crashes and synth sequences. The band, which has succeeded at major Dutch talent contests, is coming to play in Hungary for the second time now.

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The Dutch DJ team provides a global sound and irresistible mixes of traditional ethnic, a touch of Latin including salsa, bossa and cumbia, over to afro and reggae - always with a cool and contemporary dance beat.

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Only a few years after the band was formed in 2005, Irie Maffia became one of Hungary’s best concert bands. They blend reggae, hip-hop, rock and funk in a witty manner, and their microphone magicians – Sena, the Hungarian-Ghanese female vocalist, MC Columbo and MC Busa – are reliable providers of the heat when they play live. Their popular tracks are played by subcultural and mainstream radio stations alike, and the viewers of Hungarian Music TV voted them one of the five best Hungarian bands in the MTV European Music Awards Local Hero contest.

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The name refers to an extensive band of DJs and producers. Formed in 1995, Jazzanova has been a trademark for nu jazz, chillout and jazz house. They are most sought remixers, having worked with the likes of Roy Ayers, Incognito or the Koop since their debut album was released in the late nineties.

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The person after the rattling garage rock band was named was born among the Irish mountains. He took to the road as a teenager, worked in Copenhagen as a street musician to earn a living for a few years, and finally moved to Stockholm to end up as a renowned jazz musician. He miraculously disappeared in the mid-eighties, and his four children grabbed musical instruments to give concerts and pay homage to their great ancestor.

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The Dutch musician plays several instruments, but already at an early stage he found synthesisers the most attractive of all. In the mid-nineties, he supported the career of emerging Dutch new wave and industrial rock bands as a producer, and even worked with the likes of Sepultura and Dog Eat Dog. His first solo projects were launched around the millennium, collaborating with Dave Gahan and Robert Smith, to name but a few. He made remixes of tracks by Britney Spears, Michael Bublé, Coldplay and Rammstein, and composed music for video and computer games and soundtracks for feature films.

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The Budapest-based collective of DJs create a great atmosphere at all types of venues, be it a party, a progressive fashion show or an exclusive hotel reception. They launched their party series in 2007 at Trafó Bar Tango, a Budapest contemporary art hub, where they invited a representative of the electro scene of Hungary or the neighbouring countries to play on a monthly basis. Soon they themselves crossed the borders of the country, and their increasingly extensive professional nexus enabled them to tempt international stars to Hungary.

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The Finnish band formed in 2007 and soon gained popularity with their concerts. Their energetic electropop songs set the Internet – especially community sites – on fire, while being praised by leading media such as The Guardian and the New Musical Express.

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The Slovak alternative electro band is the project of Daniel Salontay and Shina Lo (Jana Lokšenincová), featuring a third ”member” called Xi-di-nim, practically a laptop and a groove-box providing rhythm and synth sequences. Daniel sings and plays the guitar – often with a bow – and Shina plays the fretless bass and is responsible for the vocal parts. According to them, the music of Longital is “a mixture of ambient effects, electronica, East-European rhythm patterns and a touch of psychedelia”.

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Powerful melodies of the Balkans, fiery rhythms of Latin America and lyrics emerging from the dark alleys of Naples – welcome to the world of Mala Vita! The six musicians represent different countries and cultures but when they are on stage together these colours blend into a drifting whirl. The band has played at several European clubs and festivals, and their exploding joy of life will surely set the Pécs audience into motion.

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Estonian musician Holger Loodus – former guitarist and songwriter of Dallas – founded his new band in 2004. Their first album (Log In Eye) guides the listener into the world of psychedelic folk-pop. The album features well-known figures of the independent music scene of Estonia.

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Well-known musicians of the Polish independent scene formed the band in 2002. They played at major European festivals from Saint Petersburg to Nantes, and recently extended their line-up with five new members (a brass session and vibraphone). They play a great variety of styles, ranging from Esquivel’s easy listening and lounge and Cage’s avant-garde experiments to punk rock and electronic music. So far, they have released two albums and several compilations. The public station Radio 3 awarded them the title of Best Polish Concert Band.

The environmental programme entitled Challenge Europe by the British Council is to be hosted at Europe Mania. A youthful team of committed “climate ambassadors” have been working for three years now to create a dialogue over climate protection and communicate the issue in a positive manner. The mobile version of the Climate Office already existing in Gödöllő will come to the festival and will offer various daily carbon-conscious green programmes for the visitors, who can have their carbon footprints measured (the environmental burden they exert), ride power-generating bicycles, play carbon pools and write messages for the coming generations. The issue of carbon-conscious snacks and water footprints will also come up in an interactive workshop. A cheerful moment will be when the mobile climate ambassadors appear on scooters and the visitors can fill in playful questionnaires the results of which will be given by the next day.

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The French musician – Labyala Fela Da Jawid Fel – first gained fame as a cabarettist. As his career unfolded, he and his band performed as openers for world-class stars like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pixies. The music of Nosfell offers a mixture of blues, folk, funk elements and African influences, although their latest album – featuring Josh Homme, for instance – sounds more something from the rock domain. A book (Le Lac aux Velies) accompanies the album, unfolding the stories he performs on stage.

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Marcus Füreder – aka Parov Stelar – set out on his conquest from the Austrian city of Linz. His characteristic style is a mixture of jazz and swing samples and electronic music (house and breakbeat). The real breakthrough for him was his album Rough Cuts released in 2004, which enabled him to take to the international podia. He has made numerous albums and remixes, appeared on more than 600 compilations, and written soundtracks for TV programmes and feature films.

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Bori Péterfy, the actress blossoming at the independent theatre company Krétakör and now a member of the National Theatre, founded her Love Band with former members of Amorf Ördögök. Her first songs and videos have already created a large group of devoted fans with her popularity further increasing as she, a postmodern diseuse, captivates club and festival audiences one after the other. Love Band have so far released three quality pop albums.

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One of the flagships of Hungarian alternative rock, which in the early years was floating on the waves at the Dunaújváros docks. Next to the underground guidelines, they play groovy rock hits and even folkish tunes. The poetic lyrics written by lead singer Tibor Kiss are now ecstatically quoted by generations. The band that gives dynamic live concerts has undergone several mutations as well as recently being involved in live theatre performances.

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Eva Meyer-Keller’s project brings back childhood memories of shadowplays, a game that we can join both as spectators and participants. The players build „installations“ from everyday objects, while the audience sees the process of construction and the outlines of the objects projected onto a white screen as shadowplays. Shadowgames invites you to step to the other side and delight in the visual poetry you yourself can create.

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Teatr Bretoncaffe playfully combines choreography and acting with text and live music. The company is based in an ambivalent district of Warsaw in an industrial area and they often create performances in unusual urban settings and public space.

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The Dutch Studio Rocco Verdult reshapes places where people meet in an aesthetically inventive and exciting way, always fitting in with the context of the given venue. They will set up a lounge at the festival, the design of which will reveal elements that the locals will certainly recognize.

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The Dutch project is a mobile cinema and film studio operated with solar energy, which can operate in any outdoor environment – on the river bank, in the park or the centre of town – throughout the day. The audience is provided primarily with works by young independent filmmakers, but the mobile workshop is often involved in site-specific audio-visual installations and film festivals, as well as providing professional and technical support for small community video projects. The Solar Cinema will be at the festival for the whole duration.

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The independent Dutch music factory produces attractive items labelled as funk, bassline house, experimental dub, dancehall and afro beat, all these mixed up in a somewhat non-western dance music. They drive crowds crazy on a regular basis at the Tilburg club called Cul de Sac.

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The Croatian representatives of atmospheric surf rock have been playing together for one and a half decades now, riding the waves of the style that evokes the sixties. They regularly perform in Croatia and all over Europe, often as an opening band for R.E.M. They make efforts to preserve vintage and authenticity while taking developmental steps in music.

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An eccentric family from the 30’s arrives to present-day Pécs on an innocent promenade. They take in our everyday life with slight confusion and then gradually, with more and more curiosity, go on to discover the „modern“ wonders of the contemporary world. Armed with an old-fashioned camera, they document the highlights of their extraordinary adventure.

Recommended as a family programme.

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Three live broadcasts. Three players.Three cities: Berlin, Cluj-Napoca and Caminha. One site: Pécs.
réaltympanica invites you to join them in their urban battle.
Their mission is to recreate a typical scenario of their home towns in Germany, Romania and Portugal. And the challenge is to shoot it on the streets of Pécs.
Armed with a videophone, each player will broadcast live to its team.
Equipped with a map and the script, each team will help their player find the locations, the people, the right lighting, the props, the action.
Rethink Europe and its inhabitants.
In real time and with real people.

Humorous and absurd Estonian self-portrait performed by 3 actors and 2 musicians. In his most recent work Andres Noormets, acknowledged playwright and actor depicts the Estonian people with subtle self-irony: his characters are rule-abiding, but creative, slightly „fragmented“ individuals.

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The story of Virgem Suta is not that of a regular band. They were not discovered through Myspace and they did not use the information highways to conquer thousands of fans. Instead, making use of two guitars, voice and the boldness of a handful of songs, with lyrical restraint, they took to other highways. They were virgins to the world of music and wanted to take all the time they needed to feel ready. Well, it must be said that Virgin Suta are from the south of Portugal… and there, time is a relative thing. Although contemporary, they do not discard tradition and their songs ooze with balmy Portugality.

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The Finnish xxx_group intervenes in city life with surprising and often provocative actions that we can discover as chance passersby, or watch on screen at the festival site. The short performances last no more than few minutes and relate to the city and its everyday life.

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We are sorry to inform you that a member of the Canadian band You Say Party! We Say Die! collapsed and died during a concert held last weekend in Vancouver, and the band has thus cancelled all planned tour dates in Europe.

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Dancehall reggae, salsa and hip-hop seasoned with a touch of Brazil and funk, all conceived in the multicultural buzz of Barcelona. The brass session, the merciless drums and the several percussions and jazzy piano runs mesmerize the audience. Zulu 9.30 have gained noisy success at renowned European festivals, and so the temperature will certainly rise high around the stage at Europe Mania as well when they start playing.