Category: News

Krisy and well-known producer Tablis release their newest single “Love Is Underrated”

The best-known Latvian jazzfunk band Very Cool People released a live album Woodstock’s Renaissance dedicated to the heydays of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors. It was made together with Latvian pop singer Aija Andrejeva.

The concept of Woodstock’s Renaissance was born in 2020, when Very Cool People together with Aija Andrejeva performed at the international improvisation, jazz and global music festival Rīgas Ritmi. A concert program dedicated to Janis Joplin was presented there. It was later supplemented with songs by Jimi Hendrix and The Doors and became Woodstock’s Renaissance.

The new program was presented in April 2022 in the theater of Liepāja, a coastal town in Latvia. The recording of this album was also made there. The program has already been performed in many powerful concerts both in Latvia and abroad.

“Very Cool People are the real music hooligans with whom to realize a program like Woodstock’s Renaissance”, says singer Aija Andrejeva. “I feel like a fish in water with this band, because it is such a good hooliganism in combination with high professionalism, enormous work capacity and also unfathomable love for stage and studio work.”

Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison have made an indelible impact on 20th and 21st century music – rock, jazz, even contemporary music. Therefore, the new program is not only entertaining, but also educational. With its help, younger listeners are getting to know legendary compositions, but older ones – remembering youth and, yes, the sex revolution!

The band members Elvijs Grafcovs, Māris Jēkabsons and Andris Buiķis has created a contemporary and exciting arrangements of songs by Joplin, Hendrix and Morrison for their jazz-funk octet together with the singer Aija Andrejeva who also has a strong emotional connection with the performed songs.

“Janis Joplin was a prill, an absolute person of senses, wrong in everything she did, because she did it with her heart and against the system”, says Aija. “When I was a little girl, I started to listen to Janis and fell in love with her, her voice and her personality. Thanks to Janis, I realized how unimportant really external image is, because music and story speaks above all else.”

Very Cool People are: Oskars Ozoliņš – trumpet, Māris Jēkabsons – tenor saxophone, Laura Rozenberga – trombone, Kristaps Lubovs – baritone saxophone, Elvijs Grafcovs – guitar, Māris Vitkus – keyboards, Jānis Olekšs – bass, Andris Buiķis – drums.

In the Woodstock’s Renaissance concert program, the group’s trombonist Laura Rozenberga also presents herself as another solo vocalist, while additional vocals were sung by Zane Biķe and Antra Krūmiņa. The album’s bonus track Mercedes Benz was recorded at a concert in the Latvian town of Sigulda, and Roberts Martini played the tenor saxophone in this track.

The new album was produced by Elvijs Grafcovs, mixed by Artūrs Sedriks Sinkevičs and mastered by Jānis Kalve from Labo Ierakstu Studio. It can be heard on major music streaming services and is also released in CD format, designed by Mārtiņš Legzdiņš.

Rock trio B OPTIMIST is going on a series of concerts in support of their latest album „GAITEŅI”. These concerts will also mark their 10th anniversary as a band. In the current setlist, the group will offer energetic rock music, performing songs from the new album, as well as the best material released so far.

On February 4, B OPTIMIST will perform in Liepāja, at the Fontaine Palace club, on February 11, they will visit Limbaži, at Music Bar Limbizkvīts, and on February 18, the group will play in Riga, Tallinas kvartāla Angārs.

Album „GAITEŅI” on Spotify

The band got together for the first rehearsals ten years ago, and after the first decade, they are grateful to everyone who follows and supports the group every step of the way.

On December 6, 2022, the rock trio published their fifth studio album “GAITEŅI”, which includes 11 original songs created in the last two years. From December 6, the album is available on the most popular streaming platforms.

In 2022, both the song “Akvareļos” and “Tie būsim mēs” were in third place on Radio NABA Latvia’s Top 10. “Akvareļos” was also included in Radio NABA’s top 100 most popular songs of 2022. The song “Nāku katru nakti” was on Kurzemes Radio 2020 top fifteen best Latvian songs. In the fall of 2020, the song “Kaut nedaudz kā tu” was in first place on Radio NABA Latvia’s Top 10.

B OPTIMIST play energetic and emotional rock music in Latvian since 2013. B OPTIMIST are Valters Levins on vocals and guitar, Linards Liepa on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Roberts Levins on drums. Their music is available on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Youtube, etc.

Eclectic rock band Dani Ryan from Riga have released WORLD – a new single from the upcoming third album.

Without further ado the band hands their newest song to the audience. The animated music video was made by the band’s guitarist and vocalist Daniil Ravinsky. The self-produced record was done by Daniil, Jānis Zariņš (drums) and Angelina Volkova (bass). The song is the first message from the newest album – “Songs of Comfort for Every Day” that will be presented to the wider audience on the 25th of March. The band also plans to do a presentation gig, the date for which will be announced in the social media: @daniryanmusic / daniryan.lv.

The synth-rock project Dani Ryan that was created by Daniil Ravinsky after the release of debut album “Open” (2019) has since turned into an actual rock band. After the experimental second album “Party!” (2020), Daniil Ravinsky (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jānis Zariņš (bungas) and Angelina Volkova (bass) recorded a concert album called “Performance” that captures the band’s energetic multimedia live shows. “Radio Anna”, “Exciter” and “Meloman” are among the favorite songs of Dani Ryan fans. Thanks to active listeners, “Radio Anna” got into the TOP3 songs of Radio NABA and was often on air. Dani Ryan are keen on doing everything by themselves with a low to none budget. That includes the band’s new material that will be introduced to the audience this spring.

Aivo Oskis releases a music video for “Balti meli,” which is featured on his debut album “Suvenīrs”. The single’s lyric and music writers are Kaspars Ansons, Ilze Fārte, and Aivo Oskis. The song emphasizes the necessity of communication, openness, and respect for one another as well as the thin line between white lies and very hurtful lies.

DJ duo “SKRAPNESHI” (DJ Monsta & DJ PM2THEAM) release their brand new single “Feel That”, featuring Latvian musician, comedian and activist Ralfs Eilands. “Feel That” is a single from the “SKRAPNESHI” upcoming debut album, which will be available this winter.

“This tune is about our inner and external freedom. I think that freedom, especially in the country that we live in – Latvia – is a hot topic. One of the things that we can do is to exercise our freedom within on a daily basis. It is quite symbolic that the featured artist on this tune is Ralfs Eilands – a person who has actively shown his support for Ukraine and also has been awarded the Certificate of Merit by Latvia’s president Egils Levits,” says DJ Monsta.

DJ PM2THEAM adds, “Finding your inner freedom is an adventure! I think that this song represents the journey to your inner freedom. I hope that “Feel That” will inspire our listeners to never give up on their dreams.”

Ralfs Eilands, who also wrote the lyrics of the song, says, “The melody and lyrics came to me in a heart beat. Freedom, in my opinion, is the hottest topic right now. At least in Latvia. It is up to us how we choose to exercise our freedom.”

“SKRAPNESHI” is a group formed by 2 well known Latvian DJ’s and producers – DJ Monsta and DJ PM2THEAM. Their weapon of choice is turntables, with which they express the main idea of “SKRAPNESHI” – freedom and happiness. As fans of old school, they often quote hip hop legends, legendary speeches, movie quotes and more.

“Feel That” is available on all major streaming services.

Artwork by Zahars Ze – zaharsze.com

EZIA, an up-an-coming Latvian singer from New York – on October 14th will release her
new single “Head High”. The song will be available on all music platforms.
The sound of the song combines pop, trap and R&B characteristic sound with influences from 2000s pop songs creating a nostalgic and inspirational tune.

“”Head High” talks about never giving up and keeping on keeping on even when we don’t feel like it. It came to me very quickly and I feel like I had had these emotions and unconsciously wrote it to myself,” says EZIA.

EZIA, a Latvian born singer and songwriter, moved to New York in 2018 and has been traveling around for the past years. Her debut album “Cycles” which was released in the end of March 2022 gained very positive music critic reviews and was featured on music blogs such as Stereofox and more.

Aivo Oskis publishes his debut album called “Suvenīrs” along with the title single. Ten songs total on the album, including both romantic ballads and rhythmic pop tunes, to sing and dance along to. The song “Suvenīrs” is about treasured memories we will always hold close to our hearts. Several songwriters, including Kaspars Ansons, Liene Atvara, Oskars Deigelis, and Jānis Driksna, worked together to write this song.

Aivo has also released a music video for the single, which illustrates a romance between two people who are no longer together. The events and memories made, however, cannot be taken away. The focus is not on the pain and goodbyes, but rather on the necessity of learning how to obtain these mementos.

On October 20, rock trio B OPTIMIST release their third single „Tie būsim mēs”. It is a song from their upcoming fifth studio album which is planned to be released this late autumn. A music video for the song „Tie būsim mēs” is also out now – it is the 15th video in the band’s history.

The main idea of the song and video is the passage of time – about the way that life is rapidly passing before our eyes, and only by stopping for a moment and looking back, we can appreciate how much time, the world, and ourselves are changing. The video alternates between shots of the band members today and many years ago. The oldest shot used in this music video is from 2004. “Tie bijām mēs, tie būsim mēs” is another reminder to appreciate what we have and where we are going.

Song: https://open.spotify.com/album/5nY4sBHUj0tW3jVlXw3s3h

Music and lyrics: B OPTIMIST. Video: Valters Levins, Kristaps Bērziņš, Gatis Levins, Roberts Levins. Special thanks to Rihards Vecvagars. The song is available on music streaming platforms from October 20. The band is planning to play concerts at the beginning of next year, which will also coincide with the group’s 10th anniversary.

B OPTIMIST play energetic and emotional rock music in Latvian since 2013. So far B OPTIMIST have released two singles – “Akvareļos” and “Mēles” – from their upcoming fifth studio album. Before that the band released their album “Visur skan”, an acoustic album “Turpinies!” with Latvian folk song lyrics. The debut album “B OPTIMIST” was released seven years ago. It was then followed by the EP “KOPĀ”. B OPTIMIST is Valters Levins, Roberts Levins, Linards Liepa. Their music is available on Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes, Youtube, etc.