Dva – Piri Piri

This album catapulted to the top of my listening charts of this year, it just has a ridiculously strong hook. It definitely helps that sun coming out more, trees are bursting in leaves, and this is essentially a soundtrack to summer. Kung Fu and Lococo are hymns for a sunny day on a meadow by a lake while having food on the grill and tossing frisbee.

Indie pop is a great genre for this record: it is absolutely pop with a world music spin, but it’s quite a mile from mainstream radio pop. Some songs have this strong cuteness factor because of the singer’s voice, like how The Asteroids Galaxy Tour took us by storm in 2009 with their debut. It also brings me back to the Radiocafé era of Hungary.

Flow (2024)

It was a rather unique and nice journey. Coming out of the cinema we had somewhat different ideas about the setting, but that’s exactly what makes this feel fresh: it’s up for interpretations and metaphors, and it’s interesting to discuss the different ideas.

My Old Ass (2024)

This was so much better than what I had expected. I expected a Friday night semi-dumb rom-com, and what I got was an entertaining and kind coming of age movie. It’s a solid 7/10.

Music by John Williams (2024)

Beautiful documentary, it warmed my heart to see the friendship between Williams and Spielberg. We were humming every single tune, it’s such a nice trip. And it’s not just a journey through cinema history but also my soundtracks of my life, as I grew up with all this.

Dear Omen – The S Tapes

I went to see a science lecture and there was a band playing before, that was Dear Omens. It’s hard to describe the experience when a bunch of science nerds are waiting for a speech about brain functions and what they get is a stage lit with candles, faces painted white, and loud full-on goth rock in their faces.

Besides being extremely surprising, it was also an amazing performance and absolutely impressive music. Listening to the record brings back the memories and it’s a great album, even if a short one. I’m happy that I can remember Fay Ruza’s absolutely commanding stage presence while listening to the songs, that definitely gives the experience an extra edge.

Touché Amoré – Spiral In A Straight Line

I saw these guys yesterday live and I previously hadn’t listened to a full album, just went on an invitation. It was a very powerful, high-energy gig, mostly dominated by Jeremy Bolm’s stage presence, and lots of stage diving (by people from the crowd, not Jeremy) and occasionally wall-to-wall mosh pit. Touché Amoré is one of those hardcore bands that are just dripping authenticity that I can’t resist.

Now, the day after I’m listening to their latest record and it’s pretty good. I assume as I go towards the previous ones they will get rawer. I’ll check that out.

Getdown Services – Your Medal’s In The Post

Apparently they define themselves as art-disco, but my hook on this record is Dog Dribble, which is rather an upbeat indie rock thing, as I see it. In any case, that song is such a smash hit, and again it’s so not about the fancy technique.

Also, it’s just ridiculous that almost all new records that I listened to and loved this year so far were British ones. The scene is on fire. (Or was at least, last year, since all these albums are from 2024.)