Category: News

Estonia’s premier music industry event Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is thrilled to reveal the first speakers for the conference taking place within the event on 6th – 7th  May. The panellists include Simon Raymonde, Owner and Managing Director of Bella Union, which celebrates its 25th anniversary at TMW, the main instigator of the Britpop movement Jane Savidge, as well as the Managing Director of Mute Song David McGinnis.

• The music industry programme of the conference is developed in cooperation with the music industry development centre and export office Music Estonia.

• TMW 2022 PRO Pass is available for a discounted price until the end of January.

Simon Raymonde, former Cocteau Twin and the owner and managing director of Bella Union which celebrates its 25th anniversary at TMW, has discovered artists like Beach House, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Midlake and hundreds more. He also looks after the European releases for Spiritualized, Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, etc and has recently returned to making music once more by forming the duo Lost Horizons. Simon will discuss the journey through the music business as well as share invaluable advice for the next generation of musical talent.

As co-founder and head of legendary PR company Savage & Best, Jane Savidge is widely credited as being the main instigator of the Britpop movement. At TMW, Savidge will present her new book Here They Come With Their Make Up On: Suede, Coming Up… And More Adventures Beyond The Wild Frontiers, out on 12th April. Besides Suede, Jane has represented other Britpop stars like Pulp, The Verve, Elastica, The Auteurs, and Menswear, and many other influential artists of the era, including The Fall and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Canadian-born London-residing David McGinnis is the Managing Director of Mute Song, the music publishing partner of the eminent Mute record label. Prior, he held licensing positions with PPL and MCPS. Mute Song publishes music by Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Underworld, Swans, Bob Geldof, Peter Green, Liars, Wire and many other distinguished composers and recording artists.

Other speakers for the TMW conference include the artistic director of Slovenian festival MENT Ljubljana Andraž Kajzer, founder of Berlin’s booking agency von der haardt Ralf Diemert, agent at ICM Partners/Primary Talent Beckie Sugden, Festival Director of Oslo World Festival Alexandra Archetti Stølen, and Board Member at Norwegian Greener Events Linnéa Elisabeth Svensson. Estonian industry is represented by the popular artist and songwriter Daniel Levi and the Head Promoter of LiveNation Estonia Eva Palm.

The full TMW 2022 conference programme and main topics will be published gradually from February to April.

TMW 2022 takes place on 4th – 8th May in the Estonian capital Tallinn that bears the UNESCO City of Music title from 2022.

TMW 2022 passes are on sale at shop.tmw.ee. Until the end of January the PRO Pass, which grants access both to the music festival and the conference, is available for 150 euros, raising to 175 from February.
The selection of passes also includes Festival Pass and DigiPRO Pass, which provides online access to the conference.

TMW festival is founded and run by Shiftworks OÜ. The festival’s strategic partner is the music industry development centre and export office Music Estonia.

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.

Aminata has released a powerful ballad “I’m Letting You Go” and is getting ready to take part at the “Supernova” TV show where the Latvian Eurovision contestant will be chosen. The song is written by Aminata and produced by Kim W.

“The song is about two people, who have fallen out of love with each other. Breaking up is always painful, especially if you have  spent years together. Breaking up is frightening because of the uncertain future. The thought of seeing your loved one with another person is painful. Letting go is hard, when you both have become dependent on each other. It is easy to confuse dependency with relationship. Everyone deserves to be happy and there comes a time when you need to let the other person go and be happy on their own. Love does not end at that point, it transforms. Letting go is hard for everyone, whether you have to let go of a person, belief or insecurity. This song is about ourselves”,  Aminata explains.

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.

E.V. (real name – Kārlis Pauls Šēnhofs) released a new solo album called “Smoke & Mirrors” on the 28^th of January. The album’s conceptual content covers topics such as existentialism, faith, music, addictions, humanity, moral values, and many more.

“This album is like a search for yourself in a world full of ideas – some with strong foundations, where others are just an illusion. In total, the album has four conceptual meanings. One and the most obvious meaning is a dedication to hip-hop music because it has changed my life irreversibly. Another meaning is the time given to man on this earth, which is placed against the choices he commits to, how he wants to spend it, thus showing his priorities and values ​​during the process. This is one big story that permeates the ideas I learned while studying philosophy when I was a student at the University of Latvia. Given that I am creating this album with the assumption that it is a work of art, I will leave the remaining two meanings of the album to the listener’s free interpretation. ” -E.V. comments on his new album.

An artistic touch is not only heard in the rapper’s sixteen-song album but can also be seen in the visual design of the album, created by the author Katrīna Megija Deičmane. In the middle of the design is a painting by rapper E.V.’s grandfather and prestigious artist, set designer, and book illustrator Pāvils Šēnhofs (1924-2011), whose activities are closely connected with the Latvian Puppet Theater (“Latvijas Leļļu teātris”).

Among the guest artists on the album are DJ Krii, DJ Vinvins, Little Green, Krisy, Ods, Ieva Andersone, Ernests Alļis, Oriole, PRGMAT, dotConcept and others. The sound engineering and recording were done in the studio by rapper roland če.

E.V. is a 22-year-old hip-hop artist from Ikšķile / Ogre, who writes and performs songs in both Latvian and English. He is a member of two Latvian hip-hop associations – “Left Bank” and “Freephone Project”, as well as the initiator of the movement “TimelessR.”, Which is essentially a creative team with various representatives. He started his career in music in 2016 but released his debut album “Imperfect World” in 2017 (recorded in the Dirty Deal Audio studio). Following this project, the next album to be released was “2018” (recorded by rolands če), which E.V. himself referred to more as a “collection of songs” than a single concept record. Rapper’s latest album “Smoke & Mirrors” (recorded by rolands če) was released on January 28, 2022.

E.V. has performed at a number of events, both as a soloist and with the aforementioned associations. Concerts have taken place both in smaller clubs and in the largest Latvian festivals, such as “Positivus”, “SummerSound”, “Baldones Waterfest”, etc.

Link to the artist’s album on Spotify.

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.

Here’s to starting 2022 with a heart warmer, emerging UK pop singer-songwriter ELIZZA brings us a deep emotional ballad in her new single and acoustic music video “Unhurt”.

In this apology ballad, ELIZZA tells a story about the painful mistakes we make in our relationships and she wishes we could take them back and somehow heal the other person and ourselves. The lyrics, very much a poem, express the raw feelings: “I wish I could unhurt you, I wish I could…”

The accompanying acoustic music video directed by Elliot Simpson showcases a dream-like atmosphere with ELIZZA performing along with the pianist and violinist. The bare room expressing the emptiness but also creating a space for what the future holds.
About the song ELIZZA says: ”When we love deeply, we sometimes tend to take people for granted and end up doing or saying hurtful things we don’t even mean. I wish we could undo and unhurt, but we should remember that it will leave a scar that might not even fill up with time.”

Today, February 11, artist Karlina, full name Karlīna Šēnknehte, releases a new song in English “BOOM”.The song was written for the song contest “Supernova”

The song was created in collaboration with entertainment and art company “Vincent Entertainment”. The authors of the song are Loreta Reide and Karlīna Šēnknehte, while the producers of the song are Rolands Prīverts and Loreta Reide.

“BOOM” is about reality and tells about how life comes to a stage where you may have to look at yourself in the light of truth to understand that you can’t escape from yourself and your own reality and the feeling of it can be a little scary, “says Karlina. “The idea of the song came together with Loreta Reide, in a small songwriting camp, writing everything that comes to mind and corent situation in many people’s lifes . Loretta recently started working as a producer, so she sank into the song’s production and I sank into writing lyrics for the song. It was a very harmonious process and we decided to submit the song to the “Supernova” song contest, but it was not included in the semi-finalists list.

The production of the song was continued by the producer Rolands Prīverts. He gave the song its own sound and colors that make it so powerful and noticeable.

The song is available on streaming platforms from today, and a video of the song is coming soon.

Spotify