Sziget Festival 2007, 8. - 15.8.2007., Budapest, Hungary

The 15th Week Together

Sziget Festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary with its best ever line-up and a concert from Hungary's LGT on the eve of the festival. True to Sziget tradition, there are loads of other things beside music... Theatre, dance, classical music, cabaret, performances, films, fine art, crafts, literary presentations, programs for kids, sports and other free time activities - basically everything that makes Sziget a unique event in the firmament of international festivals. The 15th anniversary event takes place between August 7 and 15 (including "day zero").

Services on the Sziget

To provide the most comfortable entertainment for festival-goers, Sziget is offering a whole range of facilities and services from laundry and left luggage to day care for kids and a post office. ATM machines are available on the site, and you can pay for entry by credit card at the ticket booth next to the entrance of the festival. There is a pharmacy, a lost and found, a safe deposit, a 24-hour medical service, a "language first aid tent" (a multilingual information centre), information desks and several other services that can make a visitors' week on the Sziget more comfortable. Organisers encourage festival-goers to take advantage of public transport, and they also provide shuttle buses, ferries to Pest and Buda and a taxi service with discount transfer prices for the Sziget visitors. A rent a bike service is also available on the island; moreover you can leave your own bike at a designated bike shed, where if necessary, you can ask for small repairs. Besides the information desks, this year new information boards will help you find your way around, and you can also turn to the "mobile" information stewards. This year there is also improved lighting.
As for food, the catering areas introduced two years ago remain, which means that five such culinary centres will serve the visitors. These dish out a great variety of food from hot-dogs, doughnuts, popcorn, corn on the cob, fruit, pastries, kebabs, sandwiches, sea fish, pizza, mixed grills, pancakes, jacket potatoes, vegetarian, health and bio food, dried fruit, ice cream, and many more. The colourful world of the "nations' kitchen" is boosted by Mexican cuisine, Brazilian sweets, Italian pastas and traditional "ancient" Hungarian cuisine. And the good news is: the milk bar reopens this year.

Main Stage
Let's celebrate the jubilee with international Superstars, the most actual bands of the present music scene and the best performances of the past years.

Nine Inch Nails (USA)

One of the most influential bands of the last 20 years that has managed to survive a plethora of different styles, fans, stages and member changes is basically the musical ego trip of the musical genius Trent Reznor. Reznor is an innovator who can tackle eighties synth-new wave, EBM, industrial music, alt-rock, Peter Gabriel style art-rock, disco or country, and the result will always be typically Nine Inch Nails. The world of NIN matured to perfection through legendary concept albums, such as the early Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral, The Fragile or With Teeth. They topped the Billboard chart and received two Grammys for Best Metal Performance. Their greatly anticipated new album Year Zero is due out in May. The recent line-consists of Alessandro Cortini, Josh Freese, Aaron North, Trent Reznor and Jeordie White.

Razorlight (UK)

Razorlight is one of the most exciting and successful British guitar pop bands to have emerged over the last couple of years. The band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist Johnny Borell (known for his eccentric and obnoxious behaviour) was often considered to be the British little brother of the American Strokes in their early days. However, since having defined their trademark sound and becoming successful in their own right during the last few years, they're now comparable to nobody else on the current scene. Their unique sound manifests itself in fun and clever pop songs, in which influences of both British and American pop music of the last few decades, like that of Talking Heads, Blondie, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Bob Geldolf, Police, Clash, Pulp and Blur can be heard. To date Razorlight has released two albums: their 2004 debut, Up All Night and their sophomore self-titled LP which hit the stores last year and turned out to be even more successful than their impressive first effort.

Faithless (UK)

No wonder that the fundamental band of the British house-pop wave is going to play for the fourth occasion at the Sziget Festival. This is the band that needs no introduction, as all their concerts have been great success. Moreover, they were able to outdo their previous show each time. In 2005 all signs showed that the original members of Faithless, founded in 1995, Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo, came to a halt of their career at its climax. Their Greatest Hits tour, however, proved its contrary. As a positive response they came up with their latest album last autumn, titled To All New Arrivals, which is recorded in a lower key, ambient-dub style. The band often has various people do one-off features on their tracks, this time the vocals of Robert Smith of post-punk group The Cure. We can expect that together with the brand-new hits, the house mega-tracks - Insomnia, Salva Mea, Reverence etc. - are going to be played and we can bet that the Faithless being at its summit is going outshine all its previous performances.

Sportfreunde Stiller (D)

The German band is slowly becoming regular at Sziget, these huge fans of their hometown's TSV 1860 München and of course, Bayern München. Sportfreunde Stiller (Florian Weber - drums, Rüdiger Linhof - bass, Peter S. Brugger - vocals, guitar) had been dubbed back in 1997 after an old friend, Hans Stiller, the coach of the local footballteam of Germering. Beside football, the sportsfriends' main pursuits are guitar-pop and indie-rock. Their sound is somewhat similar to Tocotronic and Die Sterne although Freunds' less profound lyrics are more available to foreign speakers of German, as all their songs are written in their mother tongue. The early ones of their four critically acclaimed albums had been produced by Uwe Hoffmann (producer of Die Arzte), while 2004's "Burli" rocks harder and displays strong British influence with a special German twist to it. It came as no surprise that their last year's World Championship-anthem "'54 '74 '90 2006" landed at the top of German charts and when the National Elf got beaten by Italy in the final the guys kept their perfect cool and immediately re-wrote the lyrics and the title as the following: "'54 '74 '90 2010". The Sportfreunde were also nominees at MTV MUsic Awards 2006 as Best German Act. Long live Hungarian-German Sportfreundschaft!

!!! (USA)

A band with a name not exactly easy to handle. The odd name (say: chk, chk, chk) covers a group that plays the smartest dance grooves and which - although formed back in the mid-90s and debuted in 2000 - made its way into the limelight of the mainstream in the past few years. What the eightpiece mainly reminds us is the good old eighties when the noisy and broken beats of new wave melted into funk, like it did with Public Image Limited, Pop Group, Happy Mondays and Gang Of Four and also with the contemporary likes of The Rapture. !!!'s brandnew, dancefloor-shaking, radio-hitbunch of songs "Myth Takes" has just been released.

Tool (USA)

Few bands in this world can fill the concept of art-rock with true meaning these days. Tool do. Tool means real message, gift, songwriting talent and overwhelming performance. No wonder if each and every gig they do is a world sensation and a massive sellout, a subject of conversation between music-lovers even years later. The band that saw their ascent in the early 90s heavily shocked the rockers of post-grunge era with their layered, multi-dimensional and instantly recognizable music which easily bore Jane's Addiction-like edginess, thrash-metal, prog-rock flavours, Peter Gabriel-esques and Native-American shaman-chants alike. After "Undertow", "Aenima" and a five year long break (which held singer Maynard Keenan James' extremely successful project, A Perfect Circle) Tool released "Lateralus" and last year's "10000 Days", both of which considered as milestones of rock-history by fans as well as critics.

Eagles Of Death Metal (USA)

Eagles Of Death Metal started out as a hobby band from the desert, just like the Queens of the Stone Age did once. However, the success of the latter, who managed to redefine the rock music map of the world, overshadowed the jokes of Eagles Of Death Metal. So what does the Californian band have to do with the QOTSA? Well, Josh Homme, Queen's front man/ guitarist is sitting behind the drums, while his old schoolmate, Jeff Hughes takes over the microphone. EODM first appeared in 1998 on Desert Sessions, a compilation album edited by Homme, yet they needed a few more years to come out with their first full length album of garage rock. 2004's Peace, Love, Death Metal was a record of dirty, powerful desert rock spiced up with a bit of humour. They returned with a similar sound and approach on their Death by Sexyn, which was released last autumn.

Chris Cornell (USA)

Throughout Chris Cornell's twenty-year career one great thing has been followed by another. Between 1984 and 1997 he fronted Seattle-based Soundgarden, which was one of the key bands of the grunge wave, as well as one of the most influential American rock bands of the last couple of decades. In 2001 together with three ex-members of Rage Against The Machine, he formed Audioslave, which existed for six years, and made three outstanding albums before calling it quits this year. The former members of Rage Against The Machine announced the re-birth of their legendary and revolutionary rap-rock unit, while Chris Cornell decided to continue his solo career, which he started in 1999 with his Euphoria Morning album. Cornell's new album, Carry On hits the shelves on July 5, but without any doubt, he will revisit the repertoire of his earlier bands on his Sziget gig, something which nobody will really mind.

Juliette and the Licks (USA)

No coincidence of names, as it turned out at Sziget 2005. She's none other than the extravagant heroine of such cultmovies as "Natural Born Killers". Juliette Lewis is as suggestive, genuine and fascinating when she rocks on the front of the stage as when she's on film. Her act in Budapest counts among the most memorable gigs ever taken place on Sziget Main Stage. The debut album of the five-piece formed in 2003, "You're Speaking My Language" hit the stores just before Sziget 2005 containing straightforward, cool tunes recalling the late 70s and early 80s along the lines of such artists as Patti Smith, The Pretenders and Iggy Pop. The current album "Four On The Floor" came out late 2006 with the prestigious contribution of Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) playing on drums who also gave the Licks two hands and feet on the last tour.

The Killers (USA)

Let's face it: The Killers are one of the biggest bands in the world these days. Brandon Flowers and Co. had already made it with their debut "Hot Fuss" - strange outside their homeland, in England first - before securing their place among the elite league of pop-giants with 2006's "Sam's Town".The new album added magnificent moods along the lines of Bruce Springsteen and U2 to indie-rock and eighties retro sounds which make the band THE quintessential stadiumrock band of the world of now making ten-thousands of people dance in any part of the world with catchy, dynamic and smart pop-anthems. No doubt: the same is going to happen at Sziget Main Stage.

Nitzer Ebb (UK)

Nitzer Ebb, the synonym of the electronic-industrial and electric body music (EBM), is a music group formed in 1982 in Essex. Their music was in tune with the outstanding representatives of industrial music (Test Dept, Einstürzende Neubauten), the giants of keyboard new wave (Depeche Mode) and with the dark-EBM party hymns (Nine Inch Nails, Front 242, Frontline Assembly, Ministry, Skinny, Puppy) and drew from these diverse trends built upon each other. Douglas McCarthy, Bon Harris and David Gooday mastered keyboard, rhythm and vocal at the highest standards, they achieved a hypnotic effect by manipulating beat in a repeated manner, as best described by one of their tracks titled Let Your Body Learn and inspired their fanatic fans, the Ebbheads, by applying extreme tunes and volume in their art. The group ground to a halt in the first years of the nineties, they even disappeared for a while, but they came to the limelight again in the past few years. Besides the nostalgic feelings they induce, the band created and continues to create value following their reincarnation.

Mando Diao (S)

Mando Diao is one massive spearhead of the potent Scandinavian altrock army, a fellow-troop of The Hives who also visit Sziget this year. The fourpiece mix savage sixties beat and rhythm and blues with the pure rock sound of the seventies adding the energy of punk and nineties britpop pastures in the vigour of recent years' "back-to-roots" tendencies. The Who, The Stooges, Oasis and The Strokes in one tasty cocktail. Mando Diao's three albums ("Bring 'Em In", 2003 - "Hurricane Bar", 2005 - "Ode To Ochrasy", 2006) were released on Mute. The band is extremely popular with German-speaking audiences due to their ballsy stage presence. We expect them by rights to shake the ground of the island in August as regular headliners of the most prestigious festivals in and outside Europe.

Kaizers Orchestra (N)

When it comes to pop or rock Norwegians always have some surprise up their sleeve. If there is surprise, Kaizers Orchestra definitely is. The sextet have recently become an elemental attraction with their terrific compound of Eastern and North-European folk and rock. Tin Pan Alley meets Misfits, Ennio Morricone meets Supergrass, oil-cans and violin, accordion and double-bass, reed organ and guitar, gas-masks and smash-hit choruses in such manner that their 2001 album, "Ompa til Du Dör" immediately got the Norwegian Grammy. Kaizers also produced the best selling record in Norwegian language ever thus proving that the language of pop is really universal. Their last album "Maestro" came out in 2005, while the next recording session is scheduled after Sziget. Let's see what the Kaizers think about Sziget and the year of 2007: "People have always told us that we should get around to touring in eastern europe, but we´ve never been able to, due to lack of finances, but we´ve always wanted to get down there and see how our music works out down there, says Janove The Jackal Kaizer. 2007 is a live year off for us, we start recording our next album in september, so we want to be real fresh for that, but this offer from Sziget was too tempting to turn down. Sziget is one of the biggest festivals in Europe, and we have been offered a spot on the main stage on thursday, august ninth, so we´re pretty excited about that!"

Gentleman (D)

Ever since Sziget audience had fallen at Seeed's feet we all know that the best reggae in Europe is made in Germany. Last year's Sziget gig proved that not only Seed can flow so genuinely Jamaican: German fellow-rasta Gentleman is just as exciting and rocking, a real "journey to Jah" as his website's name announces. This Cologne youth whose proper name is Otto Tillmann is permanently touring all across Europe and beyond with his dancehall-seasoned roots reggae music inspired by Bounty Killer and Capleton and of course he is calling at Sziget in August.

The Good The Bad and The Queen (UK)

The Good, The Bad and The Queen is the greatest music splash of 2007. The new project of the Blur superstar and Gorillaz brain trust, Damon Albarn, is simply a super group. Why? In his new group the singer is accompanied by the former Clash bassist and now painter, Paul Simonon; one of the best drummer in the world, drummer of the world-music pioneer Fela Kuti, Tony Allen, and the guitarist Simon Tong, who plays on Blur's latest, as well as on both of the Gorillaz albums. The Good, The Bad and The Queen offers you a kind of multi-coloured and -cultured musical tour to Western London, merging the classic British lyrics composition with a touch of Kinks and David Bowie, reggae, dub, afrobeat, guitarpop and electronics. The untitled debut album - which is moody, sensitive, intellectual, loving and political, subtle and experimental, private and public - was celebrated even by the scrupulous pop critics all over the world.

The Chemical Brothers (UK)

An old debt is going to be paid when the long-awaited Chemical Brothers are coming upon stage on Sziget 2007. It was exactly ten years ago that Mancunians, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simmons changed the world to a gigantic dancefloor with their album-monster "Dig Your Own Hole" which remains an eternal trademark of electronic dancemusic, a dethroneable Majesty of the genre. Fortunately, their subsequent albums and remixes has kept on fulfilling the pemanent promises ever since, as did their last "Push The Button". Who could ask for more?

Gogol Bordello (USA)

Gogol Bordello are real freaky renegades and also one of the most remarkable new companies on the contemporary music market whose Sziget-debut at WAN2 Stage last year was a massive success. As far as we can tell the "gypsy punks" did have their fun after "work", as they were dancing and screaming int he frontline of Iggy Pop's audience. Eugene Hütz, the head of this band blending Gipsy-folk, punk and Brechtian music-hall, finally arrived at Gogol Bordello's birthplace, New York, after a quite tortuous journey. After 1986's tragic atomic-disaster of Tshernobyl, the singer was evacuated from his home to Western-Ukraine, which he later left for Poland, and after calling at Hungary, Austria and Italy, it was in 1993 when he finally made it to the American metropolis. There he founded the band with Russian, Ukrainian and local musicians, initially playing "simply" Russian-Gipsy wedding-music. It took a few changes in the line-up (two Israeli musicians joined the group) and some years spent in the fertilizing aura of NY's underground scene to develop their colourfully and excitingly versatile style of today. 2002's debut "Voi-La Intruder" (produced by Nick Cave's drummer Jim Sclavunos) was followed by four studio-albums, the last one of them being last year's "Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike".

Laurent Garnier (F)

The act of the French techno-god is an exclusive event in every respect. His name recapitulates several decades of techno-history, dating back as early as the good old"madchester" days" when his music influenced such bands as Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, through the work of his own label "F Communication" up to this very day, when the "French Connection" is still intact. This time Laurent Garnier invites a complete band onto stage.

Pink (USA)

Get the party started! When cool-chick image goes along with considerable talent heaven might award the chick with cosmic fame. Alicia Moore aka Pink has always interfered with music since she can remember so she became a popstar, tomboy and diva rolled in one. 2000 was definitely her year as her album "Can't Take Me Home" approached wide audiences above dance-pop and r'n'b lovers and three singles were camping simultaneously in the top region of the charts. The overnight smash was even outdone by the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack theme "Lady Marmalade" performed in the company of Christina Aguilera, Mya and Lil' Kim. The record "Misundaztood" proved to be her most definitive album with such co-writers as Linda Perry, Steven Tyler and Richie Sambora nevertheless the Grammy came "only" with 2003's "Try This". The current album"I'm Not Dead" was released last year and kept on repeating the immense success of a natural born talent who wraps you around your finger playing live before you know it.

Madness (UK)

What can we say? Madness, they call it Madness! Surely, the greatest party band of all time and one of the most original and eccentric bands of the post punk pop scene, Madness made its very own music blended from influences of British beat, cabaret and Jamaican ska, which has retained its creative edge until today. The seven member band (Mike Barson - keyboards, Mark Bedford - bass, Chris Foreman - guitar, Graham "Suggs" McPherson - lead vocals, Chas Smash - vocals, Lee Thompson - saxophone, Dan Woodgate - drums) appeared at the time of the ska-revival in the late-70s, and became the leading band of the 2Tone label, and the scene of the same name. Their first LP, One Step Beyond came out in 1979, and they released five more albums until they split up in 1985 (which was preceded by Mike Barson's, the band's main composer's departure). In 1988 four Madness members (Foreman, Thompson, Smash and Suggs) reformed the band under the name The Madness and put out an untitled record. The classic Madness line up was reassembled in 1992 for a one off grandiose show. The event's name and songs have passed into folklore on the live album entitled Madstock. After another long pause, Madness released new material on 1999's Wonderful, which was followed by The Dangermen Sessions, Vol. cover album six years later, in 2005. The band have remained active since then, touring from the summer to the winter in 2006, and has promised an album with new songs for the summer of 2007.

The Rakes (UK)

These Londoners are one of the best and most popular bands on recent years' thriving and exciting British popscene. The debut of the fourpiece "Capture/Release" (2005) invoked and recycled the dancey and massive new wave/post-punk sound of the early eighties which caused a refreshing surprise and high sells-figures. The following "Ten New Messages" (2007) proved to be just as enjoyable. So what's gonna be the first word from your lips the morning after The Rakes gig? "We danced Together" of course, as their new hitsingle suggests.

Mika (UK)

No doubt, this youth is the real new sensation of the year, and if one has the urge to categorize him, he's moving somewhere around the smart, double-sided and humorous fields of "camp" which offers an extremely colourful smorgasbord of styles, best described by the Scissor Sisters. A real freak he is with an American father and a Lebanese mother who is residing in London but who had lived in Beirut and Paris, attended school in france, studied singing from a Russian mistress, had been Royal Opera's choir-member just like he played in musicals and studied at the Royal College of Music. His debut "Life In Cartoon Motion" resembles Freddie Mercury, 70s classic disco and 80s soft-rock at the same time, let alone funk and soul influences included. Mika's world is a suitcase with double-bottom: kitschy, funny and entertaining but also profound and thought-provoking, bound to become a very special attraction of Sziget 2007.

Babylon Circus (F)

Babylon Circus brings a familiar sound to the Sziget; an exciting and recognisable sound -which is so close to our hearts - and which most of us would identify with Les Negresses Vertes, Mano Negra or Manu Chao; a sound that blends a whole spectrum of music genres ranging from ska, punk, funk, chanson and folk to afro-beat and reggae. The ten-member band was formed in 1995 and like their renowned "forefathers" they are entertaining, amusing and funny, and at the same time opinionated and vocal.

Sinéad O'Connor (IRL)

Sinead O'Connor is one the most important, most exciting and most uncalm female pop-artists of all times. Her wonderful reggae album "Throw Down Your Arms" (2006) was the last one of her several comebacks and revivals since her debut in the eighties. The self-willed Irishwoman first made it in 1987, in a period swarming with pop-divas, with "The Lion And The Cobra". 1990's subsequent "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" featured the smash.hit Prince-cover "Nothing Compares 2 U". In the early 90s Miss O'Connor co-operated with The The and wallbreaker Roger Waters, her own solo career took, however, the wrong direction: her swing-record of 1992 "Am I Not Your Girl?" proved a failure and the scandals around her were not much use, either. After this break she stood up being guest star on Peter Gabriels' "Us", singing a remarkable song on "In The Name Of The Father" soundtrack written by Bono and releasing a new album, "Universal Mother" in 1994, which became more of a fans' favourite than box office. 2000's "Faith And Courage" ended another period (boasting of Wyclef Jean and Dave Stewart as songwriters) since the following "Sean-Nós Nua" (2002) seemed to begin a new daredo-era of returning to roots, O'Connor singing Irish folksongs in Gaelic. Even more surprising was her announcement of withdrawal in 2003. It took three long years before she returned with the fascinating new album "Throw Down Your Arms" which includes reggae-classics covers featuring such guest musicians as Sly And Robbie. The new album proved to be a definitive album of 2006. Either Miss O'Connor will sing her new album or gems of her oeuvre the audience is guaranteed to have a wonderful time and soaring experience.

iWiW World Music Main Stage
Here comes the full line-up of iWiW World Music Main Stage. Newcomers and legendary world music heroes from all around the globe!

It's the first time in Hungary for Japan's Gocoo, one of today's most unbeatable percussion bands. Celebratory and moving in equal measures, they are an ideal opening act for the World Music Main Stage. The band of eleven drummers has been together for ten years, and with their three records (Healing Asia Vol. 2 feat. Goco.o, Live 01, Lovebeat) and live shows, they've already left an undeletable mark on the visual and acoustic book of "percussion literature". According to the reviews what we can expect to hear and see from these "acrobats of rhythm" is "the traditional Taiko drumming and earthquake" that has the power of "doom and purification" and is just the stuff for fans of traditional culture, pop, rock and even techno.

One of the main institution's of Cuban music, Sierra Maestra named themselves after the mountains located on the western part of the country, which is also the birthplace of the most famous Cuban music called son. Tres player Juan de Marcos González formed his band in 1976 with them aim to bring son, which reached its height in the 20s and 30s, back into the limelight. Soon he was joined by his cousin, trumpet player Jesús Alemany with whom he started to have lessons from classical son musicians such as the Septeto Nacional band. They made the traditional son line up (tres, guitar, trumpet, bongo, guiro, vocals) more dynamic by using electric bass and extra percussion, and thus achieved their first success. Soon they became one the most famous Cuban bands. They started making records in 1981 in Cuba, and continued making them in the West (Sierra Maestra Liego con el Guanjano Relleno, Y Son Asi, Idundubanza, Tibiri Tabara). Despite the fact that Jesús Alemany and Juan de Marcos left the band (Jesús started Cubanismo and Marcos formed Afro-Cuban All Stars), they lost none of their creativity and stamina. Since the start of the millennium they have proved their worth with two new albums (Rumbero Soy and Son: Soul of Nation), and we will also be able to witness their sublime talent at their first Hungarian show.
In the 90s world music got hooked on the trance that can be stirred up by gnawa, the ritual music of the slaves who were taken from West-Africa to the north of the continent. This genre hit the heights in Paris via the captivating and joyous musical blend of gnawa, rai, rock and reggae created by Algerian-Moroccan-French Orchestre National de Barbés. The cult status of the band is further enhanced by the fact that they rarely give concerts and throughout their ten-year existence they've only released two albums (En Concert, 1997 and Poulina, 1999). Following their 2004 show, they return to the Sziget this year - to give a concert that's definitely not to be missed.

Salif Keita has been on the top for thirty years now. An extraordinary lifestory and oeuvre is his. "I was made for subversion" - he declared on his first visit in Hungary and Sziget on the summer of 2000. And indeed, as descendant of the founder of Manding Empire, Sundyata Keita, he defied the caste system by his choice of becoming a musician, for which act he had been disowned by his family. What more, he had been born albino which even multiplied his abandonment as native beliefs had it that albinoes bring curse on their tribes. This is how his career began after which he moved on to Bamako to become the lead-singer of bands like Le Super Rail Band of Bamako and Les Ambassadeurs before moving to Paris in 1980. That was where he made it by producing a series of afro-pop records between 1987 and 1999 ( Soró, Köyan, Amen, Folon…The Past, Sosie, Papa) the pioneer success of which paved the way and served as reference points to many West-African ensembles. And later on as the world made its turns, after the rise and fall of synths and electronic gadgets a new "neotraditional" movement arose similarly to sixties post-independence movements. This new-old tendency strongly influenced the album "Moffou" and imprinted even deeper on 2004's "Mbemba". The traditional instruments (kamélé n'goni, n'goni, tama, kora, calebasse) seem to speak the language of timelessness. Keita's compositions simultaneously hold the memory of Mali music and flow freshly in their own right justifying that real dance music means profundity and perspective, jauntiness and gravity.

Before dreaming up Ska Cubano, Peter A. Scott had spent years researching music in Jamaica and Cuba, where he had to realise, among other things, that before the Cuban revolution there was a strong overlap between Cuban music and other forms of music from the Caribbean region. (As an example, Compay Segundo also had a calypso band.) To enliven this tradition Scott teamed up with one of the main figures of the London ska circles, Natty No, who is also obsessed with Cuban music. They gathered together a number of open minded musicians, such as the mambo singer Beny Billy, and by the unlikely marriage of mambo, ska, rumba, son and reggae, Ska Cubano was born. They released their self titled album in 2004 and !Ay Caramba! two years later. It's due time they showed their amazingly entertaining fusion live on the Sziget.

It seems almost impossible to imagine World Music Stage without Besh o droM, they've been a massive success here since 2000. Don't even think about self-repetition or boredom as the band's current album "When I catch the Devil…" is another warranty for the "merciless" experience of "elaborated grind inspired by Balkan".

Tinariwen orchestra were formed at a Lybian military base in 1985. Each member was trained to be a soldier and fought in the civil and tribal war in the Mali mountains between 1990 and 1996. The fact that the ancient melodies, revolutionary lyrics, Mali blues and psychedelic electric-guitars that characterize the band happened to become the biggest world music sensation of the millenium is due to french Mali-experts, Lo'Jo. They presented Tinariwen to Europe and it wasn't long before Robert Plant claimed: "When I first heard them I instantly knew that this is the music I've been looking for all my life." Led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, the band had already mesmerized Sziget with the live version of the smash-album "Amassakoul" in 2005. This year we are about to face a brandnew material with the album "Aman Iman".

The islands of Cape Verde were liberated from Portuguese sway in 1975, which also marked the beginning of the serious decline in sea-trade (which had always been extremely prosperous here earlier) as the revolutionary government scared international firms away from the isles. Drought, famine and unemployment were the calamities that made the majority of the population escape across the ocean, so that unbroken families are scarcely ever found on the islands nowadays. This nostalgic, bittersweet pining is perfectly mirrored by the main musical style of the isles, morna, the "musical ambassador" of which is none other than Cesaria Evora who actually travels with diplomat-passport. Born in 1941, Cesaria started singing encouraged by his uncle, the composer B. Leza, and though she even did some radio-recordings, she never thought of music as a means of earning a living, so much not that she retired from singing in the mid-seventies. She returned to stage only ten years later when every singstress on the isles was asked by the government to perform at a state ceremony subsequently she got talked into a brief tour by an ex-patriate living in Portugal. This is when she made friends with Cape Verde fellow-immigrant, José da Silva who eventually coaxed her to fly to Paris for a recording session. Eighteen albums had been recorded since 1988 (La Diva aux Pieds Nus, Distino di Belita, Mar Azul, Miss Perfumado, Cesaria, Cabo Verde, Café Atlantico, Sao Vicente di Longe, Voz d'Amor, Rogamar) which made the "barefoot diva" one of the most sought-after performers of world music. She easily fascinated the audiences of the world's most prestigious concert halls with her outstanding voice and free and easy performances and her return to Sziget World Music Stage is bound to turn out a massive success.

The history of the Hungarian-Russian ethnopop group Baba Yaga dates back to 1990 when the band of Hungarian new-wave godfathers KFT were touring in Sicily and got mesmerized by the voices heard from a Russian folkband. They made friends and there was no stopping them from that point. The crew were Tibor Bornai and Jamie Winchester from KFT, four Russian singers, Mihály Huszár and Zsolt Galántai who made two succesful albums in the nineties (Baba Yaga, Secret Combination). They were cruising around European festivals for six or seven years on but eventually lost momentum and it's not very often these days that we can catch them playing live!

The core trio of Mau Mau (vocalist Luca Morino, accordion player Fabio Barovero and Cameroon percussionist Bienvenu Nsongan) started as street musicians in the early nineties. In Piedmontese slang their name is used for tramps, gypsies and immigrants, while in Kenya it was the name of the independence movement in the 50s - implying that Mau Mau is an explicitly street level phenomenon. They soon expanded to seven members, but continued to play acoustic music, which was more appropriate in the world of squatter houses and small clubs. As far as their music is concerned, Mau Mau was Italy's clear answer to the wave which was started in France by Les Negresses Vertes and Mano Negra. However, Mau Mau emerged in a parallel phenomenon, rather than in a case of epigonism. Following their 1992 debut Sauta Rabel, they kept releasing amazing albums, such as Bass Paradis, Viva Mamanera, Eldorado, Marasma General, Safari Beach and Dea - the last one featuring Brazilian musical inspirations. They have also been playing live with Moroccan and Indian musicians (R@dio Trance) and under the name Banda Maulera they also took part in a brass wind-based carnival project. The last time they played on the Sziget was in 2000, the year the World Music Stage was launched, so it was high time they came back to give us a second helping.

Ska was an immense explosion in Jamaica after 1962, the year of independence, which mixed rhythm and blues, jazz, african beats and the calypso tradition. The best musicians were employed by Studio One, the most-most excellent of which created Skatalites in 1964. There's no end to the list of those who owe them credits - suffice it to mention Lee Perry, Bob Marley or Ernest Ranglin. Although the band made a considerable pause between 1969 and 1983 their legend always remained undiminished. Three members of the original line up are still playing as we could hear it on Sziget 2003 and as we are about to this year, this time as part of their new album's tour.

Racid Taha was born in Algeria in 1958, but has been living in France since 1968. He made his name in the early '80s with his novelty rai rock band called Carte de Séjour. After the break up of his band he started his solo career, and developed his very own rock and techno style rai music. However his biggest success came with his nostalgic acoustic album, 1998's Diwan in which he paid tribute to his masters and merged various North-African styles. The album was followed up by Diwan 2 last year, which lead him back to the Egypt and Algeria of the past - radio hits reminiscent of Taha's childhood dusted and refreshed in his own manner. One for fans of traditional flesh and blood instrumental music and those who prefer techno programming (e.g. Made in Medina or Tékitoi).

Paradox Trio -to avoid any confusion: this is a quartet. The band of Matt Darrieu, known as the sax and clarinet player from Klezmatics, made it in New York in the mid-90s. Their first three albums (Paradox Trio, Flying at a Slant, Source) were released by Knitting Factory, the avant-garde and typically New York label (and club) whose vision is in common with the band comprising saxophone, clarinet, electric guitar, cello, percussion, whose main musical direction is the fusion of klezmer and Balkan music. Paradox Trio's last album was made in the same vein: 2005's Gambit was put together in collaboration with the Bulgarian kaval player, Theodosii Spassov.

Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra is the engine of Hungarian ska life: its members organise ska camps, host ska clubs, edit ska compilations, and invite international ska bands (such as Toasters, Bad Manners, Rotterdam Ska-Jazz Foundation, and New York Ska Jazz Ensemble) to play in Hungary. They have a live album (All Night Long - Live At Artemovszk) and a studio effort (Budapest Ska Mood) behind them, and they managed to carry away thousands of people with their cloudless-palm tree performance last year on the Sziget. No doubt, they will hit the roof again this year…

Fanfare Ciocarlia: these Roma living to the North of the Carpathians whose musical roots stem from Turkish military bands can sure blow the brasses like Serbs and Macedonians. This brass-band named after the "Skylark" comes from Zece Prajeni a Moldovan village with only 400 gypsy inhabitants who all play music. However, Ciocarlia hasn't had to worry about competition since they were accidentally discovered by a French TV-crew in 1996. Since then they haven't had time to catch their breath as they've rushed from festival to festival, though they wouldn't want it any other way. Fanfare Ciocarlia are not only set apart from their Balkan relatives by the fact their repertoire is mainly based on Roma dances, but also by their amazing tempo, not to mention the vocal pieces and instrumental solos. On top of this in 2007 they made an album (Queens and Kings) which features several distinguished gypsy singers including the likes of Macedonia's Esma Redzepova, Bulgaria's Jony Iliev, France's Kalooma and Florentina Sandou, the latter who will to sing with them on the Sziget.

Manu Dibango (born in Cameroon in 1933) was only 15 when his parents sent him to Paris to continue his musical studies. He studied piano at first, but when he was lent a saxophone, his future was sealed. In 1957 he moved to Brussels where he became member of the rumba king Joseph Kabesele's band. They toured Africa for two years, during which Manu got back to his roots and soon found his own voice, culminating with his very own makossa. Makossa is a fast tempo, urban dance in Cameroon, but what Manu conjured out of it on his 1972's Soul Makossa album had as much in common with other Camerooni styles as with music originating from other African countries. Not only did it sell millions of records, it also became the hymn of cosmopolitan Africans all around the globe. Later Manu re-recorded a salsa version of the album with Fania All Stars, a reggae version with Sly & Robbie, an electro-funk version with Herbie Hancock and a rumba version with Eliades Ochoa. His contribution extends much further than this landmark work for Home Made(1978), Fleurs Musicales du Cameroun (1982), Wakafrika (1994) and CubAfrica (1998) are all masterpieces. Manu has already appeared on the World Music Stage of Sziget festival - last year as a guest of Italian Enzo Avitabile & Bottari. This year he is coming with his own band and will presents his 2003 The Very Best Of Manu Dibango.

Through its ten year long term Söndörgő has grown up to become a strong man from the bunch of kids and disciples of Vujicsics Orkestar what it once was. These heirs of South-Slavic folk project immense scorching energy on their current album "Javorfa" again which instantly flies the listener to the Dalmatian shores, like it will at Sziget along with Ferus Mustafov the chochek-king of Macedonia.

Muzsikás, the best know Magyar ensemble, has been playing Transylvanian village music for 34 years, and has proved to the world that Hungarian folk music is equal to any of world's musical genres. Lately, they achieved outstanding success by merging contemporary classical and traditional folk music, while collaborating with such artists as Alexander Balanescu, Jenő Jandó, the Bartók String Quartet and the Keller String Quartet. Their records are significant pieces in music history: on Szól a kakas már they excavated Transylvanian Jewish folk music, which had been considered non-existent until then. On their Bartók Album, they reconstructed the collected folk tunes of Bartók, and Hazafelé is probably the best album that shows the almost extinct traditional Transylvanian music in its crystal clear form. They will definitely make one Sziget day the festival of Hungarian music.

Seydou Koné of Ivory Coast adopted stagename Alpha Blondy when he started singing on his return from his US studies. Although brought up a Muslim, the reggae singer nevertheless had been heavily influenced by Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Rastafarianism alike and as a result he has been preaching the future unity of all these religions. His obsessed political attitude up against racism, violence and corruption earned him the tag of "West-African Bob Marley" in his homeland in no time. So much so that it was not long before Bob Marley's band The Wailers contributed on two Alpha Blondy albums ("Cocody Rock", 1984 and "Jerusalem", 1986). The groundstone-band of African-reggae, Alpha Blondy have produced more than a dozen albums up to this day contributing such gems to fans' record collections as "Massada", "Grand Bassam Zioin", "The Prophet" and "Akwaba". We're about to face a serious concert by a serious man.

Eddie Palmieri was born in New York in 1936 into a Puerto Rican musician family. At the age of 25 he formed the band La Perfecta, and made his first album, which has been followed by another 31 to date. Pianist Palmieri is just as much a master of the classic jazz school pioneered by the likes of Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock, as of salsa and Latin jazz. Over the last 30 years he has received 9 Grammy Awards (the last one for Simpatico; a work created in conjunction with trumpet player Brian Lynch), which makes him the most successful Latin musician of all time. Palimeri is coming with his band La Perfecta, which reformed in 2002, so that he can show us what steamy salsa is really about.

Sidestepper: this definitive band of Latin electronic scene began to draw attention in 1997 with their maxi-single "Logozo". The enterprise run by Englishman Richard Blair and Colombian Ivan Benavides and working along the Bogotá-London axis has created three albums since ("More Grip", "3 AM: In Beats We Trust", "Continental") and has grown into a remarkable live act with an everchanging line-up under the trinity of salsa, cumbia and drum and bass.

Szájról szájra ("Hearsay") singstresses have contributed a lot to folk music earlier. Szilvia Bognár's way led from Anima Sound System through Makám to a solo-career. Agnes Herczku shone bright as the soloist of Hungarian State Folk and Fonó band whereas Agi Szalóki made it in Ökrös ensemble, Beshodrom and Szalóki Ági Quintet. On this special occasion they will sing together accompanied by a bunch of topnotch folk and jazz musicians.

Mari Boine is the brave new messiah of Lappish musical culture in Norway. He's got the historical perspective (the religious and cultural revolution of Lapps in Norway), the unworldliness, the extraordinary voice, let alone the inevitable magic the speaks of the safe competence with the desert ice-plains, the grim and fathomless forests and the language of galloping reindeers. Boine has been on his mission for more than fifteen years. Since Peter Gabriel's label released his debut "Gula Gula" he has created a half dozen of masterpieces including such highpoints as "Leahkasin" or "Eight Seasons" (with Jan Garbarek). His current record "Idjagiedas" proved to be another revelation, being the most intimate piece of his art, fusing the North-Pole with Africa, ancient Lappish tradition with electonic sounds, passion and repression and while the powers of nature are made to dance, Boine's own dark demons are invoked just as moving.

Bruno Garcia became a household name as the front man of Ludwig Van 88 in 1997 on the Morning Club Latin music festival. At that time he was still into his sound system mixing punk, reggae and Latin melodies. Despite his immediate success, he started a new band within a few weeks. The result was Sergent Garcia, and the new genre "salsamuffin" (mixing ragamuffin with salsa). Their 1999 debut, Un poquito quema'o made them one of the most popular bands in France as well as one of the most in demand on the European Latin music scene. Their shows became synonymous with sunny carnivals and freedom, in which all kinds of Latin music from ralsa, son, cha-cha, rumba, cumbia as well as raga, ska, reggae and even gypsy and North-African styles can be heard. His last album, Mascaras, was released last year and was full of Mexican colour. We can count on a merciless party with endless dancing.

Even the closing day has something up its sleeve. Napra presents their new album "Jaj, a világ!". This fresh and impressive synthesis of folk and raw rock appeared during last year with Miklos Both in the lead. Their significance is also indicated by the fact that their album was produced by none other than the prestigious Englishman Ben Mandelson.

Motion Trio was formed in 1996 in Krakow by Janusz Wojtarowicz and two of his fellow music academy mates. By then they all had been playing the accordion for some 20 years, so they knew exactly what they wanted; nothing less than to achieve something in the "accordion-business" that had never been done before. They didn't have to wait long. In 2000 they won the "Grand Prix" in the trio category at the Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Music, and their first album, Pictures from the Street was voted as the "best debut album of the year." In the same vein their 2005 Play Station oozes a crystal clear acoustic accordion sound. It was characteristically delivered with humour and ease, free of any laboured effort - the way they do everything from heavier rock sounds to fragile Mediterranean melodies, from nostalgia to searching new ways, from busking to the music halls and the biggest festivals.

At the end of the 90s a new band popped up in the clubs of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, and in no time the old empire was seduced. There was no doubt about it that Leningrad became the flag bearer of the 21st century underground scene in the region. "I've drunk everything / Beer, wine and brandy / Still I want to fuck / I might be a sex maniac"- says a typical Leningrad verse, and the music beats out a similar tune, accompanied by the kind of penetrating distress without which it's hard to imagine any captivating Russian works. This almost bestial elementary force is mainly owing to the singing of front man Sergey Shnurov and his equally worthy band which boasts a hard core wind section and guitars. The band's main thrust is ska spiced with punk, but also with Russian marches, dance and folk songs. In 2006 their music was a huge success on the World Music Stage, and since then we've been longing for it as for some Hleb ("bread"), the title of Leningrad's last album.

It was in 1983 that Varttina were formed in the Finno-Ugrian village of Raakyla, Carelia as a kind of youth society for preserving folk traditions. As they grew up the members of the band moved to Helsinki for their musical studies. The changes in membership gave way to the integration of different new musical styles thus "unpolluted tradition" changed into authentic covers described by critics as the following: "The point where ABBA, Fairport Convention and Le Mysere des Voix Bulgares meet." 1994's "Aitara" was the start of another new period characterized by self-penned compositions which met the expectations of acoustic ethno-pop in a way that was also true to the musical and textual records of East-Finland's female vocal-traditions. This is reflected on their current record "Miero" (2006) as well. The lively dynamism and fierce temperament are present as always: the three singstresses full of witchcraft, the breathtakingly poetic settings of stories and sinister lyrics.

WAN2 Stage
For the 15th jubilee event, Wan2 Stage has put together an international line-up of upcoming bands from which many acts will be performing in Hungary for the first time.

UNKLE (USA)

A collective that is hard to define, U.N.K.L.E. is one of the few bands that's been able to create something truly original within the electronic genre. It all boils down to James LaVelle, an amazing musical talent, who does not think in terms of genres, but instead deals with music in the easiest possible way by distinguishing good music from bad music. He takes on anything he likes, and that makes everything that he puts into the big melting pot of U.N.K.L.E.'s records unquestionably his own. U.N.K.L.E.'s suspiciously flawless debut, 1998's Psyence Fiction was put together in three years by two figures of the holly trinity of the underground hip-hop movement: DJ Shadow and James LaVelle. (The third member, Krush was not involved since his lone Jakuzza-image wouldn't allow him to participate in such a collaboration.) Shadow and Lavelle mixed the trepidation of psychedelia with the dynamism of hard rock and the pulsating beat of rap and hip-hop with the almighty break beat, and sculpted it into a unique final product. To reach perfection they collaborated with an all-star lineup; including Kool G, Richard Ashcroft, Mike D and Thom Yorke and others who lent their voices to this classic masterpiece which is supposedly an inner voyage. With Shadow's departure and Richard File's arrival U.N.K.L.E. gradually drifted away from hip-hop towards rock, house and psychedelia. In the mid-90s from about ₤1000 LaVelle started MOWAX for experimental hip-hop acts, and the label quickly gained a cult status. Besides acts discovered by LaVelle himself, he also lured big names such as La Funk Mob, Carl Craig's Innerzone Orchestra, Air, DJ Krush, Beastie Boys' keyboardist Money Mark, Luke Vibert, Andrea Parker, Blackalicious and Quannum to his label, even if as in some cases just for a few EPs. U.N.K.L.E.'s next album is due out in the first half of 2007.

IAMX (UK)

IAMX is the solo project of Chris Corner, a well known figure of the electronic and pop scene, who first reached prominence as the member of Sneaker Pimps in the mid-nineties. Since then he has collaborated with several artists, including his girlfriend Sue Denim's electro-clash band, Robots in Disguise, whose albums he produced. According to Corner, IAMX is pushing the limits with the subjects of its songs, which are completed with dark, erotic fuelled, '80s inspired electro music. IAMX's debut Kiss and Swallow was released in 2004, followed by The Alternative in April 2006.

Sud Sound System (I)

Jamaican vibe from the Med. Reggae, dancehall, hip hop and ragamuffin in Italian colours. Sud Sound System's history dates back almost two decades. They released their first album in 1991 and have since released 14 others for their fans. Guaranteed hot dancing for a sizzling Sziget night.

Fun-Da-Mental (UK)

Fun-Da-Mental are one of the most definitive and grooviest ethno-techno, ethno-electro acts of the nineties. The Asian-Brits are very groovy and very political, mixing the flavours of the East and the West, simultaneously witnessing electronic beats and the folk music of the Indian subcontinent. Fun-Da-Mental's base are Propa-Gandhi and Impi-D who are complete with rich accompaniment when playing live. They have released seven albums so far, the last one of whose (All Is War, The Benefits Of G-Had) deals with the respon.sibility of the Western World and severely criticizes War on Iraq. The album can only be downloaded as the record-company denied the physical release because of the risky lyrical content.

Cassius (F)

The existence of Cassius proves the fact of France being an electronic music super-power. The music duo comprised of veteran producers, Philippe Zdar and Hubert Blanc-Francard, (better known as aka Boombass) participated in several successful collaborations alias La Funk Mob before, for example with McSolaar. Their first single track, in 1998, under the name Cassius, entered the UK Top 20 chart immediately. Their trademark is jazzy-hiphop and acid-laced disco music, which is synthesized in three consecutive albums, as well as in numerous tracks. Their latest album titled 15 Again, was released in 2006.

ROIA (A)

ROIA, a band of young Austrians who have been making music together for seven years, play a kind of melodic music that is basically trip-hop-cum-electronica, which is sometimes happy, other times sad. ROIA is becoming more and more successful. They played with Zagar in Budapest this summer.

Beat Assailant (USA-F)

Beat Assailant is an American rapper who has been living and working in Paris for some years now. His band consists of French musicians, who add a European sound to his American rap style. After putting his last album out, he hit the road with a new stage show, a wind section, keyboard players and vocalists that are bound to make every hip-hop and funk fan jump around.

Ministere des Affaires Populaires (F)

A band mixing French chansons and hip-hop, Ministere des Affaires Populaires have an incredibly energetic stage presence. Chanson-hop!

Hooverphonic (B)

After dEUS, Hooverphonic is here to prove that pop legends can indeed come from Belgium. Their ambient trip hop music gained international recognition after their track "2Wicky" was featured in Bernardo Bertolucci's Stealing Beauty which was followed a year later by their debut album New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. Geike Arnaert who replaced original vocalist Liesje Sadonius, guitarist /multi-instrumentalist Alex Callier, keyboardist Frank Duchêne and guitarist Raymond Geerts, made four more outstanding records up until 2005.

GusGus (Iceland)

We do not remember having seen a band from Iceland on any of the stages during the fifteen year history of the Sziget Festival. Well, it is high time to meet one: the GusGus is not simply an electronic band from Reykjavik, but one of the most well-known dance music formations. Taking a glance at their concert calendar, the abundance of locations supports the fact that they are welcomed all over the world starting from the Glastonbury Festival, through Vienna, Kiev, Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Munich, Cologne, to the Spanish Benicassim Festival or to the Sziget Festival in 2007. At the beginning of the year they released their fifth album including a maxi since 1997. All are recognised by public and professionals alike.

Dobacaracol (CAN)

The band came into being after the two founding members Doba and Caracol (Doriane Fabreg and Carole Facal) met by chance in 1998. After several years, they managed to put their first album out on an indie label, and later another on a bigger one in 2004. The bands' body and soul are the two girl vocalists, who are cute and also sing beautifully, thus providing the full experience.

Hyper (UK)

DJ Hyper was first known as a producer/DJ who brought many original works to the electronic music world. His breakthrough solo debut We Control hit the shelves in 2005. Tracks from the album were featured in episodes of C.S.I. and used in the international promotional campaign for the Peugeot 207.Thanks to the album, Hyper the band came into existence, delivering successful shows all around the globe. Playing breakbeat live, Hyper's suggestive dynamic performance is guaranteed by Hyper, Ronnie, Leeroy Thornhill (ex-Prodigy), and Jim Davies (Pitchshifter, Prodigy).

K'naan (SOM)

K'naan, the Somali rapper who dubs himself the "Dusty Foot Philosopher," once had the idea and moved to Canada, where he recorded his first album, which immediately won the award for the best hip-hop album of the year, even if musically it hardly ranks among the best. To support the album's European release they set off on a huge tour, during which K'naan has also been opening for Stephen Marley and Damian Marley.

HammerWorld Stage
As the Sziget craze takes hold once more, they put up the Hammer Stage again, on which such performers as Soulfly, Hammerfall and Napalm Death will appear in 2007.

The international acts of the Hammer Stage include Within Temptation, the Dutch masters of Goth metal whose last album The Heart Of Everything came out this spring. Soulfly (USA), the nu-metal creation of ex-Sepultura front man, Max Cavalera (singer/guitarist) will also perform, just like their follow countrymen Nevermore (USA), whose concert was a huge success earlier at the Hungarian Metal Mania festival. Representatives of extreme death/ grinde Napalm Death (UK), black metal's notorious Satyricon (NOR), avant-garde industrial Skinny Puppy (CAN) as well as Killing Joke (UK) will also set feet on the stage. After the groundbreaking gig they gave in Budapest earlier this year, we hope to have the same kick ass heavy metal experience again at the Hammerfall (SWE) gig. Other acts from the international scene include Negative (FIN), Drill (USA), Altar (RO) and Hanoi Rocks (FIN).

As for the Hungarian artists, we've compiled the line-up in such way that fans of different styles of rock and metal will be able to find something to their taste every day. Beside Ideas, an excellent band of melodic metal, De Facto, the leading representatives of the Hungarian dark era, we will see many young, dynamic bands. One of them, Depresszió, is a genuine live band delivering masterful and powerful shows adored by a huge following, who have just finished a successful tour. Folk metal's unbeatable (Echo Of) Dalriada, whose 2007 album was voted as the year's most anticipated record, will also perform on the HammerWorld Stage. The same is true about Nevergreen, the band that has been reformed recently after a several-year absence, and will come out with their new album soon. Naturally, there is no way, such classic favourites as Beatrice, Pokolgép, Kalapács, or Deák Bill Gyula could be omitted from the line-up. The third day of the Sziget will mostly favour the groups belonging to the so called Budapestrockandroll underground movement: we can mosh to Watch My Dying, Blind Myself, Superbutt and Subscribe. Gyöngyvér mixing Goth rock with modern metal brings a completely different sound, just like the all-star group, Hard who also came out with new material. We can also expect a tremendous show from Moby Dick who celebrated their 25th anniversary last year with a jubilee album, and also from 10-year old Demonlord on the HammerWorld stage.

Party Arena
Fans of electronic music will surely not be disappointed by the line-up of the Party Arena, as the world's best DJs will be spinning their records at this year's jubilee Sziget Festival.

Timo Maas (D)

German Timo Maas is one of the world's most prolific and most celebrated producer/DJs. Credited on over a 100 releases, he's remixed Depeche Mode, among others, and has been nominated for a Grammy. In 2006 he launched his own label called 99 Percent. He's resident DJ at Pacha in New York and at DC10 in Ibiza. His sets combine pop, house and electro are real rarities in the electronic music world.

Silicone Soul (UK)

The name of Scots Craig Morrison & Graeme Reedie might not sound familiar to anyone, but their collective moniker of Silicone Soul immediately strikes a chord with every house-loving youngster. The two lads belong to the circle of Soma Recordings. Their current releases are to be found in all cool DJs' bags, and their sets can transform the audience into a euphoric mood whether they're playing a 200 capacity club.

Plump DJ's (UK)

It is hard to find anything more danceable and fun than their music; whether it's their own records or the DJ sets they're playing. Wherever they go they attract a huge crowd, and no one leaves their shows without being 100 per cent fulfilled. Plump DJs (Lee Rous and Andy Gardner) first appeared on the scene with their 1999 release: Plumpy Chunks/Electric Disco, which came out on kick ass label Fingerlickin'. Success was instantly tangible: their 2000 debut album, A Plump Night Out, became an immediate hit as people got hooked on their upbeat funky-break, and that hasn't changed much in the last seven years. Their 2003 Eargasm further strengthened their position, while 2005's Saturday Night Lotion finally lifted them up to the league of the biggest artists.

Annie Nightingale (UK)

In Annie Nightingale's case without being offensive we can say that we are talking about an old institution of the music business. The 65 year old lady has done everything that is possible in the biz. She was the first female DJ on BBC Radio, before becoming presenter of the BBC programme called "Old Grey Whistle Test". She made an award-winning documentary about the breakbeat scene, and in 1998 she received Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 she was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall Of Fame. In the meantime she continued playing the clubs to show what her idea of a breakbeat set is about. It was her radio show that introduced tracks from such artists as the Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx. After John Peel's passing, she became the oldest active DJ on the British airwaves. She knows everything about music that is possible and she is respected in her country like the Queen. Annie Nightingale is 100 per cent vitality, 100 per cent breakbeat.

Goldie (UK)

This British daredevil needs no introduction. The term Drum 'n' Bass, coined by the British electronic music press, was first used to describe his 1993 hit, Angel. He's one of the fathers of Drum 'n' Bass and all of his released works are treated like the Bible by his fans. He's won many awards as a DJ and also with his labels Timeless, Metalheadz and Platinum Breakz. Despite his success, he is still full of fresh ideas, and is always looking for new ways to demonstrate his artistic qualities. Thanks to his global popularity, he even caught attention of Hollywood and has appeared in several movies, among others in Guy Richie's Bluff as well.

Blame (UK)

There aren't many drum'n'bass producers who can boast having climbed to the top of the British dance chart. Blame is one of the rare few. Conrad Shafie, as he was called at school, was only 17, when he wandered into his mate Tony Justice's basic studio, and threw a track together which was later to become the anthem of the drum'n'bass cradle of the British hard core scene. "Music Takes You" surged to number one on the British Dance 40 chart, and Blame's future was assured. Following the success of the track, young Blame focused all his attention on making music, while at the same time, his tracks caught the interest of the famous Moving Shadow label.

Simon Bassline Smith & Youngman MC (UK)

Funk, soul, hip-hop oriented Simon "Bassline" Smith embraced the world of vinyl and illegal parties at a very young age, and his nickname originates from these times when on almost every occasion he managed to ruin the subwoofers. Being present at the big British rave events (Perception, Methology, Raindance, Worlddance), he made friends with names such as Grooverider, Fabio, Mickey Finn and Jumping Jack Frost, with whom he started spreading the jungle sound that was shaping up at the time. As the result of their success, Simon quickly put together his label, called Absolut 2, and started releasing records by such artists as Doc Scott, Nookie, Ray Keith and Danny C (Twisted Anger). Later, in 1998, with other producers, he started another label called Technique Recordings, which is still successful today. From the jazzy, double bass sound through tougher music to happy jump-up, the label represent many different styles - what matters is that it should be danceable. During the last couple of years, Simon Bassline Smith has been travelling around the world with Youngman MC, who according to Simon, really knows what makes a good MC.

Dave Clarke (UK)

Dave Clarke is regarded in the electronic music scene as one of the world's best techno DJs. From his stormy childhood in the '80s to his recent media scandals, he's always been a rebel and an outsider. By the millennium, most of the first generation techno DJs had disappeared, but Dave Clarke's sets, his unique mixing technique (blending techno, electro, hip-hop and '80s new wave with masterful skill) is still as successful as ever. Throughout the years, he has published many mix CDs, and proved to be a representative of several different styles and genres, while remaining one of the leading international ambassadors of techno.

Motor (UK)

American Bryan Black and Frenchman Olivier Grasset met up at the end of the nineties in a smoky pub in dear old blighty. Bryan - former producer for Prince - instantly recognized Grasset's talent and one year later they formed Xlover which was supposed to be the next big electro-rock thing but it unfortunately failed to bang.
Beside Xlover they also established another project in common "Motor" which was intended to operate just for fun. Novamute, however, dicovered the underlying potential in the project immediately and contracted them without much ado. Xlover stopped existing at that very moment.
Thanks to Novamute's network of contacts they got to remix such songs very soon as "Personal Jesus" by Marylin Manson and "Persuasion" by Throbbing Gristles. Success came to stay and their record "Stuka Stuka" proved a dancefloor-explosion. Played by Sven Väth, Dave Clarke and Miss Kittin it turned out to be the big thing in that year on electronic scene. After Depeche Mode and T. Raumschmire remixes the time for their first self-penned album was more than due: "Klunk" came out in 2006.
Motor's individual mystic sound makes everyone move in New York, London or anywhere else.

Satoshi Tomiie (J)

Besides being Japan's most successful, internationally acknowledged DJ and house producer, Satoshi Tomiie is one of the worlds most sought after DJs. His debut alum, Full Lick came out on Sony Music in 2000, and continues to be considered as one of the very best house albums by the critics. In 2001 he launched his own label called SAW.RECORDINGS. Thus, in realizing his dream, he provided the biggest possible platform for new, creative ideas, experiments and naturally for the underground. He was the first foreign DJ living in the States who was commissioned by Global Underground to make a CD for the NuBreed series. The last few years were all about DJing for the Japanese New Yorker, who has been performing at every possible place lately. Perhaps that's why he keeps reclaiming his place in the higher realm of DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJ Chart. Satoshi is a quiet and modest person, who is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding creators of underground dance music, which is something he is ready to prove on a daily basis at different corners of the globe.

Booka Shade (D)

Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, better known as Booka Shade, were one of the big breakthroughs of 2006. Together with three of their producer mates they have started their own label, Get Physical, through which they put their records out. Their music is celebrated by critics and there is no DJ who wouldn't play at least one Booka Shade track. The first success of these two talented producers came with the release of their 2004 Memento album. The album remained at the top of the dance charts, which caught the attention of big artists and the duo were asked to do remixes for such artists as Depeche Mode. After a few singles, they released another album at the end of 2006. Movements was even more positively received than expected. What's Booka Shade's secret? Musically, by mixing house, techno, minimal and their very own style, they have been pushing electronic music in a new direction. After releasing their latest album, they embarked on their world tour, and will stop by at the Sziget 2007 festival. Even though they are new in the business, there are several thousand waiting for the Booka Shade live show, which will undoubtedly be one of the main attractions of Party Arena.


DJ Hell (D)

For the last 25 years DJ Hell has been an eminent member of the electronic music elite. DJ Hell and his label, International Deejay Gigolos, have collectively been responsible for much of the electro wave that has been rampaging worldwide over the last couple of years. His approach is more modern than that of any 20-year old. He has worked with Donatella Versace, played at a private party of Mr Playboy, alias Hugh Hefner, and has surprised the world with his curious looks and eccentric style.

Philipp Straub aka Felipe (A)

Philipp Straub, aka (DJ) Felipe first encountered electronic music in 1992 at different techno and house parties, and as he became addicted to it, he started collecting records. Over the following years he grew to be the most popular DJ in Austria, and in 1998 he started "Titan Production". In the last few years he's been touring with such stars as Faithless, Underworld, Chris Liebing, Sven Väth, Laurent Garnier, Pascal FEOS, Westbam, Paul van Dyk, etc. He has also appeared on several compilations such as Favorite Tools, Fab. Mix II, Hyperspace II & IV.

Sharam - Deep Dish (USA)

Deep Dish does not seem to be fed up with their workaholic lifestyle. After all the remix requests from superstars and Grammies the work they invested had obviously long paid off still there's a lingering drive in Ali and Sharam which won't let them stop ever.
And how did the story of the most influential electronic dance duo begin? Ali "Dubfire" Shirazia and Sharam Tayebi met by chance back in 1991 and instantly realized how much they had in common. Their main vision is a permanent urge to bridge the gaps between the different brands of electronic music. To make the long story short, Deep Dish Records was set up before long and the released tracks caught the eye of the vanguard Tribal America Records very soon which resulted in the release of the classic "Penetrate Deeper".
Due to the upcoming DeLacy - Hideaway remix and their benefactor Brian BT Transeu no doors were closed before them by 1995.
It was in 1998 that their self-penned debut "Junk House" was released as a mix of sensuous house, dancey rock and jazzy soul. The single "The Future Of The Future (Stay Gold)" turned out to be both club and FM hit.
Nothing could stop the flow of mixes from this moment on: Yoshiesque (1999), Renaissance Ibiza (2000), Yoshiesque 2 (2001), Global Underground-Moscow (2001), GU-Toronto (2003) all reflect eclectic Deep Dish clubsound. Meanwhile they carried on making remixes with the same old zeal, be it mainstream or underground. Memorable reworks of tracks by Brother Brown, Gabrielle, Morel, Beth Orton, Sven Väth, Depeche Mode, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, 'N Syinc or even Justin Timberlake granted Ali and Sharam the status of most wanted remix-makers. Small wonder they got their first Grammy nomination in 2001 as "Remixer OF The Year" for - amongst others - Madonna ("Music"), Amber ("Sexual") and their very own "Mohamed Is Jesus" reworks. 2002 bought another nomination - awarded at last! - with Dido's "Thank You". This single is the par excellence example of their way of blending pop and clubsound. It even topped the Billboard chart. The next ones were P.Diddy's "Let's Get Ill" and "Say Hello" which were played twenty-four seven by DJs all over the world.
It goes without saying their live-acts are held in high esteem and sold-out. According to Los Angeles Times there is no DJ set that is comparable with Deep Dish.
Sharam and Ali have been playing separately recently to give a taste of Deep Dish to even more people. Sharam's own Global Underground mix recorded in Dubai has just been released as Vol. 29.

Cedric Gervais (USA)

His curriculum would do as a Hollywood script. By the time most guys just kissed a girl for the first time he is already playing to a crowd of four thousand on France's biggest open-air festival.
The fifteen year old Cedric found himself being resident in Paris' hippest club Queen in no time. He played back to back with such names as Sven Väth, Carl Cox and Laurent Garnier. It was fair enough but Cedric wanted more so he packed up his vinyls and left for Miami to chance it. It wasn't long before he made it to the legendary club Space. He began on the terrace where DJs hung out after "work". Roger Sanchez, Sander Kleinenberg and Deep Dish were regulars during his sets.
Self-penned tracks began to see their release and remixes were requested by such labels as Deep Dish's own Yoshitoshi or Ministry. Nowadays Gervais travels the world as the official warmup DJ to Deep Dish by Sharam's and Ali's side. His new mix "Yoshitoshi:Miami" includes the best tunes of this year's Miami Music Conference.

Jazz Stage sponsored by Klubradio
In 2007, the Jazz Stage moves further up the ladder of the leading stages of the festival, through showing the international audience the current trends of jazz by presenting world famous artists.

In running themed days, and thus putting the performances into context, the stage's organisers also wish to call foreign jazz fans' attention to the outstanding Hungarian artists. Parallel to this, they open the gates of the genre as wide as possible: offering in their program fusion jazz, danceable funky acid jazz, swing, jazz-rock based on Cameroon folk music, crossover supported with distorted guitar, and of course traditional big bands. Another new thing is that after the concerts DJs will play fun and danceable tunes (funk, acid jazz, nu jazz, soul, etc.), and by doing so the stage is hoping to provide a regular base for jazz lovers, who can return to the stage anytime of the day.

This year the Jazz Stage has secured several excellent stars in their international line-up. Mike Stern - who despite being 53 still has a face of a kid - is a living legend. His rocky, jazzy guitar sound has been his trademark for 30 years. He was 20, when he became a member of Blood Sweat & Tears, which he left to join Miles Davies' group. Throughout his 20-year solo career he has always carefully selected the musicians who he collaborated with; among others, he's worked with such artists as Jaco Pastorius, Bob Bergl, Richard Bona and Me'Shell Dgeocello. He is accompanied at the Sziget by two other legendary musicians, drummer Dave Weckl (former Chick Corea), and bass player Anthony Jackson.

French trumpet player Erik Truffaz is one of the very few musicians who is regarded as a prominent figure both by the jazz circles and the electronic music world. His name can be found among the performers of jazz festivals as well as hip-hop and drum'n'bass parties. During his teenage years Truffaz was a both into jazz and rock, which resulted in a rare openness. On his records, he is merging features of many different styles with elements of predominantly acid jazz, funk and electronic music. His band is one of the most current exports of French culture. They were the first French band to be signed by the legendary Blue Note.

Etienne Mbappé, Cameroonian bass player/singer is one of the biggest of the last decade's newcomers. He spent his "apprentice years" with Joe Zawinhul and Salif Keita, and there is not much he doesn't know about jazz and world music. As in folk tales, and in the music business, he hit the road in search of his own sound and solo career. In his solo works jazz, African folk music, funk, rock and classical music play an equally important role. He sings his songs in the Cameroonian dialect Douala resulting in an amazingly clean, yet exciting, immediate, and timeless music. It's the first time we can see him in Hungary.

Gary Willis, the trendsetting former bass player of Tribal Tech, surprised his fans with quite a bold piece of work last year when under the name Slaughterhouse he teamed up with drummer Kirk Covington (former Tribal Tech bandmate) and Spanish sax player Lliberty Fortuny, and put a completely mad, experimental work together, in which the trendy jam band approach meets with the lo-fi sound. They play their instruments without the least inhibition in a way that would make any teenage kid shy away. They spice up the funky bases and jazzy harmonies with noises and loops, but even hearing the most brutal sonic parts, it's obvious: this music is made by the most trained and skilful musicians in the world. The outcome is a bit as if Primus made a cover version of Miles Davies' Bitches Brew album. This will be their first performance in Hungary.

Of course, we didn't forget about the best representatives of our domestic jazz scene. Beside the well-known names (Balázs Elemér Group, Babos Project Special, Dresch Quartet, Modern Art Orchestra and Hot Jazz Band), the Jazz Stage opened its gates wide open to different genres. As the 21st century is all about mixing styles, the stage will proudly present Váczi Eszter és a Szörp, the group that plays acid jazz; the unusual vocal-piano-horn band Borago which incorporates Bartók's heritage into jazz; or European Mantra, who empower their fusion themes with guitar riffs borrowed from metal. Fresh acts that are still searching for their own voice could be real specialties too: like Veronika Harcsa and her Quartet, the talented young trumpet player Lőrinc Barabás and his hip-hop acid jazz band Eklektric or the rhythm organ based ethno-fusion of the two percussionists, Azuma Clan.
The line-up of the Jazz Stage was put together with the help of Smart Music.

Other Venues
In classical music, history, contemporary arts, rock, literally programmes we trust! Other venues from Afro-Latin Stage to Talentum Stage!

Afro-Latin Stage and World Village

This venue was launched and became popular with Sziget goers under the name of Village Africa, designed in order to let people know about Northern- and Black-Africa. Four years ago the programme got amplified with the hot and dynamic musical culture of Afro-Latin and Carribean peoples and the name changed to Afro-Latin stage. As World Music Stage is situated near Afro-Latin Stage and as the target-group audience of the two stages are virtually identical organizers chose to expand the venue in the "direction" of Asia, dubbed Afro-Latin Stage and World Village. The concept proved extremely workable so the tag remained the same unlike the widening choice of programmes and the development of the venue itself which move forward without cease.
You enter the venue passing by an authentic fair offering an extremely wide choice of special products from Africa, South-America, Morocco, Indonesia and Thailand.

The world of Africa introduces the architecture and interiors of round-houses and tents painted in original Ghana-patterns. Braid, stringing beads, afro batik work, painting Ghanaian motifs, learning to play African boardgames, Congo photo gallery, screenings and conversations are on the schedule complete with an Eritrean coffee-rite and drum sessions by the fire at nights.

North-Africa displays the atmosphere of the Arabian Nights through genuine Moroccan furniture, Arabian tents furnished with artifacts and ornaments, henna-painters, Moroccan craftsmanship, kofi-writing course, waterpipe and mint-tea tents plus a special Taola boardgame course.

The Afro-Latin and Caribbean feel to the venue is also emphasized by the bamboocane-built Afro-Latin disco, the ever-winding Brazilian Carnival complete with Samba-dancers in costumes and Batucada drummers, not to mention Afro and Jamaican cocktail bars with hammocks and comfortable seats where you can taste the special drinks of Africa and Latin-America with authentic music in the background twenty four hours a day.

The world of Asia will be present with Thai and Indonesian furniture and artifacts, Thai-massage tent, Indonesian game and vocal courses, craftsmanship workshop, Indian henna-painting, batikwork and Indonesian dance-shows. Preserving the ancient traditions, the hours after noon will offer various dance crash-courses (samba, capoeira, bellydance, salsa, merengue, zook, african dances) and drum-lessons to bring a little bit of Africa, the Caribbeans and Asia to Sziget, not to mention the authentic danceshows in the evenings (maori dancegroup). Concerts will take place between 7 and 8.30 PM offering different world-music ensembles from the neighbouring countries (KDS, Emashie, Citi hlapci, Domingo Siete, Joseph in Malala) followed by popular sound-systems integrating authentic motifs into their live-acts between 9 and 10.30 PM (Irie Maffia, Gimmeshot, Bassrunner Soundtribe).

Arany Ászok on Sziget

As the main sponsor of Sziget 2007 is Arany Ászok again Sziget-dwellers days will be cheerful with the golden sparkle of Hungary's most popular beer. The smooth Arany Ászok welcomes everyone with spectacular and enjoyable programs on several spots: Arany Ászok Stage offers popular Hungarian bands while Arany Ászok Sörömpark (Cheer and Beer Park) where such very special spectacle will be available as the gigantic table-football or the karaoke show in costumes. You can also win free entrance into Arany Ászok First Tier Beer Box where you can enjoy the fabulous Main Stage gigs from the comfortable seats provided. Already in the months prior to Sziget 2007 Arany Ászok will offer lots of surprises and discounts, not to mention the hourly prizes to be won on each and every Sziget-day.

Arany Ászok Stage

Bound to be the melting pot of big shots of the Hungarian popscene. The majority of the performers in the line-up here had played Main Stage several times like Anima Sound System, Heaven Street Seven, Sziámi, Emil Rulez!, Sub Bass Monster, Kistehén Tánczenekar, Zanzibár or Hiperkarma.

Bahia - The Gates of the East

Beside the vanguard of Hungarian alternative scene this year Bahia stage will also feature many bands from Middle-Eastern Europe. Slovakian, Czech, Polish, Croatian, Ukranian, Bosnian, Slovenian, Esthonian, Romanian and Serbian artists, most of them alternative stars in their homeland, will represent their countries and a whole region before international Sziget audience.
Bahia will once again take on the hard yet challenging task of -true to what it represents within musical culture - presenting off-the-mainline gems characterized by low-profile in foreign lands but important values and credibility. This year's programme is a sea change with its daring and highly colourful schedule, diminished in quantity but with a quality choice of bands to give a real taste of the East. And what is so special about Eastern Europe? There are so many things going on here the rest of the world never even heard about or very little and superficially. Where else would you find a group so cheekily genuine and bold as is Laibach from Slovenia? Most of the bands playing at Bahia have been perfectly unknown to the world so far but with their honesty, non-conformism, sense of humour and familiar flavours they will take us to an amazing musical world never seen on MTV.

Blues Stage

It's a feeling as olde bluesmen say. A lifestyle filling your days and whole life. Blues Stage offers an unforgettable elusive atmosphere. 75 years old living legend Jeanne Carroll will go onstage who used to play with the likes of Ray Charles, Lester Young, Charles Mingus, sang for Count Basie, Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington. Also Paul Camilleri and Memphis Gumbo from UK will be featured along with Dutch-Belgian Eelco Gelling, Lefthand Freddy, the Dutch, the German B.B& the Bluesshacks and Hoochie Coochie Band from Czech Republic. Also there will be a strong Hungarian offer including Török Ádám and Mini, Hobo Blues Band, Takáts Tamás Dirty Blues Band, Tóth Vera&the Superstars plus Boogie&Someday Baby.

Civil Sziget

One of the most special and colourful spots at Sziget. In the course of Sziget history more and more civil organizations considered it essential to be present at the festival with programmes and services designed in order to get into close contact with the young every year. The civil street had grown into an island within the island where guests can get information, service and aid in crucial issues and have the possibility to also contribute to the work. The main and most important topics of recent years were natural and built-up environment, the damage done by globalization, environmental awareness, protection of human rights, the problems of handicapped people, legal and other matters regarding young people, environmental protection and animal rights. Also theological and philosophical issues were covered. Beside the serious open debates it is games, films, live concerts, theatre, cabaret, dance, craftsmanship, conversations and meetings that make being here an unforgettable experience. 2007 will have a new feature: DUNA TV. Civil Stage will be renamed Duna Tér and a selection of movies will be screened beside several other new programs organized by DUNA TV.

Cöxpon Ambient Sátorkert

Cöxpon Ambient Company is about to move into its Sziget-headquarters from its very own new Cultural Center this year. Hungarian agents of the ambient, electronic and experimental branch will keep up the high standard for the seventh time now. Wouldn't you know, Cöxpon is not merely a venue or place for meeting but also a resort within the hustle and bustle of the island where time passes with a difference. No shoes are allowed within the tent so you can lie down on the comfortable pillows barefoot with the fascinating scent of CHAÉ in your nostrils. Something simple, familiar but elusive and inexplicable like life within mother's womb.
The company, this association that holds together more than 90 creative groups, bands, DJs, visual artists and civil organizations focus on a brave new wave of noise-experimental artists this year beside other performers, Eastern lifestyle-courses, teahouse and the overwhelming sights and scents covering all. Ukranian one-woman live-act Nadin, with her mindblowing dose of ruthless rattle trance, does take you on a ride of everchanging rhythm-patterns. Caught up in the soundweb of Secaj from Japan woven from some undescribable ancient ritual and the noises of the modern world one gradually sinks into fearsome depths. Beyond the wormholes of Hungarian Rovar and the minimalist delayed-guitar samples driven intoxication of I.O.N. only the gentle acoustic experimentals of Limited Timpani are likely to grant us absolution so that laid-back, we can enjoy the slackened throb provided by French dubsystem Volfoniq…

K&H Games

It's one of the traditional Sziget attractions with a row of sports games and feats. Record attempts, tournaments of physical and psychical skills every day. On your marks

Logic Games Tent

The Chess and Go Department of Hegyvidék Sportclub welcomes logic games lovers in 2007 as well. The tent will naturally feature games of chess and go and as a novelty of this summer two chess grandmasters will be available for simultan games by the courtesy of Hungarian Chess Association. Lady grandmaster Zsuzsa Verőci calls for special emphasis as the holder of multiple Hungarian championship, Olympic silver medal and member of the Hungarian Team at nine subsequent Chess Olympics. Of course there will be an awesome variety of other logic games to get familiar with as well. To name but a few: chess, go, nine men's morris in 3Ds, tantrix, amoeba, abalone, backgammon, halma, tangram, pylos, quatro, quixo, puzzle, 3D puzzle, dominoes, Rubik games, mankala, katamino, goblette… The tent will also present a photo gallery by Timea Palya displaying the chess and go contests of 2006-7. Computer Container will offer fresh-cut and old game softwares for solo and multiplayer games.

Luminarium

Architects of Air presents: Enigma - the Luminarium
This will be the sixth time luminarium lands on Sziget. It's like a cosmic airballoon tailored from gigantic volleyballs. What makes this year's luminarium very special is the fact that no one ever has seen Enigma before and on her very first trip from her "birthplace" Nottingham she'll travel right to Budapest. Enigma was put together handmade with special care in specified workshops in more than six months time. The "walls" made of translucent plastic stand tall with the aid of permanent hot air intake. Her siblings have all been to Hungary before and keep on travelling around the world with no end. Luminarium lovers are becoming more and more each year which is the reason why this year she will operate nine hours a day instead of the previous six, 11 AM - 8 AM. It's all about you and the psychedelic light-phenomena filtered through the translucent walls. The last time most people might have been exposed to similar visual experiences was in the cradle when our mothers made some flashy thing hover before our eyes trying to stop us from screaming. Lo and behold, people really do keep silent within the big balloon.

Magic Mirror sponsored by Story TV

Quality is the code word. Astonishing programmes, party people, friendly bartenders, perfect hospitality. Films in the afternoons, gigs and revues at nights with actors, acrobats, trannies and DJs. Party til dawn!

Hungarian Ethnography Site

The daily bread which had been referred to with the Hungarian equivalent of "life" by the peasantry for long centuries, used to be the token of everydays indeed. Its making and consummation was controlled by strict tradition. The process which starts with the grain and ends with the loaf has been closely examined by the Handscraft-team of Ethno Site. Guests can learn a lot about the tricks and knacks of threshing, grinding, yeasting and kneading with the guidance of the staff. They also straighten you out on straw-plaiting and making straw-ornaments and harvest-wreaths. You can also see original photos of the different phases of works in the fields in the activity tent. After tracking down the strenuous path from the ear to the loaf in the oven everyone sees daily bread in a different light, not to mention the amusement and the dance in the evenings.

Octopus United Arts Venue

It is the fifth year of the venue as the home for literature, fine arts and classical music. Beside arts college students and young art-groups the top-institutes of Hungarian arts wil also be involved (Szépművészeti Múzeum, Műcsarnok, Ludwig Múzeum).
Main topic for fine arts: Water
Water is the source of all forms of life on Planet Earth but also mental and spiritual source. Life is determined by its dependence on water and the future - as some future-researchers say - will be defined by the secession from water. Water is something we take for granted but never look after. This year's installations were mainly inspired by the concepts of water consumption, water-waste, its essential nature and the possible prospect of its lack. Interactive artifacts and installations have proved very successful in recent years so guests can make artifacts and useful articles from used material regarded as rubbish themselves with the guidance of activists and artists.

Recycled canvas workshop:
Street furniture, shades, personal articles made of recycled advertisement banners.
Rec: record & recycling-control your future (HINTS project)
Make your own bag with us and take a piece of Budapest home with you!
MOME (Moholy-Nagy Arts Academy): Gravity and water chain-reaction
Students build a non-stop operating, 30 metres long interactive watermobile. The installation runs with a bucket of water…
MOME filmclub: a collection of moving pictures made by the Communcation Department students of MOME in the last fifteen years
TÁJÉK Landscaping Team: HYDRODEPENDENCE Installation: Displays the artificial world trying to cut itself from water-dependence and the various forms of wasting water sources.

British Council and British Embassy: Climate Change
The famous travelling photo-exhibition on climate change

LUMÚ - Ludwig Contemporary Arts Museum
1. Buoys on the island - a new artifact is created every day
2. Semicircle - conversations on water-related contemporary art-themes
3. Exodus on the Danube (documentary directed by Péter Forgács)
4. LUMÚ workshop
5. Collect your tears!
Weekly-passes allow free, daily tickets allow halfprice entrance to Ludwig Museum during Sziget time!

Szépművészeti Múzeum (Museum of Fine Arts)
Creative courses, art quizzes, Inka table-soccer, winning games and art history lectures are on offer along with the Gallery of artifacts you are allowed to touch and jazz.matinee performed by talented young musicians between 5 and 7 PM every day. Programmes taking place in the tent resembling the Museum's facade tune the visitors for the current exhibition "… and then the Inkas came", those interested can also get familiar with the art-historical periods, creative techniques of ancient Perou. At the same time visitors can create their own works of art, painting, montages with the help of the colleagues on the spot.
Szépművészeti Múzeum offers halfprice entrance in August with intact Sziget-wristbands.

Labyrinth:
The extremely popular spot awaits visitors this year, too. Guests shall choose one of the twenty-four identical mirror-pads on entry, which symbolize our roles taken during the course of our lifetime, the Grand Arcanums of the Tarot-card. The task for every guest is to project the effect of the card dawn and the image reflected by the inner mirror onto their very own present stage in life to eventually analyze the condition of the self while wandering through the labyrinth.

Classical music:
Nomen est omen: Audiovisual performance by János Nagy. Based on the textbook "Impressions" by Orsolya Karafiáth, it is very likely to strongly impress the audience, due to Bea Palya's vocal performance and the instrumental play by Four Bones Trombone Quartet and composer Tamás Kovács. Apropos of Bea Palya, she will also contribute to a Spanish Piazzola-show accompanied by Robert Sinha and Robert Vidák on guitars. Fugato orchestra based on symphonic and progressive jazzrock-sound finished as the best Hungarian band at ABC talent-contest in Vienna. The genre of opera will be represented by the youngster and enthusiastic company of Opera Viva. And now something really serious: Da Capo Al Fine - A new approach to "The Passion of John" by J.S. Bach. What does the Passion mean to those who we reckon understand almost nothing of what is going on around them? Music, dance, image and signs. Common endeavour by Theatre Baltazar and SZÉF Foundation based on Balázs Erdős's script, directed by Gergely Paál and with essential help from J. S. Bach and Saint John. And all the regular programs above that: films, afternoon concerts, baroque "Nachtmusik" and last but not least, the most comfortable sofas of the island.
Crossover jams are organized by Fidelio-crew.

Literary programmes:
Literature tent awaits visitors with new initiations, a humorous and high-standard schedule. The internationally acclaimed József R. Juhász of Érsekújvár and his performance is likely to steal the show from music stages along with the dramatized version of medieval obscene poetry called "Impolite Love". On our literary evenings fine young talents (Odett Király, Gergely Vida, Dénes Krusovszky, Mátyás Dunajcsik, Katalin Juhász)and masters of avantgarde soundpoetry (Endre Szkárosi) will be given the floor. The poetry series closes with an evening of poetry reading served with jazz music (Gábor Gyukics and Co.) where the lyricist audience will have the opportunity to unfold their self-penned material as well. The cream of contemporary Hungarian fiction will be present, too(Noémi Szécsi, Gergely Nagy, Pál Békés, Margit Halász, Ottó Kiss).
Anagram-factory will also operate in front of the tent, manufactoring poems of your name.

Medence Filmclub
A leporello of what Hungarian animated film has to offer, between 10 PM and 2 AM every day (Stúdió Varga, Pannonia, KGB). An archive compilation of the festivalprogrammes of Mediawavw and Anifest.

Poker Tent

This year's initiation is the new separate tent set up especially for the extremely popular card game of poker. Also bridge and other card games will reside here instead of Logic Games Tent. Competitors will play in two qualifying rounds per day according to the rules of the seven card Texas Hold'Em game (also called "Korda" poker). Minor prize-items to be won daily. Last day's finals go for highly valuable prizes.

Pesti Est Stage

Pesti Est has been the primary source of all kind of information regarding Sziget since the very beginning. Beside that crucial role Pesti Est was always extremely proactive in organizing the cultural bustle of Sziget, too. Pesti Est stage has been in operation for over a decade of Sziget-history with programs as colourful and interesting as is the content of the programme-magazine itself: pop and classical concerts, thematic lectures, sport-exhibitions and fashion-shows always went together in blissful harmony, not to mention the openair parties until sunrise and beyond… The stylistic range of live-concerts goes to bold extremes as well: from acidjazz to freakout-guitarbands, from ska to wild electronic gadgetry. Beside popular and well-known acts young bands also get the floor. The cornerstones of this year's daily timetable is as follows: Thai Chi exercises from 11AM; interactive programs, games, easy listening acoustic sets to make you feel relaxed until the afternoon; rocking out from 4PM to 11PM or until you drop

Professional Area&Lounge

Press Conferences-room will share a building with Professional Area&Lounge run by Hungarian Music Export Office. This rather quiet and relaxed environment provides a comfortable background for talks and conversations between parties of European and home music industry visiting Sziget in large numbers.
Services are free access to Internet, luggage-room, lounge bar. Managers and promoters get information on Hungarian groups. With the widened scope covered by Bahia stage, European organizers' demand for more performances from Eastern-Europe will be perfectly fulfilled.

Talentum Stage

Talent-contest venue will host thirty-five bands (selected from the registrated one thousand) each of which plays a 40 minutes long set and a prestigious jury is to select the very best. The winner gets signed to CLS Records, receives the budget for a video from Sziget and features on a compilation designed for international promotion by Export Office. Second and third runners win valuable instruments by the courtesy of zenészklub.hu.

Terror Háza Múzeum (The House of Terror)

If you feel like taking part in a time-travel and want to know what everydays were like for your generation's parents and grandparents in the communist block, come along with us. Make your claim for a car or a simple telephone-line and get them half a decade later! Be a news speaker in the seventies! If you want to know about informers, put on old vinyls or would learn more about János Kádár you can't afford to miss the museum of terrors at Sziget. Make your arguments and convince historians, celebs! You can even test your knowledge on historical games. Leave a trace of yourself for posterity, tell the camera about what you heard and learned about the past! Come and watch enjoyable and successful historical movies (Untergang, Napola, Sophie Scholl, The Storm of Feedom). See documentary "56 Flashes" by András Sólyom before its actual premiere! Get a taste of socialism and cook with Hungary's most famous stand-up comedian Sándor Fábry!

Tibi Táncdalfesztivál Tent

There is no Sziget without Táncdalfesztivál (Socialist Song Contest)! If you feel like dancing, singing along with old hit songs or travelling in time, this is the place for you!
Dance and etiquette courses in the afternoons conducted by Attila László while the old stars of sixties-seventies Hungarian song contests amaze you in the evenings (László Aradszky, JuditH Szűcs, Eva Csepregi&Adam Végvári, Szandy, Dolly Roll, György Korda&Klári Balázs!). PAPLAN disco until daybreak every night!

Travelling Circus

Weird and amazing stunts are done in the traveling show. No gravitation, only illusion here, where Impossible has to give up the ghost and stop existing. Puppetry, acrobats, jugglers, fairground attractions all seeking to entertain you! Magicians and illusionists, acrobatic breakdance, tightrope dancers in one circus melange. Get ready for the Argentinian Circo Mejunje with acrobats walking on their hands, Christoph Engels the madman-juggler chainsaw-freak, Bistrot of Frenchman Olof Zitoun in which waiters manipulate with trays, bottles and cups in a dreamy way with Oriental live-music in the background. Three sets by the professionals from the Toulouse School of Circus: Le Tennis, a humorous imitation of a tennis-match. Diable du corps, the highs and lows of a relationship expressed in the language of the circus and using almost unbelievably difficult dual-acrobat feats. Company Douxfou, four artists; a musician, a dancer and martial arts expert and two acrobats. The four characters meet in order to deliver an astonishing poetic-comic performance. Last year's debut Antolio will be back with a new show inspired by his Latin-American journey with such feats as sombrero-jugglery. Young talent Cechicha Company of Italy are likely to put a spell on us with their air-acrobatics utilizing their fantastic homemade machine and presenting an almost theatrical performance in fourty minutes.
Jugglery is available from 2PM to 8PM every day in which hours you can hire juggler's tools.

Zúzda Stage

Last year's debut stage is likely to become the main meeting point for punk, hardcore and nu-metal fans. A minor change is to be initiated: ska-bands will be moved to Pesti Est Stage while Gorezone will be back at last after several years to fray nerves with the most brutal underground and extreme metal grinding.

kichmar // 16/07/2007