Alternative rock band Tribes of the City, which began life six years ago as The Movies and has recorded three albums, is suspending its work for an indefinitive time. The band has one more concert planned Sept. 25 in Rīga, according to recording company Platforma Records.

Much creative strength was spent on the latest album, Recipe of the Golden Dream, which was released earlier this year, lead singer Ksenija Sundejeva said in a press release. Now it is time to rest, charge their batteries and consider where they want to go further, Sundejeva said for herself and her bandmates.

“We have a lot to think about,” she added.

As The Movies, the group broke into the Latvian market with a distinctive style patterned after British “shoe gaze” bands. The first album, Running to the Sun, was released in 2004.

The sophomore recording, …for the sleepy people, came two years later, by which time the band had renamed itself as Tribes of the City.

Besides Sundejeva, the band includes Ints Barkāns on drums, Sergejs Jaramišjans on guitar, Juris Justs on bass, Mihails Sergejevs on synths and Andrejs Vasiļevs on guitar.

More about the band can be learned on its MySpace page or on the social network draugiem.lv.

A young Latvian double bass musician has survived two weeks of competition in Munich, Germany, to win this year’s ARD Music Competition. Gunārs Upatnieks also won the audience prize, competition organizers announced.

Upatnieks was one of 94 double bass players who applied to the competition. Only 39 were admitted by contest officials.

Competition began Aug. 31 and advanced to the Sept. 8 finals, when competitors had to perform with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Stanislau Anishchanka of Belarus won second prize in double bass, while Olivier Thiery of France and Ivan Zavgorodniy of Ukraine shared third prize.

Musicians also competed in voice, violin and harp.

All winners will now perform in a series of concerts in Munich: Sept. 16 with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester; Sept. 17 with the Munich Chamber Orchestra; and Sept. 18 with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Upatnieks, who studied at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Rīga, has done well in other international music competitions. He won the solo competition in the 2007 International Society of Bassists competiton and took first prize in the 2008 Sperger International Competition in Ludwigslust, Germany.

Swedish-Latvian rock group Alis P has released Uz priekšu, its first new album in 20 years. At this time the group is just vocalist and instrumentalist Gundars Rullis, with Swedish drummer Svante Drake recording the percussion parts.

Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Alis P was founded in 1979 in Sweden by Rullis (vocals, bass) and Māris Rozenbahs (drums), who were former members of the band Prusaku ansamblis. They were joined by Pēteris Šmitmanis (guitar).

Uz priekšu is the band’s second album. The first, Alis iet pastaigāt, was released on LP in 1988. The band’s song “Laimīgs” was on the Mikrofons 90 compilation record. Additionally, “Aizvējā,” a Latvian version of the Bob Dylan song “Shelter from the Storm,” was covered by Latvian group bet bet.

Uz priekšu features 12 songs, with Rullis providing music and lyrics for almost all of them (the lyrics for the song “Ņujorka” are by poet Juris Kronbergs). The album also features guest appearances by musicians such as Juris Kaukulis and Mārcis Judzis (members of Latvian rock band Dzelzs Vilks), composer Valts Pūce, and other musicians such as Aivars Freimanis, Dita Gaugere and Raitis Freimanis.

Songs on the album include:

1. Gaismas ceļš
2. Zinu, zinu
3. Kā var 20 gadi
4. Uz priekšu
5. Vienmēr bēdas
6. Man salst
7. Es gribu (iet gulēt)
8. Atzīstos
9. No Tapešu ielas
10. Arī panki precas
11. Tālu, tālu Latvijā
12. Ņujorka (3:50)

For more about Alis P, visit www.alispudelis.lv or the band’s site on the social network draugiem.lv.