Category: News

Video: LaIPA,Parmuziku.lv, komuna7.lv
Interwies: Pikaso

Latvian singer, songwriter, producer and DJ Markus Riva released a new single “Take Me Down”. With this song he participated in Supernova 2015 which is the Latvian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite being one of the favorites of Supernova he finished second at the final.

“The new single is called “Take me down” and it is a story about unconditional love and emotions – if we love, then till the end. If you going to fall and brake – I am coming with you. Very dramatic but honest at the same time,” tells Markus.

This is the first big-budget music video for Markus, despite the fact that he has released over 12 music videos in home country. “Take Me Down” is made by well-known Ukrainian director Alan Badoev, who has filmed over 100 music videos for a lot of Russian and Ukrainian music acts, including Valery Meladze, Via Gra, Vera Brezhneva, Polina Gagarina, Dan Balan, Kazaky, Max Barskih, Loboda and many more. Collaboration between Badoev and Markus Riva started after the prime-time TV show “Want to Meladze” last fall where Markus was only one step away from the victory. Music video was filmed in Kiev and it has 2 versions – one in English and another in Russian, which is the first single for Markus Riva for the Russian spoken audience.

Markus Riva is a Latvian singer, songwriter, producer and DJ from Riga. He is best known for his singles “007”, “Lights On” and “We Dance For A Reason”. As of Today he released three albums named „Ticu“, „Songs from NYC“ and “How It Feels”.

“Take Me Down” is available on iTunes and Spotify.

This morning, at the public radio station Pieci Riti in the Latvian capital of Riga, Carnival Youth was unveiled as the first winner of the 2016 European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA), the European music awards for emerging artists. In the upcoming weeks, nine other European artists with cross border success will be announced as winners of the 2016 EBBA.

‘No Clouds Allowed’ is the title of Carnival Youth’s debut album: a beautiful, clever indie folk record, with modern rhythms, sharp lyrics, fresh keys and melancholic melodies. As far as their sound is concerned, Carnival Youth is somewhere between Bombay Bicycle Club and Arcade Fire, and in 2014 ‘No Clouds Allowed’ won a prize for best debut album in their home country of Latvia. They are currently working on their second album.

The EBBA are about breaking down borders and recognising emerging European rock, pop and dance artists who achieved success in countries other than their own. These unique European music awards are funded under the European Union (EU) Creative Europe programme. With the EBBA, the European Union wishes to highlight the success of 10 debuting European artists in selling albums and touring outside their home territory. From Adele (2009) to Milky Chance (2015), the winners of the EBBA represent the full breadth of European talent and diversity. Other previous winners also include Stromae, Emeli Sande?, Gabriel Rios, Hozier, Melanie De Biasio, Of Monsters and Men, Woodkid, Mumford & Sons, Caro Emerald, Lykke Li, Disclosure, Katie Melua, John Newman, The Ting Tings, C2C, Tokio Hotel, The Script, Zaz, Nico & Vinz, Saybia, Damien Rice, KT Tunstall, Alphabeat, Milow and Afrojack.

Europe’s cultural and linguistic diversity is a strong part of its cultural appeal, but linguistic barriers sometimes make it harder for artists to work internationally and achieve cross-border sales success. The EBBA seek to help them overcome these obstacles.To be eligible for the 2016 awards, the artists must have achieved border-breaking success with their first international release in Europe between 1 August 2014 and 31 July 2015.

The winners are selected on the basis of data from Nielsen Music Control research, the European Broadcasting Union, EBU radio stations, and from festivals participating in the European Talent Exchange Programme. The winners will receive their awards in a ceremony hosted by TV personality and musician Jools Holland at the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen, Netherlands, on January 13, 2016. The ceremony will feature performances of the winning acts. One of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from the end of November to Christmas. Up to 15 voters, chosen at random from different countries, will be invited to the award ceremony: each will be able to bring a friend and the prize includes their flight and hotel costs. The EBBA, now in their 13th year, is organised by Eurosonic Noorderslag in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with support from Buma Cultuur, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Province of Groningen, the City of Groningen and Music Week.

Latvia-based alternative rock band Neon Saturdays was first noticed last year after the release of their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album. Singles „Here I Am” and „What About You” both of which received noticeable attention from local radio stations were also praised by Tim Fraser – a world-renowned songwriter for Tina Turner, Billie Myers and a member of BASCA’s Songwriters Executive Committee. This year for the first time Neon Saturdays is set to play The Great Escape festival in Brighton, UK which is a huge step for the northern-european four-piece band since previously TGE has hosted such well-known artists as Mumford & Sons, Tom Odell, Bastille, Kasabian, Chvrches and each year representatives from huge record lables, notable music critics and music lovers from all over the world are brought togeather in the small town on the south coast of England. The festival takes place May 14-16.

Before heading off to England Neon Saturdays is to release their new single/music video Save Your Lies on May 7. „The song is about conflict in each of us. It is about modern times and the struggles we face to better ourselves. I’ve seen people willing to break themselves just so they can get out of it all and find happiness in these rather dreary days… But I must say – I’ve been inspired,” says the singer Andris Evelis. Save Your Lies will be the first single from the band’s upcoming second album which is to be released in 2016.

Latvian rock band Neon Saturdays was established in 2012. The band’s work has been influenced by indie/alternative rock and electronic music. During the first year of activity the band produced their self-titled debut album, two singles (Tomorrow, Awake), toured UK/ Baltic states and had the video for “Tomorrow” go into rotation on Baltic music channels.

From 23rd to 26th of September Hamburg, Germany was hosting one of the biggest music conferences/showcase festivals in Europe “Reeperbahn”.

This year Latvia was represented by bands “Pyro Trees” and “The Big Bluff” as well as organization “Music Export Latvia”, which was hosting “Meet Music Latvia and Lithuania” showcase in partnership with “MP3”.

“Meet Music Latvia and Lithuania” showcase took place at „Molotow Karatekeller” club on Friday, 25th of September.

Western meets surf, 80s wave meets contemporary dance rock. Groovy like hell.Pyro Trees will proudly bring all of this and much more to the Reeperbahn Festival 2015 in Hamburg!Latvian scene is still an insider over there, but the Reeperbahn Festival has quite a reputation for revealing some well-kept secrets, so please get enlightened!

The Big BLuff is a Rock’n’Roll & Blues band. The group has a raw and aggressively played blues and rock&roll sound which draws heavily from Americana genres and artists like Elvis and Dylan. Their compositions look like an armed, five-handed native american wearing a black suit. The Big Bluff is a kind of the band you want to see live as the powerful, soulful and blasting performance is group’s main trump.

In May, Latvian singer-songwriter Kristaps Bedritis is kicking off his second round of the ‘Worlds Apart’ tour around Latvia. With concert dates in May and June, he will visit many different places in his native land, supporting the release of his debut mini album ‘Worlds Apart EP’.

‘Worlds Apart EP’ was released in early 2015 and includes 5 acoustic songs that, among others, are written in the past few years. The album was recorded in his own living room to maintain the intimate and personal vibe that you can hear in his songs. Kristaps says that “My songs are almost like diary entries – personal and thoughtful, ranging from light to dark and profound lines. I believe that human emotions are universal and that we all share them on one level or another.”

After the release of his debut EP and the first gigs in February and March, Kristaps is now going on tour in Latvia with gigs in Riga, Jelgava, Kuldīga, Cīrava, Lielvārde, Valmiera, Cēsis and Vaidava. In gigs at Cīrava and Valmiera, he will be joined by the talented Latvian guitar player Rihards Lībietis who will play a set of his instrumental acoustic pieces that can take the listener into a meditative and beautiful journey.

From 23rd to 26th of September Hamburg, Germany will host one of the biggest music conferences/showcase festivals in Europe “Reeperbahn”.

This year Latvia will be represented by bands “Pyro Trees” and “The Big Bluff” as well as organization “Music Export Latvia”, which will host “Meet Music Latvia and Lithuania” showcase in partnership with “MP3”.

“Meet Music Latvia and Lithuania” showcase will be taking place at „Molotow Karatekeller” club on Friday, 25th of September and will feature live performances by four rising Baltic acts: indie/psychedelic rockers “Pyro Trees” and rock’n’roll band “The Big Bluff” from Latvia as well as singer-songwriter Alina Orlova and psychedelic rock band “Garbanotas Bosistas” from Lithuania. A lot of Latvian and Lithuanian music industry professionals will be present at the showcase providing a great opportunity to make new contacts in rapidly growing music market.

Western meets surf, 80s wave meets contemporary dance rock. Groovy like hell.Pyro Trees will proudly bring all of this and much more to the Reeperbahn Festival 2015 in Hamburg!Latvian scene is still an insider over there, but the Reeperbahn Festival has quite a reputation for revealing some well-kept secrets, so please get enlightened!

The Big BLuff is a Rock’n’Roll & Blues band. The group has a raw and aggressively played blues and rock&roll sound which draws heavily from Americana genres and artists like Elvis and Dylan. Their compositions look like an armed, five-handed native american wearing a black suit. The Big Bluff is a kind of the band you want to see live as the powerful, soulful and blasting performance is group’s main trump.

Alternative metal band “Harta” and hiphop artist Sandis present their creation – a single and music video “Kam Tu Klanies”.

The song was recorded, mixed and mastered in Karlis Steinmanis studio “KS Records”. Video editing was done by Harta’s own vocalist Karlis Kalviss, who also edited the band’s first video “Sky Is the Limit”. Music for “Kam Tu Klanies” was written by “Harta”, joined by Sandis in the creation of lyrics for the song. This piece is an attempt to challenge the borders of music genres, combining the agressive vocals and powerful guitars from metal and hiphop lyrics and rhythm, complemented by a melodic chorus.

Sandis is a hiphop artist for whom this is not the first cooperation with representatives of heavy genres. Last year he joined forces with “Retrace My Life” and presented a song and music video “Kaklasaite” that was well received by listeners. Sandis admits, “As open as I am to different projects – I go along with them rarely. You need to have a high level of musicianship and various other skills. I was unbelievably lucky that “Harta” was open to this. I am more than satisfied and proud of what we’ve created. I hope that we can cooperate again, to bring something fresh to the listeners.”

“Harta” who has joined such a project for the first time considers “Kam Tu Klanies” a great experience and continuation for the quite recently released debut single “Sky Is the Limit”. “We wanted to create something exciting both for our and Sandis listeners considering both sides equally important. We do not deny the possibility of playing this song live with Sandis during one of our or his performances,” says Karlis.

It is MyRadiantU’s latest single and the last of five singles released as an introduction to it’s first studio album “The City of Love”. It’s a musical reflection of the fading summer as well as the fading twenties. It’s a story of High School sweethearts who’s love and romance has grown into…

We are happy to present the new song “Visi tēva sirmi zirgi” ("Father’s all gray horses" ) to a greater audience by the drum and bagpipe group "AUĻI" created in collaboration with the composer Karlis Auzāns, poet Laura Daudiša and the vocal group ALTA.
Also a new video…