Artis Dvarionas, the voice of R.A.P., returns to music after a 12-year break with the protest song “Tukšpauris” (Muttonhead). His new stage name is Lapsene.
“I had originally planned to present my new music project at the end of this year, but with the Russian aggression in Ukraine, I couldn’t delay any longer,” says Artis.
Lapsene’s debut song “Tukšpauris” was written by Artis Dvarionas in collaboration with lyricist Igo, who is no stranger to opposing the aggressive eastern neighbour since the times of the Awakening in the late 1980s.
“The song “Tukšpauris” can resonate in many different meanings, but above all it is a message of protest with a call to action to put an end to the totalitarian regime beyond our eastern border”, Artis adds.
Under the stage name Lapsene, Artis intends to compose, arrange and produce the music for this project himself, by involving various lyricists.
“This event is special for me because for the first time I will be realising myself in a solo project, composing, arranging and producing my own music, involving different lyricists. I should mention that this is not a one-song project and the protest song “Tukšpauris” is a starting application for a broader and more ambitious musical goal”, Artis continues.
Participated in the creation of the song: Reinis Briģis (studio co-producer), Reinis Kārkliņš (audio post-production), Eduards Zagainovs-Veinbrants (video version).
Artis Dvarionas used to sing in the bands R.A.P. and TāTāTā, whose best-known songs are “Dzīve bez apstājas” (Life without Stop) (feat. Igo), “Nekas vairs nav tā” (Nothing Is as It Used to Be), “Tu esi dinamīts” (You Are Dynamite), “Ja nu tā esi tu” (If It Is You) and others.
This spring, musician EZIA will release her debut album “Cycles”, which was made in collaboration with composer and producer Reinis Ašmanis. The album presentation concert will take place on March 31, 2022 at the Digital Art House at Skolas Street 2, Riga.
The album “Cycles” tells about the cycles a person goes through on a daily basis and during their
lifetime. The songs talk about love, divorce, self-seeking and the realization of dreams. “The music
was created by combining my Latvian mentality with life in Brooklyn, New York, which allowed me to
get to know American music – R&B, neo-soul and jazz – from its source. The main message of the
album is to cultivate love and respect towards oneself, which then greatly influences our attitude
towards the world around us, ”says EZIA.
At the concert, EZIA will perform the compositions of the album “Cycles”, and listeners will also
have an exclusive opportunity to hear music that is planned to be released in the future. The concert
program will be complemented by specially designed video projections, which will allow you to
experience the musical atmosphere and message even better.
Doors open at 7.30 pm, the concert starts at 8 pm, tickets available at digitalarthouse.eu.
EZIA has spent four years working and studying in New York, where she graduated from The New
School for Jazz and Contemporary Music last year. More info on EZIA, including tours, audio
samples, news, and reviews is available on Instagram @eziaishere or Spotify, Apple Music, etc.
DIGITAL ART HOUSE is an art space for people who want to enjoy the works of world-famous
artists in a free, modern and relaxed atmosphere. Multimedia exhibitions are a symbiosis of the
works of genius artists and the possibilities of modern technology, which allows us to see what we
already know in a new light.
Singer and songwriter Muuna is launching a new solo project and releases her debut single “Dark Valley”. The song is available on all major digital music streaming services.
Spotify
“Dark Valley” is like a retrospective reflection about those destructive aspects of personality that are inevitably part of human nature. The interaction between the inner and outer worlds can be harsh, ruthless and challenging, but it is also transformative. The ray of light that tries to break into even the darkest corners gives the belief that after darkness there always comes light. ”
– Muuna.
The single was recorded and post-produced in collaboration with producer and sound director Gatis Zakis, while the final editing was done by Minerva Pappi from Waudio Mastering in Finland. Contributors to the project also include Rudolfs Dankfelds – drums, Marcis Vasilevskis – guitar.
Muuna in real name Sabine Zuga is a singer and songwriter who is better known as a lead singer of the band Carousel, representing Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.
“Augstāk Par Zemi” is a composition on freedom, the strength of the spirit, it is about the rights of each individual to live the life in any way they like, on support from your friends to follow through the chosen path and finally it is about your own perception and knowing what to be and how to be and not being told or pushed by anyone on telling you how things should be done ” – authors of the song Ervīns Ramiņš and Mārcis Vasiļevskis.
The song is captured at the recording studio “Laimes telpa” together with the guitarist of the band and sound engineer Mārcis Vasiļevskis which was then processed by Krišjānis Geidāns with final touches from Ģirts Laumanis.
“Laime Pilnīga” has released four albums of original music, all of them have been nominated for the best rock music record of the year at the Annual Latvian Music Recording Awards. The band has travelled across most of the Europe playing concerts and spreading the joy to the fans of rock music.
‘“Vaga Värded Ķäubed/The Gate of Silence Opens” is generally about the death of language and the rebirth of new life in all its ways. It’s also about misunderstanding and comprehension. And definitely it speaks about Love which is the final reality after every fire and apocalypse. I think it could be a poem of the Easter and the Midsummer Night at the same time,’ contemplates Kempju Karlis, the author of Livonian poetry.
The artists of the project ‘Kuolm randõ/Three Shores’, inspired by the contemporary Livonian poetry, have enclothed Livonian language in nowadays original music. It is chamber music with
layers of different sound nuances and moods, bordering between the discovery of new musical horizons and following traditional canons. The musicians are united by their interest in the
shades of academic, jazz and world music.
Livonian is a language of indigenous peoples of Latvia, and it is listed in the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger as one of the most critically endangered languages in the
world. This year starts the Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2022–2032) with the aim to draw global attention on the critical situation of many indigenous languages and to mobilize
stakeholders and resources for their preservation, revitalization and promotion. Kempju Karlis is the only poet in the world who writes poetry in the lost and mysterious Vidzeme dialect, which is
also called the Salaca Livonian language, using his own orthography. A song is an opportunity to immerse oneself in the language, get to know its sound, use it, preserve it and carry it to a
wider audience.
Double bass player Stanislavs Judins, the author of lyrics, says about the single: ‘Language, poetry and people impact my thoughts and ideas. In recent years, I have focused on free
improvisation, contemporary music, but only when I met musicians in this project, I wanted to compose a simple melody in the senses of poetry.’
The poem ‘Vaga Värded Ķäubed/The Gate of Silence Opens’ is taken from the book ‘Trilium/Trillium’ (2018) published in both Livonian and English by the Livonian Cultural Center. It
is the first contemporary poetry book in Livonian language, which was widely recognized: it received the Annual Latvian Literature Award in special nomination (2019) and the Estonian
Literature Award for the related nations program (2020). In 2021 the book was published also in Estonian and Latvian languages.
The performers who took part in the recording of the single: Elina Ose (singer and artistic director of the project, producer), Janis Rubiks (double bass), Austris Kalnins (keyboards) and
Ernests Medins (percussions), string quartet JUNO, Kristaps Krievkalns (sound engineer, producer), Armands Treilihs (mix/master).
The single is made in cooperation with the University of Latvia Livonian Institute and the State Culture Capital Foundation and is a part of the upcoming album ‘Kuolm randõ/Three Shores’,
which is planned to be released in the second half of this year.
The project ‘Kuolm randõ/Three Shores’ will be performed on April 20 at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu and on May 5 as part of the music festival Tallinn Music Week within the
Fenno-Ugria Night in Tallinn
It’s time for a proper rave with Queer On Acid dropping their brand new EP on Catz N’ Dogz’ Step Recordings.
This latest release on Catz N’ Dogz’ Step Recordings follows the darker path that the most recent outings of their catalog have taken, with deep and dancefloor-focused music produced by Baldo, Lady Blacktronika, Elisa Bee and Lewy.
This time the beats come from Queer On Acid out of Latvia, who has previously released on the likes of Ovum, Kneaded Pains, Takeout, and their own eponymous imprint. In the duo’s brand new four-tracker EP for Step they merge 303 Acid lines with in-your-face kick drums, stomping grooves, hypnotic synths loops, and arps. These four productions make up a perfect collection of tracks for the rave.
“Cruising” EP is available from all major online stores and streaming platforms like Beatport, Traxsource, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud: https://ampl.ink/re4bY.
Latvian singer-songwriter MARTA has shared her new single called ‘Filma, ko negribu redzēt’ (‘A Film I Don’t Want To See’, which is the first song from her second album coming by the end of 2022.
“When Russia started its war in Ukraine, I felt emotionally broken. I realise, of course, that my feelings are incomparable to what people are experiencing there, but I had never felt such fear, anger and despair before. To pause myself from refreshing Twitter and reading the news non-stop, I started playing the piano, however, I was still unable to think about anything else. And that’s how this song came to me – as a film I don’t want to see and neither does anyone.”
The production, studio recordings, mixing and mastering of the song done by JJ Lush, the video made by Kate Ozolina. The single is now available on all streaming platforms.
This and other Marta’s songs will be played live on her upcoming gig in Līgatne (Zeit) on 30 April.
MARTA (Marta Grigale) is a Latvian singer-songwriter. She has gratuated from London College of Music, returned to Latvia and has been releasing music since 2016. Her debut LP ‘Lietas, kas notiek manā galvā’ (‘Things That Are Happening In My Head’) was nominated for the Annual Latvian Music Recording Award ‘Zelta Mikrofons 2021’. MARTA has collaborated with such well known Latvian musicians as Intars Busulis, DJ Rudd, Kashuks, Kaspars Ansons, Reinis Sējāns and others.
Music and lyrics by The Bad Tones, mixed by Jasper Ras, mastered by Rengert Eggink. Video directed by Ieva Aleksa and Peteris Viksna. The song is available on all major digital music streaming services.
On Tuesday, April 26, June River invite their listeners to take a walk in the streets of colorful Barcelona in his new song & video ‘Tavu Ēnu Meklējot’
The song ‘Tavu Ēnu Meklējot’ (Searching for Your Shadow) was written
in February of 2022, walking through the colorful streets of Barcelona and searching for nostalgic memories of study time. Many years ago, when we were Erasmus students, we walked through strange places, drank cheap sangria, and spent time with local young people. When I return here today, it seems that a lot has changed in the city, in people, and in my mind as well, but the feeling of aura and freedom is still the same, says the musician.
At the beginning of the year, the world seemed to begin to return to its usual rhythm – travel restrictions were lifted, concerts resumed, and people began to gather in cafes, but everything has changed after the morning of February 24 when Russia invaded Ukrainian territory and began committing its heinous war crimes.
It was hard to read the headlines and I couldn’t fall asleep that night so I decided not to release the song at all or postpone it – at that point, the music seemed so insignificant compared to the war. But It’s not possible to live in such a state of mind for a long time and absorb negative emotions, so everyone has their own way to divert or turn them into something productive – it’s music for me. That’s why I still do it I will never stop making music, says indie folk musician June River.
The song was recorded, mixed, and produced in the musician’s personal studio, mastered by one and only Kārlis Šteinmanis (KS Records – Unity Audio). The song is in indie-folk style, supplemented with an experimental synthesizer and ambient sounds. The video of the song was made in Barcelona, where the city can be seen in all its glory.
June River, also known as Jānis Andžāns is a guitarist of rock bands “Wild” and “Crow Mother”. He participated in the pre-Eurovision contest LTV “Supernova” in 2016 and has performed in European cities such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, etc.
In the last summer, the musician traveled to Greece in a self-made van and dedicated the song to the trip – “The Land of Burning Sand”, as well as participated in the recording of Katrīna Gupalo’s song “Resistance” dedicated to supporting Ukraine. At the end of last year, June River released their debut album “Sand in my Sleeping Bag” and released a video for “The Lighthouse.” June River is currently working on his second studio album and the next single will be released in the beginning of summer.
The most famous Latvian jazz-funk band “Very Cool People” continues its artistic flight at unlimited heights. Their eighth album “50 Years of Influence + 30 Years of Cool Equals 13 Years of Music Hooliganism” is a positive musical irony about Latvia’s turbulent recent history. There is also a new video – the fifth single “Rapid Dough – Pelmjakški” from this album.
With this instrumental music album, the band members pay tribute to their teachers and the previous generations of musicians, who helped jazz and rock and roll to survive behind the Iron Curtain, as well as get through the crazy nineties in the Baltic States. Everything is already mentioned in the title of the album – jazz here is intertwined with classical music, Balkan music with metal, surf music with funk and soul, but choral music with klezmer and the musical heritage of other peoples living in Latvia.
This is an instrumental album of original music, where compositions are written by the group’s guitarist and bandleader Elvijs Grafcovs, saxophonists Māris Jēkabsons and Kristaps Lubovs, drummer Andris Buiķis and the group’s keyboardist Māris Vitkus, for whom this is his debut in composing.
This is the band’s eighth album and the fifth in the row released since 2017, the band still fulfilling their promise to release a stylistically different new album every year, which at the same time is paying homage to the work culture of musicians in the past.
The album was recorded in the legendary basement studio of the Riga Reformed Church “Mints Music Studio” by no less than the legendary recording engineer Tālis Timrots. Andris Buikis mixed the recorded material in Ciemupe & the whole group’s members relentlessly and pleasantly commented each step of the mixing process. The record is produced by Elvijs Grafcovs and mastered by the master legend Dave McNair at the Dave McNair Mastering Studio in North Carolina, USA.
The colorful design of the album was created by Gatis Pakalns – a designer living in London, who 14 years ago created the already famous “Very Cool People” cats and who time after time cooperates with the group since. The cover of the new album is decorated with a photo of a real 2 x 2 meter carpet attached to the wall like in the “good old” Khrushchyovka apartments. This rug was custom designed by Gatis Pakalns & produced in Belgium, as it turned out to be the closest place to order such specially designed rugs.
The design expressions of the band did not end with that, the wall itself was specially prepared for the photo session of the album booklet – Māris Vitkus glued special wallpaper from Latvia’s past, inherited from his grandfather. Then Elvijs and Māris bought an equally authentic sofa in a Riga Khrushchyovki architecture district, which then became the main photography platform for all the members of the group. The author of all the photos in the design of the album is the embodiment of rock and roll both with and without a photo camera in his hands – Jānis Škapars. The overall idea of the album’s design flares somewhere between an old Eastern Europe family album and artifacts from music lovers of the 1990s.
Along with the new album, the band is also releasing their fifth single and video “Rapid Dough – Pelmashki”. This video includes characters from all the previous music videos related to the new album, so this is considered the grand finale, where all the videos come together.
The new album can be heard on all major streaming platforms, and physical copies are available in “Bandcamp”. Oskars Ozoliņš – trumpet, vocal; Māris Jēkabsons – tenor sax, vocal; Laura Rozenberga – trombone, vocal; Kristaps Lubovs – baritone sax, vocal; Elvijs Grafcovs – guitar, banjo, vocal; Māris Vitkus – organ, synths, piano vocal; Jānis Olekšs – bass, vocal; Andris Buiķis- drums, percussions, synths, vocal.
