Reik releases a new single “Rajos ar mani”

“ “Song about the district. A song about friends. No matter what difficulties or adventures we get into, the people we grew up with, even if they are far away and each in their own corner of the world, are still with us. And in the most necessary moments, whether in memories, in our hearts, or physically – it is with us. The district is in me. You can take the jack out of the district, but you can’t take the district out of the jack. That is also what this story is about. I grew up in Zasa, Zolitude, Ziepniekalns, drew graffiti, broke, rapped and lived the full life of the hip-hop district. This clip is a love letter to hip-hop. It was made in New York, which is the home of hip-hop,” says Reik about the new single.” “ 

Latvia’s most active music hooligans, Very Cool People, together with the young singer Paula Saija, surprise again and release a new, completely uncharacteristic single for the band called Rikšiem (In Trot), which was inspired by a Latvian folk song.

It is kept in the grooving tradition of roof and bass systems rousing folk-electro-jazz. In the song, singer Paula is joined at the vocal microphone by trombonist Laura Rozenberga of the band Very Cool People, who counts the rhymes in a very technical, even rap king-like skill, and also in folk moods!

“Rikšiem is an ode to the strength and perseverance of human character”, comments Laura. “For life to move forward and growth to happen, you have to take the reins and just do it. Waiting for miracles sometimes has to be left to the world of fairy tales.”

“We were so inspired by the text and sound of the summer wedding folk song that we left the most effective accents from it in our version – the first two lines of the text and two measures of the original melody”, emphasizes Elvijs Grafcovs, the co-author of the arrangement and the leader of Very Cool People with a guitar in his hands.

A video was also made for the song, created by Arvis Belovs. The authors of the script are the band members themselves. The video is also made on the subject of marriages – the girls Paula and Laura go to the streets of Riga to look for grooms with their trusty two-wheeler, meeting all kinds of groom stereotypes on the way.

“We are from Latvia and we are always very proud of it”, says Elvijs. “We have noticed that playing with ethnic codes in music often appeals to listeners of different nationalities, so this time we focused on pseudo-folklore. It is a style in which our creative expressions in the direction of Latvian folklore are mixed with the most authentic folklore and electronic music plus live energy of Very Cool People!”

“Creating Rikšiem was a very exciting process for me, discovering new aspects of myself and my voice”, adds Paula Saija. “In the song, Latvian ethnic culture is of great importance, which has acquired completely new colors this time.”

The song was created by Elvijs Grafcovs, Māris Jēkabsons, Paula Saija, Laura Rozenberga and Jānis Kalve, using the motifs of the folk song Rikšiem bērīt’ es palaidu (I Let the Horse Trot). The producers are Elvijs Grafcovs and the legend of Latvian dance and electronic music of the nineties, Jānis Kalve. Despite the wide presence of electronic instruments, everything is played live, without using previously prepared loops and backing tracks.

Spotify

The song was recorded at Very Cool Studio, Labo Ierakstu Studio and Ciemupes Production. Mix and master versions were created by Jānis Kalve.

The new single Rikšiem can be heard on the most popular music streaming services.

Loopout (member of latvian rap group “Rīmdari”) releases a new song and video made with one of Twenty One Pilots stage crew members

Kriss Baglais from the group “Rīmdari” releases a new song and video under his solo project “Loopout”. This is the second single from the upcoming album that is scheduled to release on June 1.

“Me and a friend of mine went to Open’er festival in Poland last year and met the stage crew of Twenty One Pilots in an underground bar in Gdynia, Poland,” says Kriss Baglais, “There were guys from lighting, pyrotechnics, the stage manager – about 20 people in total. And that was just part of the whole team. I showed my song to one of the crew members and he really liked it. The video engineer offered to shoot a video for the song the next day, for free. I couldn’t believe what was happening,” Kriss remembers. “I went to Poland mainly to see the performance of Twenty One Pilots, and two days before it I suddenly shot a music video with the band’s crew. Unbelievable!”

Unfortunately, Kriss lost contact with the crew member and never got the final video for Close My Eyes. A year has passed since the event and Loopout is coming out with a self-made video about the story of how they filmed the music video. “The song is about using your imagination to achieve your dreams,” Kriss explains. ”This song manifested a true story of how a dream manifest itself out of nowhere. All I can say – just do it.”

In 2021, Loopout released debut EP ‘Music from Nowhere’ and in October last year came out with a single from the upcoming album “Monsters in Dreams”. Loopout is a hip-hop project by Latvian musician Kriss Baglais. Kriss is a member of a popular latvian hip-hop group “Rīmdari”. The record was produced by Reinis Karklins (Aleja Records).

Santpaula releases song “Don’t Know What I Want”

The song reflects a journey of self-discovery and the emotional conflict that comes with it. I wrote this song as a reminder to myself and others that it is okay to struggle with yourself, and sometimes not even understand yourself.

We are all human and sometimes have an emotional journey from time to time that shows how important it is to accept even your past self, learn from your mistakes, and grow into the person you want to become. Therefore I hope it resonates with anyone who has ever felt lost or self-conscious.

BAIBA releases a new single, an EP and announces a concert in Latvia

Austria-based electro-pop artist BAIBA releases a new EP, which includes her previously published singles, as well as her latest work – the song “Too Cool”. At the end of the summer, BAIBA will also finally perform in Latvia, at the music and art festival “Laba Daba”.

Influencers dressed in the uniforms of fashion brands, flashy and at the same time misleading image of people on social networks, and the fast pace of modern life – these are just some of the topics that BAIBA satirizes in her latest work – the single “Too Cool”. It is accompanied by a catchy melody, a lively beat and contrastingly irritated, even angry vocals. This combination creates an almost perfect piece to sing and dance along to, to forget everything that drives you crazy and makes you sad.

“It [the song] is about people looking just fine and confident, so cool and self-sufficient. But… is it just a facade? Maybe it’s just a cover to protect a very vulnerable soul,” says BAIBA.

“Too Cool” is the fourth single from BAIBA’s new EP “Compulsive”. The mini-album contains four songs by the artist, which were created in collaboration with several well-known artists in Austria, including producers Christoph Holzknecht and Moritz Kristmann. On the other hand, the video of the new song was made in cooperation with the Spanish director Marta Cesar, who lives in Austria, and will be released in mid-June.

Presenting the single “Too Cool”, a video and also an EP, BAIBA will go on a promotional tour this summer, visiting several Austrian cities, Northern Italy, Slovakia, and the she will also visit her homeland Latvia for the first time at the beginning of August, performing at the music and art festival “Laba Daba”.

Spotify

About BAIBA:
BAIBA is a Latvian musician (real name Baiba Dēķena), who has been living and playing music in the Austrian city of Innsbruck for several years. She plays self-produced electropop and teaches music production workshops for girls. Until now, BAIBA has already released two albums and her songs are regularly played by radio stations both in Latvia and abroad. The first single of the new mini-album, “Perfect”, got into the regular rotation of the popular radio station FM4 in Austria.

Latvia-Based Project LUNT Releases ‘The Inner Border,’ an Intriguing Electro-Acoustic Record

Latvia-based band LUNT has released ‘The Inner Border‘ (Iekšējā Robeža), a cerebral, stunning track filled with gravitas and hunger to stir emotions. The record was written in June 2020, using soundscapes as metaphors for the travel that led LUNT’s frontman Gilles Deles-Velins to Latvia. Anna Akhmatova’s poem, A land not mine, is read in Russian at the beginning of the track and in Latvian at the end.

You can listen to ‘The Inner Border’ on Soundcloud and pre-order via Bandcamp. It comes in Dolby 7.1 Channel original version.

Few artists match Deles’ ability to blend electronic and organic sources while securing a delicate balance between textural soundscapes and melodic structures. Thoughtfully arranged and bonded in a marvelous aesthetic, ‘The Inner Border‘ continues LUNT’s exploration of states of consciousness.

With ‘The Inner Border,’ LUNT explores electro-acoustic spaces to create an immersive sound that transcends notions of musical language, forms, ambient, electro, drone, and other categories in music. The record is not only about soundscapes but redolent meditations capable of disinterring a long-forgotten memory or inducing a nostalgic reverie, somehow gravitating toward themes that contemplate the meaning of life.

Fans of LUNT’s work will find ‘The Inner Border’ deeply rewarding, while new listeners will doubtfully find themselves motivated to reach back into his catalog for more.

Credits:

Stromboli Volcano Sound Take by Clovis Tisserand
Cover photo by Lionel Maraval
Anna Akhmatova reading by Inese Vēliņa.
Lyrics, sound takes, instruments, arrangements, mix, mastering: Gilles Deles-Velins
Saxophone: Jérôme Gilet
Asari vocal ensemble directed by Artūrs Oskars Mitrevics
Soprano: Laura Štoma
Altos: Māra Delesa-Vēlina, Agnese Osīte-Slava, Ilze Ārniece
Bass: Oskars Krūklis, Artūrs Oskars Mitrevics

Mickeen releases song “ardievu” with rapper goča

Electronic music producer Mickeen (Miks Pinzulis) in collaboration with rapper Goča (Gatis Orniņš) releases the first album single from Mickeen’s upcoming debut album.

goča about the song: “The song is written about the metamorphosis of the personality, which is connected with a drastic change of values and looking through a completely new prism – the song was written at a point when the author has abandoned the previous values and looks into the new expanse that opens up in front of him. although it is not known what the path to follow, it is clear which one you should definitely not choose again”

Mickeen: ”Katrā dziesmā ko rakstu ielieku spēcīgas emocijas un tās nolasīt dodu māksliniekam ar ko sadarbojos. goča, manuprāt, to spēja ideāli interpretēt – neizmainot dziesmas noskaņu.”

Mickeen: ‘In every song I like to put strong emotions which then I give to other artists to interpret. goča, in my opinion, was able to interpret it perfectly – without changing the mood of the song”