Žagar (band)

Žagar (or Zagar) is a leading band in Hungarian indie and electronic music. Their sound is based on contemporary electronic music, jazz and indie rock. The results are heavy beats, atmospheric mood and sound clips from the psychedelic era of the late 1960s. Andor Kovács and the leader of the band Balázs Zságer were the co-writers of the Yonderboi album Shallow and Profound in some track.

Žagar
OriginBudapest, Hungary
GenresElectronic, indie
Years active2001–present
LabelsMole Listening Pearls
MembersBalázs Zságer
Tibor Lázár
Ákos Zságer-Varga
Past membersGyörgy Ligeti
DJ Bootsie
Kovács Andor
Websitewww.zagarmusic.com

History

Their debut album was, Local Broadcast (UCMG/Ugar 2002), was selected for the chart of the 50 all-time most important Hungarian records by the music magazine WAN2. They made many soundtracks for short and feature films; the most important is Eastern Sugar (Fillcell/Universal 2004), which was the best soundtrack in 2005 in Hungary. Their music has been used in the US television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spin-off CSI: NY.[1] The band released their second studio album, Cannot Walk Fly Instead (CLS Records), in September 2007 and 2009 worldwide on the German label, Mole Listening Pearls.

The band has been performing since 2001. They have played in Hungary, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Russia. They supported Depeche Mode on the Budapest leg of the Tour of the Universe 2009. Its first single "Wings of Love", featuring the Underground Divas - six of Hungary's most popular independent singers[2] - earned heavy radio airplay and secured a no1. spot on MTV's video chart. They earned numerous awards for this record, most notably the Hungarian Record Industry's Fonogram Award and prize in the International Songwriting Competition. They were nominated for the Regional Award in the MTV European Music Awards 2008 and 2009. Their tracks were remixed by Terry Lee Brown, Jr., Moonbotica, Eriq Johnson or Cottonmouth, among others.

Discography
Žagar discography
Studio albums4
Singles6
Soundtrack albums1

Studio albums
  • Local Broadcast (2002)
  • Eastern Sugar (Soundtrack) (2004)
  • Cannot Walk Fly Instead (2007)
  • Light Leaks (2013)
  • Woods, Spirits & Sorcery (2019)

Singles
  • Wings of Love (2009)
  • Learn to Fall (2010)
  • Space Medusa (2012)

Remixes
  • Bosssa Astoria/Revolution Remixes (2003)
  • Wings of Love Remixes (2009)
  • Cannot Walk Fly Instead extended version (w. Wings of Love Remixes) (2009)
  • Prophet is a Fool Remixes (2011)
  • Never the Same Remixes (2012)

Music videos
Year Title Director
2002 Cosmic Disaster Fillcell
2003 Bossa Astoria Fabricius
2004 Eastern Sugar Daniel Garas
2004 Taste of Snow Patyomkim
2004 Bossa Astoria (Erik Sumo rework) B.A.L.
2005 Screen Cowboys Sándor Kristóffy
2006 Sounds and Lights Fabricius
2007 Three Seasons Fall (werk video) Menzkie
2007 Wings of Love András Nagy
2009 Escape from the Earth Menzkie
2010 Prophet is a Fool (Live at Sziget Festival) E357
2011 Never the Same (Live with Fire Brass Band) Bálint Szimler & Marcell Rév
2012 Never the Same Szilvia Bolla

Filmography
Year Title Film Director
2004 Taste of Snow Patyomkim
2004 Bossa Astoria B.A.L.
2004 Monuments The Bottle Opener Lady Ferenc Török
2004 Tower Fabricius
2004 Eastern Sugar Szezon Ferenc Török
2004 Blindfight CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2006 VJ film about the Sziget Festival Fabricius
2007 Commutted Sentences CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2007 Go To Hell CSI: New York
2009 Adrenaline and Turbulence documentary DVD
2010 They Came From... Norvegian snow board documentary Factor Films
2010 Mission London UK-Bulgarian-Hungarian feature film Dimitar Mitovski

Members

Current band members
  • Balázs Zságer (rhodes piano, keys, electronica, programming)
  • Tibor Lázár (drums)
  • Ákos Zságer-Varga (bass)

Former band members

Contributors
  • Edina Kutzora(vocal) (2002, 2004)
  • Underground Divas: Edina Kutzora, Sena, Németh Juci, Hodosi Enikő, Judie Jay, Péterfy Bori (vocal in Wings of Love song 2007)
  • Ferenczy Bukky(vocal) (2019)
  • Zsófia Hutvágner (Lyrics)

References
  1. ZAGAR IN CSI NEW YORK TV SERIES II. on YouTube
  2. Wings of Love - Zagar feat. Underground Divas. "Edina Kutzora, Sena, Judie Jay, Enikő Hodosi, Juci Német". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
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