Category: News

Besides the two previously released singles “Tiešām Neatceros” (“I really cannot remember”) and “Kā Tev Šodien Gāja?” (“How was Your Day?”) the album is complemented by three more compositions.

“Neko darīt. Kā ir, tā jādzīvo.” (“Life, accept it as it is and live on.”) is a story about the impact of changes in mental status on human life. More specifically about the downside when feelings (both emotional and physical) are long-lasting and do not intend to back down.

It is difficult to see why this is happening at all. It’s even harder to understand why this is happening to me when it seems that everyone around me is doing great. But the hardest part is accepting that you will most likely have to live with those feelings for the rest of your life.

The album is about a phase in my life where I refused to accept these changes and I didn’t even tried to realize what could have made them happen in the first place. When I allowed myself to believe everything I felt, read on the internet and all the thoughts that came to mind. The main one being that I might be terribly ill because I felt the unexplained physical pain, which means that I would soon have to die. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? But, unfortunately, it was and sometimes still is my reality.

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/2p6UgXY69YpKCDlv4LIjnJ

Also, a music video for the song “Here and now” has been filmed. This time I did both video filming and editing myself, but in the future I would definitely be happy to cooperate with industry professionals.

In addition to the music, in-depth stories have been published about each of the songs. They are published on my social media profiles. As the topic discussed in the project is very broad and complex, it seemed necessary to tell more about what was really hidden under the lyrics. It is difficult to fit in three minutes what has been and still is going on in my head for almost two years now.

I invite everyone to listen to the album and those who find the topic relevant, be sure to check out the in-depth stories about the songs in my social media profiles.

 

Latvian heavy/thrash metla band Iron Wings have release new album “Ritual of Rage”. Album includes the song “Devil`s Lullaby” released last year and two songs that were released this year as the forerunners of the new album – “Apathy” and “Angel”.

Group about the album – “The album was created by referring to and updating the art direction – symbolism, which developed in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – in literature, music, painting, sculpture. The origins of symbolism in French poetry can be traced back to the work of Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), especially in the collection “Flowers of Evil” (1857), where sexuality, death, sin and other themes that are also relevant to Iron Wings’ album “Ritual of Rage.” In the music and lyrics you can find quotations from famous artists, mythologies, paraphrases, various symbols that have entered history and their indirect meaning. Denial of the current real situation, the new normal.”

Album was recorded in 2021 and released in 02.May 2022. Album includes 11 songs. Iron Wings new release also available in digital and physical format via Bandcamp profile.

Today, on June 29, local band “The Bad Tones” released their homecoming EP “Back Together Forever”, which consists of 5 compositions, including recently released singles “Nest” and “Sunny Side”. In honor of this event, on the evening of July 10, the band is organizing an album presentation at the “M/Darbnīca” venue.

Edvards Broders, a member of “The Bad Tones” band, shares his feeling about the minialbum: “The EP’s title “Back Together Forever” speaks for itself. We see it as a turning point in the band’s history. Probably not in terms of sound or any other musical expression, but definitely in the dynamics of the band. This is the first recording made while all of us were in one country, one city, one studio. And here it is important to add that we met ten years ago!”

The first sketches and demo recordings of the new compositions were captured during the band’s annual creative camp and later recorded at the “Red House” studio, forming an EP consisting of 5 songs. Keyboardist Teodors Kerimovs also took part in the recording. The EP was produced and mixed by Jasper Ras and mastered by Rengert Eggink, who are the band’s friends and partners from their study time in the Netherlands.

On the evening of Sunday, July 10, an album presentation event will take place at the cultural venue “M/Darbnīca”, during which the live premiere of the EP “Back Together Forever” will be held, as well as talk about EP’s recording process with the members of “The Bad Tones” band. More information about the event is available on the profiles of the band’s social networks “Facebook”, “Instagram” and “Twitter”.

Spotify

Nature and blues inspired union was formed in 2012 and was named “The Bad Tones” in 2017. It is represented by Edvards Broders (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Rudolfs Ozols (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Alberts Levics (vocals, bass guitar) and Kalvis Slezis-Zalkalns (vocals, drums). Up until now “The Bad Tones” has released EP “Bad Tunes” (2018), studio album “Is It Good Enough?” (2019), and live album “Ezera Skaņas” (2020).

The third Freedom Festival by Andrejs Osokins will be held in Riga from May 25 until June 8. As a reaction to Russia‘s military aggression, this year’s festival is dedicated to Ukraine. Currently six concerts are being announced, taking place at these venues: the Black Heads House (Melngalvju nams), Hanzas perons, Piano salon @152 and the Anglican Church. A multitude of artists, well-known both in Latvia and globally, will come together for this festival, among them are Dita Lūriņa, Chulpan Khamatova, Ģirts Krūmiņš, Ralfs Eilands, Georgijs Osokins, Raimonds Tiguls, Žoržs Siksna, Katrīna Dimanta, Roberto Meloni, Katrina Gupalo and Andrejs Osokins himself as well as musicians and actors from Ukraine who came to Latvia seeking shelter from the horrors of war. In cooperation with “Biļešu paradīze” and the Ziedot.lv foundation all proceeds from ticket sales will be donated for the support of the Ukrainian people.                                                                                                       

“It is more than obvious that Russia’s military attacks and their military operations in Ukraine will change the world. But in what way – that depends on each one of us. Right now, not only weapons and world leaders hold power but each and every person can influence what is happening – with their voice, be it live or virtually, their actions, their help, their support and their decisions. Ukraine and its courageous people  have been fighting relentlessly for the existence of their country and their people, the future of Europe with its ideals and its freedom. That’s why we must keep up our energy in helping and supporting Ukraine”, says Andrejs Osokins, initiator of the festival.

The first two concerts will take place at the piano salon @152 which the audience already knows from the past two Osokins festivals. On May 25 we will hear Andrejs Osokins, Katrina Gupalo, Žoržs Siksna, Ģirts Krūmiņš and a piano duet by Roksana Tarvide and Kaspars Bumbišs in a very personal setting, a grand and masterful opening of the program. On May 27 pianist Georgijs Osokins will be playing a solo concert at his brother‘s festival for the first time, performing music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Tōru Takemitsu, Stephen Hough and Alexander Scriabin.

On May 28 Chulpan Khamatova, actress at The New Riga Theatre, and Andrejs Osokins will present their poetic performance at the House of the Black Heads. The performance was created especially for this festival and combines music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, Frédéric Chopin and Volfgangs Dārziņš with poetry by Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Galich and Osip Mandelstam. During the concert the recently composed piece for piano “Vairs nekad!”, dedicated to Ukraine, by Aivars Kalējs will have its premiere.

Continuing the festival on June 3, Katrina Gupalo, Andrejs Osokins and Roberto Meloni will present a concert program full of temperament and warmth containing French, Spanish and Ukrainian songs, music from movies as well as piano pieces by Gerorge Gershwin and Claude Debussy.

The “Concert of the Soul” on June 4 featuring mezzo-soprano Ieva Parša, pianist Iveta Cālīte and Urkainian bayanist Irina Serotjuk, Katrina Gupalo with a string quartet and a choir and festival initiator Andrejs Osokins will be the first concert at the Anglican Church after its reconstruction. The program will include Latvian and Ukrainian folk music, songs by Katrina Gupalo, Emilis Melngailis and Kristaps Pētersons as well as music by Ukrainian composers Volodymyr Zubytsky and Myroslav Skoryk.

The festival will finish with a special highlight on June 8 when Latvian and Ukrainian musicians and actors will perform together on one stage. During the first part of the concert we will hear Dita Lūriņa, Raimonds Tiguls, Katrīna Gupalo, Ukrainian clarinetist Nazar Hizhyi and Andrejs Osokins. The second part will feature Latvian-Ukrainian duets, trios and groups created especially for this festival, establishing new and artistically fascinating cooperations that might otherwise never have happened. Among the Ukrainian musicians will be singers Larisa Shelest, Anastasiiya Yatsenko, Anastasiiya Vasilenko, Evgeniya Nasonova, violinist Valeriiya Mustafina, pianist Artur Nikulin, Jazz pianist Edgars Vilcāns and more who will be joined by Katrīna Dimanta, Ralfs Eilands, Gints Smukais, Rihards Lībietis and other Latvian artists. The final performance will be the song “Resistance” by the united artists of “Latvia for Ukraine”.

Larisa Shelest, singer and participant of the festival, explains: “My hometown Berdyansk was completely occupied by the Russian army. For almost two month now there has been no gas or heating, they are running out of medicine, food is incredibly expensive and it is exceedingly difficult to buy petrol. It is almost impossible to get out of there due to the active military operations happening close to the borders of the city, many roads are mined or destroyed. Newborns receive Russian citizenship by force. Recently Berdyansk shut down all mobile communications and the internet, so I can‘t contact my parents there anymore. I don‘t know when or if I will ever see my family and friends again. Every single person‘s  support in Latvia or elsewhere in the world helps us to gain freedom, return home and rebuild our country!”

One of the biggest partners of the festival, the shopping center „Spice“, stresses that there is no place for war in our modern world and that we all together need to find ways to support not only the victims of the war but also each other.

“In these challenging times we stand up for peace and freedom. For the people of Ukraine. Therefore we are grateful to the organizers of Andrejs Osokins‘ Freedom Festival for their initiative and are happy to be a part of this event. The guests of the festival will not only help the people of Ukraine but hopefully find some much needed peace of mind thanks to the versatile program and the talented artists,” says Iveta Priedīte, head of the shopping centers „Spice“ and „Spice Home“.

Entry to the festival will be free of charge to all refugees from Ukraine currently living in Latvia. The festival team invites them to send an e-mail in Ukrainian or Russian to edgars_vilc@ukr.net in order to get free tickets.

The festival team is grateful to the artists and partners, thanks to whom all proceeds of the ticket sales can be donated to supporting Ukraine.

The program of the festival and ticket purchase can be found at all “Biļešu paradīze” offices as well as online: https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/lv/custompage/3074. When purchasing tickets for the festival no service fee will be charged. More information about the festival can be found on this website: www.alartists.com.

 

On Tuesday, June 28, Jannsi’s single ‘Perfection Is Gone’ was released, where indie rock sounds are a tribute to attempts, efforts, and struggles, when it is not always possible to achieve a perfect result. 

“The song is about the seeming perfection we see in other people’s lives, social media and stories, which disappears when the cameras are off. About reality, which is not glossy,” says Jannsi.

Previously, Jannsi published a three-song EP “Zilonis” (Elephant) – his manifesto that our prejudices and what we hear from like-minded people should not be the reason why we oppress our neighbors. The song “Brīvību Ukrainai” (Freedom for Ukraine), was a means of maintaining sanity at the time when the Russian army began attacking Ukraine.

In the single, all instruments and vocals were performed by the musician himself, while mixing and mastering were provided by Jānis Locs. “Perfection Is Gone” is available on major music streaming services.

Jannsi, whose real name is Jānis Uplejs, is an indie rock singer from Latvia, who previously played in various groups and compositions. With the group “Riverfall” he once performed together with the great guitarist Armands Alksnis, as well as participated in the TV show “X Factor Latvia”, getting to the “chair challenge”. Jannsi cites Nothing But Thieves, Twenty-One Pilots and The White Stripes as his most important musical influences.

Authors of the music and lyrics: Kristina Morins, Arturs Osipovs, Aleksandrs Solovjovs and Marks Ivanovs. Music Production: Aleksandrs Solovjovs, Sol Recording Studio.

“The work on the song coincided with the start of the pandemic. Uncertainty – could be described as what is happening around,” Arturs says.

“A person easily, and especially at such a time, succumbs to someone else’s influence, forgetting about himself and his true desires. The title of the song is “Ask Yourself”. If you have lost your way or are entangled in the web of other people’s games, just slow down and formulate the main questions for yourself. “Who am I?”

Because sometimes the question itself is more important than any answers.”

From May 11, 2022, the new track “Ask Yourself” is available on all major online streaming services.

At the end of the 2022 midsummer celebration, the group JAUDA released their latest studio album called EPILOG. The new release is a mini-EP with five covers of well-known songs and an electronic experimental “outro” track called Epilogue.

After the second studio album “Under water”, which was released in English, the musicians started to implement an old idea, because working on the third studio album with original songs was a very difficult task in the pandemic conditions, so as such an intermediate stage between the second and third studio album, it was decided to record five songs, which the band believes have created a turning point in the music scene in their time, as well as being close to the band members. The musicians say that more than ten songs were selected in total, but as time went by, only five songs passed the selection, which grew more organically with the band’s sound. In general, the sound of the mini-album includes a synthesis of rock music and electronic music, allowing for experiments with the sound. Mini EP includes songs from bands such as Jumprava, Jauns Mēnes, Aurora and Līvi.

The band members say  big thank you to the songwriters for the powerful songs and collaboration that allowed us to accomplish what we have done..

Currently, the group JAUDA continues to actively perform at festivals in Latvia, as well as in Lithuania and Estonia. To find out more about the upcoming concerts, follow the information on the JAUDA group’s Facebook and Instagram profiles.

The group JAUDA is: Daniels Levickis(drums), Dainis Paeglis (bass), Gatis Pastars (guitar).

Local rising hip-hop star, nineteen year-old artist Amanito has released his third studio album “Fifth Dimension”. Together with the album he also released a lyric video for the song “Mirror”

Band “Sudden Lights” in a special atmosphere at the cinema “Splendid Palace” presented their third studio album “Miljards vasaru”, available on all streaming platforms. At the same time, the special guest of the album’s concert tour was announced – one of the most promising Latvian hip-hop rapper of the new generation Zeļģis.

In the album “Miljards vasaru”, musicians go through a wide range of emotions from sunny nostalgia to electrifying power. The album was made in the band’s creative camps far away from the city noises, it is permeated by dreamy and unhurried diving events that you would like experience again and again. The album contains of 10 songs in a summer mood, trying to capture the infinity.

With the release of the album, the band’s latest single “Pāris neuzņemtu foto” is released. The band’s soloist Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis explains: “Pāris neuzņemtu foto” is probably the most summery song of all time. It tells the story of two people sparkling interactions. Despite the fact that we are living in an age where almost every step we take is on the Internet, however, there are emotions that we would like to be immortalized not in our devices but in our memories.”

Latvian singer/songwriter Patriks has released his debut album “PENUMBRA” to bring the listeners through an emotional rollercoaster based on a touching story from the songwriters’ personal life.

 

As Patriks says: PENUMBRA is a conceptual album, the main motive is love. Throughout the album love evolves, it faces challenges and then it vanishes. PENUMBRA is the moment between light and darkness, and that represents the emotional state after falling out of love and becoming strangers with the person was Your closest just a moment ago.

Patriks himself produced the whole album and currently is waiting for the summer to finally perform these songs.

Patriks is a singer/songwriter from Riga, Latvia. He identifies with such genres as R&B/Soul, Alternative Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Bedroom Pop/Lofi Hip-Hop, Neo Soul and others.

This album is a mixture of different genres, but the merging component is the lyrics. Throughout his life Patriks has been inspired by artists such as: Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, Local Natives, Joji, James Blake, Rex Orange County, Still Woozy, Tom Misch, Mac Miller, Anderson .Paak and others.