Category: News

“Neaizej” is the second single from the group’s “EP” due in the first half of 2024.

The song reminds us that sometimes, when we remember happy moments, we regret that we didn’t enjoy them, that we didn’t capture everything that was offered.

At a time when summer lingers in people’s memories, even though it has long passed, there is another summer that no one wants to  enjoy on their own skin – it is the nuclear summer. The band JAUDA has released a new single and video for their new song “Kodolvasara”, which is the first preview from the new studio album.

The lyrics of the song are closely related to today’s geopolitical situation and the age-old values of power-hungry people that have existed throughout human history. History is full of evidence that the elite play their games at the expense of the common people who live their own very different lives and their reactions to what is happening are also very different.

The band releases its latest studio work at the time when their participation in the “X-Factor” show has ended, where they had to lose their seat in the second round, but this has not affected the group’s desire to continue working, because, according to the members of the band, intensive work is currently underway on of the new, now third, studio album.

The band would like to thank everyone who participated in the making of the video clip, as it has been a very long and intensive process throughout the year.

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

On November 17, the Laska V21 space will host an event dedicated to the 19th anniversary of the Riga music label Amber Muse. The founders of the company, Bogdan Taran and Max Lomov as Queer on Acid, as well as two local duos mOZ & Herren Ivo and Jazzy Marky & Nick Ustinov, will deliver their DJ sets there. The headliner will be musician, queer performer, and DJ Josh Caffé, a resident of the London club Fabric.

Josh Caffé has spent the last decade on a breathless trip through the fringes of London’s shifting house and techno continuum. As a DJ, singer/songwriter, producer, and activist of British-Ugandan descent, Caffé’s influence has been felt everywhere from institutions such as Panorama bar and Adonis to his own Love Child party, curated at Fabric, where Caffé holds an influential residency. Collaborating with international icons of dance music and fashion such as Honey Dijon, he has become an even more visible and respected presence in recent years.

Recently delivered his debut album “Poppa Zesque” on Erol Alkan’s label Phantasy Sound, Caffé has made his boldest statement yet. Two singles, ‘According To Jacqueline’ and ‘Do You Wanna Take Me Home?’ (remixed by Steffi & Virginia) effortlessly captured Caffé’s vision of queer liberation and sensuality. Working alongside both Quinn Whalley of Paranoid London, for whom Caffé has provided memorable vocal turns, and saxophonist Alex White of Fat White Family, Caffé’s solo material is charismatic, frenetic, and rich in inspiration, from classic Chicago house, UK acid culture, 00s rap and his twin heroes, Prince and Grace Jones.

All these influences, be they sensual, jackin’ or sexually playful, echo through Caffé’s selections as a DJ. Mixes for Honey Soundsystem, Beats In Space, Naive and Love International speak for Caffé’s standing in the queer and wider dance music communities.

Having forged an intimate connection with dancers across the sphere of underground house and-techno, whether on the dancefloor and record, on the mic or in the booth, in the grimiest of clubs or owning festival stages, Josh Caffé’s attitude and talent continue to inspire radical freedom.

Amber Muse is a record label that hosts parties, festivals and produces a weekly electronic music show on the national Radio NABA in Latvia and Raadio 2 in Estonia. It has over 50 music releases, more than a hundred events of various sizes and has invited international stars to Riga, including Pablo Bozzi, Phase Fatale, KiNK, Robert Owens, Funk D’Void among many others.

The 19th anniversary of Amber Muse will begin at 22:00 with a special vinyl session by Bogdan Taran in the Laska V21 (Vagonu str 21) bar space. For two hours, he will play and review several classic electronic records from his collection. The club’s dance floor will open at midnight, where Josh Caffé, Queer on Acid, mOZ & Herren Ivo and Jazzy Marky & Nick Ustinov will perform. Tickets for the party at https://ra.co/events/1798735.

Singer Palū, the finalist of the fourth season of the show “X Factor”, comes out with a new song – “Talk to me”, which was created together with young artists – producer and songwriter Patriks Peterson and musician Krišjānis Brasliņš. The artists met at the eighth session of the RIGaLIVE songwriting camp organized by the Music Export Latvia, where the first version of the song was created.

“We met each other exactly a year ago – at the RIGaLive songwriting camp, where we immediately felt that we speak a similar language, and that’s how the song was created – each of us bringing our own feelings to the table. The track captures the emotions that typically surface in autumn, that cozy feeling under a warm blanket, observing the transition from vibrant colors to November’s grayness. It’s about wanting to cuddle up tightly, look into each other’s eyes, and express deep affection,” in the words of the singer and co-author, Palū.

The song was recorded by several musicians:

Music and lyrics – Patriks Peterson, Palū, Krišjānis Brasliņš, producer – Patriks Peterson, electric guitar – Rudolfs Ozols, bass – Raivo Vaivars, Bruno Priekulis, drums – Artis Orubs.

Last year, Palu took part in the show “Voices of Lithuania” with significant achievements, getting into the team of the popular Lithuanian singer Monika Liu. Shortly before the finale of the show, Palu left the show.

The author and producer Múr releases third and final single Stood Quiet (Stāvam Klusi) from her upcoming third studio minialbum Disbalanss. The record was made in London, UK with music producer Daniel Guillermo Sauceda from Miami, USA.

Stood Quiet (Stāvam Klusi) sonically differs from first two singles Tu Mani Turi and Ārstēšanās with overdrive of melancholy and notes of R&B influences. Múr recorded the new minialbum Disbalanss in London where she’s currently living and studying Masters in music production.

The author adds: “It was important for me to have a piece in the album to produce by myself. It allowed creating a space for self-exploration as a producer, and the results have brought contentment. This song resonates with me the deepest. Stood Quiet is the most honest, relaxed, and possibly the most beautiful track on Disbalanss”.

The song was created as the official anthem of the “Dod pieci” charity marathon.

“”Adata un diegs” or the needle and thread are a symbol of the desire to sew up what is torn – whether it is a patch on torn pants or a stitched wound after a fight. It can just as well be a patch for our relationship or mental health. The message of the song is quite universal – for each of us at least once in life it has seemed that we are superfluous, but in the madness of youth, these feelings and the humanly desperate desire to belong to something can also lead to wrong paths. That’s what the song is about – about feelings that sometimes seem impossible to fix. The recording of this song was extremely special for us and the band, because we had the honor to work in the same studio with Latvian music legend Gustavo. His verse gave the song a dose of realism and inspiration,” says one of the authors of the anthem, Andrejs Reinis Zitmanis, soloist of the band “Sudden Lights”.

Musician Gints Smukais announces a concert series “Landscapes” with American guitarist Ian Ethan Case (Boston, USA) and publishes a music video filmed in the USA. Ian Ethan Case is an acoustic double-neck guitar virtuoso who is considered one of the most creative and engaging fingerstyle guitarists in the world. Both musicians will perform in Riga, Liepāja, Ķekava and Kocēni from October 5 to 8.

Gints Smukais says about Ian Ethan Case: “I am happy that there are many guitar enthusiasts and musicians in Latvia who actively promote fingerstyle guitar playing, but no matter how much of it we have already seen here, travelling to the epicentres of fingerstyle culture, I have come to the conclusion that its expression is even broader than we could imagine. Ian Ethan Case is a great example of that and a great inspiration to me. Listening to his music, I realised that there really are no limits to fingerstyle. We share not only this style of playing, but also the beginnings of a musical journey that started with rhythm instruments. We love rhythm and playing it in melodic cascades through the particular characteristics of the acoustic guitar. I am grateful that our paths have intertwined and now we can create and play together in concerts.”

The two guitarists first met in person in Boston in September 2022 after Gint’s participation in the World Guitar Fingerstyle Championships held in Winfield, USA. In Boston, the two musicians created a video for Ian Ethan Case’s “Aftershocks”, which particularly inspired Gints, so he wrote a second voice for it, enriching and articulating the message of the piece and giving it another rhythmic and harmonic dimension. Video by Ian Ethan Case.

Ian Ethan Case says of his collaboration with Gints: “It means a lot to me to have been able to perform and record this piece with Gints. For this kind of highly detailed, structured, specific piece, it’s almost never possible to bring in an additional musician, let alone another acoustic fingerstyle guitarist. From the first time we performed the piece together, it worked! Gints had taken the serious time to learn every nuance of the piece, plus he had found a way to add his own musical input that would enrich the song rather than detract from it, and that’s not easy. I’m very honoured that he cared enough and felt enough about the piece to put in such serious work, and I’m really looking forward to playing it together in these concerts! I am also really excited to explore Latvia with Gints, as I had some unforgettable moments and feelings when I was in Estonia a while ago.”

With “Aftershocks”, the guitarists invite us to reflect on and be aware of the notes that each of us plays and stands for in life, because everything that is thought, said, and done in this world has a very big echo. It is therefore important to pay attention to what are the things and events that should have the longest resonance and that need to be controlled or even blocked to allow other things to exist and be heard.

The two musicians met during the pandemic, when Ian looked up Gints on the internet after watching a video made and recommended by a friend, also an American guitarist. It was a compilation of five of the best fingerstyle guitarists that you might not have heard of. The video also included a clip of Gints’s original composition “Flourish”, which made a big and lasting impression on Ian. Ian says: “Gint’s performance was not only honest, complex, deep and really refreshing, but it also showed a real exploration of music and a real love of music, which is the most important thing for me.”

In early October, the two masters of the acoustic guitar will meet on the same stage for the “Landscapes” concert series, where they will perform their original compositions and Latvian and foreign melodies familiar to the audience, as well as demonstrate the subtle world of fingerstyle guitar playing, in which all genres can meet.

The concerts will take place:

• 5 October at 19.00 at Kocēni Culture House;
• 6 October at 19.00 at the Small Guild in Riga, with the support of the VKKF;
• 7 October, 18.00, Dole Folk House, Ķekava;
• 8 October at 18.00 at the Culture House “Wiktorija” in Liepāja.

Tickets for the concerts in Riga, Ķekava and Kocēni are available at the “Biļešu Paradīze” box office and online at www.bilesuparadize.lv, and for the concert in Liepāja at www.bezrindas.lv.

The Osokins Freedom Festival for Ukraine comes to an end with a magnificent Gala concert and an exhibition dedicated to the war in Ukraine, during which more than EUR 20 000 were donated to support Ukraine. The Gala concert took place at the Wagner House in Riga on Saturday, 10 June.

The Festival’s Gala concert featured the “Kremerata Lettonica”string ensemble, actresses Dita Lūriņa and Larisa Ponomarenko, as well as the Festival’s founder and creative director, pianist Andrejs Osokins himself. The concert was opened by the President of Latvia Egils Levits and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Latvia Anatoliy Kutsevol. Visitors to the concert also had the opportunity to see a special exhibition dedicated to the Ukrainian war – drawings by Ukrainian children from Kharkiv, Irpin, Kiev and Latvia, the installation “Time” by artist Edmunds Kalniņš, and an exhibition of portraits of Ukrainian women who have found refuge in Latvia, accompanied by sad stories from Grebnevo. On Sunday, 11 June, the cultural space “Ola Foundation” hosted the epilogue of the Festival – a solo concert by pianist GeorgijsOsokins. On Saturday, June 17 festival will close with a Charity concert in Kuldīga.

Ticket revenue from the Festival, together with the funds donated in a special campaign on Ziedot.lv, will be redirected to Ukraine –for humanitarian, medical, defence and pet aid. The campaign will run for two more weeks, giving people who missed the concerts the opportunity to donate to Ukraine, which is especially important after the terrorist destruction of the Kahovkahydroelectric power plant. Everyone can still continue to donate here: www.ziedot.lv/osokina-brivibas-festivals.

On Tuesday, 13 June, a convoy will leave from the square in front of the Congress House for Ukraine to deliver the meal kits and thermal imaging cameras that have already been purchased with funds donated during the Festival to the war-torn areas and flood victims.

“While the war is still going on, blood is still being shed, innocent people are still dying, war crimes are still being committed and evils incompatible with humanity are still taking place, our task is to continue to support Ukraine just as powerfully, to show its people that we are with them even in the most difficult and darkest moments and will do everything to end the war as soon as possible with a Ukrainian victory. Let our support be an important signal to other countries, an incentive to strengthen our assistance to the people and soldiers of Ukraine to achieve our common dream and give a bright future to the next generations! I am extremely grateful to all the audience and donors for their overwhelming support, as this year’s Festival has already raised more donations than last year. It is urgently needed right now, with the counter-attack and the terrorist explosion of the Kakhovka HPP,” says Andrejs Osokins.

This is the fourth year of pianist Andrejs Osokins Freedom Festival, which for the second year has been dedicated to Ukraine and its people. This year, the Festival and its launch events have taken place in Riga and Valmiera for more than a month. It included a wide range of concerts, masterclasses, conversations about current events, special meetings of the Festival musicians with Ukrainian families, charity actions and other events. It brought together Latvian and Ukrainian musicians, actors, artists and other professionals, renowned in Latvia and abroad, including “Labvēlīgais Tips”, “Melo-M”, Ralfs Eilands, Katrīna Gupalo, “Kremerata Lettonica”, Sonora Vaice, Ieva Parša, Edgars Ošleja, Platons Buravickis, Gundars Āboliņš, Dita Lūriņa, Laura Čaupale, Ģirts Krūmiņš, piano quartet “Quadra”, Kristīne Garklāva, Kristīne Rudzinska, Mārtiņš Daugulis, pianists Andrejs Osokins, Dmitry Volkov, Iveta Cālīte, Georgijs Osokins, musicians, artists and actors from Ukraine and many others.

The creative team of the Festival would like to thank all the supporters and partners who made it possible for the Festival to be so ambitious and diverse – Riga City Council, TC Spice and Spice Home, LNK Industries, LNK Charity Foundation, philanthropist Dmitry Volkov, Valmiera County Council, Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia, Confederation of Ukrainian Societies “Viche”, Ziedot.lv, “Biļešu Paradīze”, “Tavi draugi” association, all Festival venues, sound and lighting companies, media and many others.

Photographer: Jānis Romanovskis @gribuvasaru.lv