Tribes of the City presents dreamy album

Andris Straumanis | 

The indie “dream pop” band Tribes of the City is set to present its second album Jan. 16 during a concert in the Studentu Klubs in Rīga. The album is titled Recipe of the Golden Dream.

The band also plans a seven-city tour in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, according to a press release from Rīga-based Platforma Music.

Recipe of the Golden Dream is a double album with 15 tracks. “This album is like a collection of individual emotions—viewed through the prism of reality—from visions and scenes that come from memories,” the band says in the press release.

Band members include Mihails Sergejevs on keyboards, Andrejs Vasiļjevs on guitar, Juris Justs on bass, Ints Barkāns on drums, Sergejs Jaramisjans on guitar and Ksenija Sundejeva vocals.

The new album is a followup to For the Sleepy People, released in 2006. But it should be remembered that the band really has released three albums so far, the first being Running to the Sun in 2004 back when the ensemble was known as The Movies. (Speaking of movies, Sundejeva also appears in the Latvian feature film Amatieris, released in April 2008. The DVD version was supposed to hit stores in December.)

For more on Tribes of the City, visit the band’s MySpace or draugiem.lv pages.

Recipe of the Golden Dream

The second album from Tribes of the City is titled Recipe of the Golden Dream.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Dabas koncertzāle returns with more nature music

Andris Straumanis | 

The Dabas koncertzāle project, which consists of Ingus Ulmanis, Aigars Voitišķis and other musicians, has releaed its second album of nature-related ambient music, Hydropsyche instabilis, Rīga-based recording company Platforma Music announced Jan. 7.

Ulmanis and Voitišķis are better known as the core of the group Lādezers, formed in 1987 when they left the legendary band Jumprava. Others appearing on Hydropsyche instabilis are Jekaterina Šarigina on vocals, Gints Sola on guitar, Kaspars Tobis on keyboards, Mārtiņš Strautnieks on keyboards and nature sounds, Roberts Rasa on bass and Anrijs Grinbergs on percussion.

In a press release announcing the new album, Hydropsyche instabilis is described as unveiling the magical and ever-changing world of water. The album takes its title from the Latin name for the caddisfly or sedge, a small moth-like insect found near water. On its Web site, the Dabas koncertzāle project is described as a “unique attempt, with the help of music, to actualize and strengthen the interaction between people and nature.”

Tracks on the album include:

  1. Iii tēma
  2. Pēc lietus elpa
  3. Stīgalas
  4. Līdakas
  5. Līdz-Balss
  6. Anrijs Viens
  7. Pāri domas
  8. Nakts ūdens dvēsele
  9. Diena pēc dienas
  10. Ting-tong (šūpuļdziesma)

Dabas koncertzāle released its first album, Čunčiņa dienas un nakts grāmata, in 2008.

For more on the Dabas koncertzāle project, visit www.dabaskoncerts.lv.

Hydropsyche instabilis

The second album from Dabas koncertzāle is titled after the Latin for a caddisfly or sedge.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Four foreign publishers win translation funds

Andris Straumanis | 

Four foreign publishers will split LVL 5,000 in funding to help them release translated works by Latvian authors, the Rīga-based Latvian Literature Centre has announced.

The four were selected from 11 entries in an autumn competition for the funding, according to a Jan. 8 press release from the center. Funding came from the State Culture Capital Foundation (Valsts kultūrkapitāla fonds). A similar competition was held last spring, as well as two in 2007.

Translations to be published include:

  • A Czech version of Liāna Langa’s Antenu burtnīca. The collection of poems was published in Latvia in 2006. The Czech translation by Petr Borkovec is to be published by Agite / Fra s.r.o. The publisher will receive LVL 1,000.
  • An Albanian version of Sandra Kalniete’s autobiography, Ar balles kurpēm Sibīrijas sniegos. The book, already translated in several other languages, first appeared in 2001. The Albanian translation by Durim Taçe is to be published by the Publishing House SHKUPI. The publisher will get LVL 1,300.
  • A Bengali version of Māra Cielēna’s Pasakas par diviem. The children’s book, which was published in Latvia in 2003, will be translated by Golam Hossain Habib and published by Bhashaantar of Bangladesh. The publisher will receive LVL 1,300.
  • A Czech version of Pauls Bankovskis’ novel Čeka, bumba & rokenrols, first published in Latvian in 2001. The translation by Michal Škrabal is to be published by ARGO s.r.o. The publisher is to receive LVL 1,400.

Entries also were received from Denmark, Lithuania, Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, according to the literature center.

Entries for this year’s competition are due March 1. Further information may be found on the Latvian Literature Centre’s Web site, www.literature.lv.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.