#astro'n'out

[kristsluhaers]

Astro'n'out - Mežparks

/

2021

[visariga-blog]

Nākamā Pietura: Songs Inspired by Rīga’s Public Transportation

For many Rīdzinieki, public transportation is as much of an unavoidable part of everyday life as it is in any other city in the world. Unsurprisingly, they city's trams, trolleybusses, and busses have inspired countless Latvian artists since at least as early as famous poet Aleksandrs Čaks' works in the early 20th century. These five songs all come from the last 30 years of Latvian music and cover a wide variety of musical styles and range from serious poetry to lackadaisical schtick. 

1. “Mana Dienišķā Dziesma” by Pērkons: 

One of Latvia’s most popular and controversial Soviet-era stadium rock groups, Pērkons (thunder) released “Mana Dienišķā Dziesma” (my everyday song) in 1988 after having already been banned and un-banned by the Soviet government twice. The first half of the song recounts the narrator standing by the trolleybus stop and watching people get on and off. The song was a hit and still gets played on the radio today, and the style is very typical of Latvian rock music from just before the collapse of the USSR.

2. “Desmetais Tramvajs” by Labvēlīgais Tips

Latvia's beloved goofballs Labvēlīgais Tips regularly release songs with subjects as ordinary as a useless piece of wood named Konstantin (their attempt to get to Eurovision) or as absurd as an omnibus that drives through people's gardens and destroys their vegetables. Therefore, it's no surprise that in 1999 they released this classic ode to the #10 tram that drives everyday from Bišumuiža to the center. To give you an idea of the lyrics, here's the chorus:

The tenth tram, two-track splendor Take me away for two weeks The tenth tram, our hearts beat together Come and sit in this wagon of dreams

There's no ironic or sarcastic meaning behind their lyrics, it's meant to more or less be taken at its silly face value as with most of their songs. The style and instrumentation is fairly typical of the modern Latvian pop music commonly found on Radio 2.

3. “Daļa Rīgas” by Astro'n'out

This one is a little bit of a stretch, but Astro'n'out's breakout ode to Maskačka, Rīga's most unfairly maligned neighborhood, features the lyric “piecpadsmitais trolejbuss jau leģendārs” (the fifteenth trolleybus is already legendary). The #15 trolleybus which I take to and from Ķengarags every day is indeed legendary, and something I will be writing about in the near future. I like this song a lot because it's nice to hear something positive about Maskačka which has undergone a lot of positive development lately, and not just the kind of “urban renewal” that's code language for tearing down old buildings and replacing them with unaffordable modern monstrosities like in many other parts of the city. In fact, when this song was released more than ten years ago it was quite ahead of its time, as Maskačka's renewal had only just begun. While the neighborhood's condition and reputation has improved quite a bit since then, unfortunately the same can't quite be said about the #15 trolleybus... 

4. “Tramvajs” by Dziļi Violets

My personal favorite in the list, this short and uber-minimalist post-rock ballad is based around the following simple lyrics:

Everyday the tram  routine is to drive Along the one same path But he dreams that he'll one day have tires And be able to drive away

The words might seem a bit silly out of context, but they go perfectly when paired with the sparse piano and post-rock guitar. The fact that the lead singer is able to nearly flawlessly impersonate a trumpet with his mouth is only the icing on the cake for this song, and the guitarist saying the names of the #6 tram stops as the song fades out completes the effect. At first I wasn’t sure if the lyrics were meant to be tongue-in-cheek like the typical Labvēlīgais Tips track, but after listening to a few more of this relatively new band’s songs it seems that they’re likely serious about using the image of this tram stuck on the same tracks everyday dreaming of tires as a metaphor for how many of us wish that we could break out of our daily grinds and find somewhere better. Most impressive to me is the mood and message that they were able to achieve in just more than two minutes, although I’m pretty sure that now I’ll never be able to take the #6 tram again without feeling at least a bit melancholy.

5. “Nākamā Pieturā — Depo” by Intars Busulis

The most recent on this list and the one that inspired me to make this list in the first place, this melodramatic power ballad sung by Intars Busulis was penned by legendary Latvian poet and lyricist Māra Zālīte, who wrote the Lāčplesis rock opera among her many other works. Busulis has been quite successful in Russia thanks to his dramatic style typical of Russian pop music (as well as his appearances on Russian TV contests), and this lead single and title track off of his 2017 album is no exception. 

The narrator recounts the moment he is sitting on a tram “like a full bottle” where everyone is coughing, and out of the corner of his eye he sees “her.” He instantly falls in love when he looks into her “eyes as warm as home,” and wants to change the entire world just for her. Of course, just as quickly as she bursts into his world, she gets off at the next stop - “Depo.” He rushes off the tram after her, but when he steps onto the boulevard he sees that she's greeted by another man waiting for her with a “kiss that lasted as long as hell.” All alone, he gets back on the tram. Cheesy and cliché-ridden for sure, but any song that can derive so much emotion and drama from a ride on the #7 tram is a rousing success in my book. The album that this song is from will be out soon, so if you enjoy this type of music I would check it out.

And that covers it for now! If you think we missed any of your favorite public transportation-related Latvian songs, make sure to let us know.

[360video]

Astro'n'out - Gaisma (360 video)

Astro’n’out – Gaisma (360 video)

Lai sasniegtu vēlamo efektu, skaties video caur Youtube aplikāciju vai Chrome interneta pārlūkprogrammu datorā. Visdzīvākā efekta sasniegšanai 360° video …

[mydaisysoul]

Un tas viss no jūras nāk, no lielās, Grūtsirdīgās šalcējas, no tās.

[rammysaurio]

Par daudz šeit pagātnes Un patiesības rūgtas, Un piecpadsmitais trolejbuss jau leģendārs.

Pie baznīcas sēž bērni, akmeņus kas mētā, Un pieturā starp suņiem veči alu lok.

[astronoutlv]

Astro'n'out remiksu konkursa nolikums

Lai piedalītos Astro'n'out “Lion’s Share Remixes” konkursā:

-       Jālejuplādē dziesmu “So Close To Me” vai “In Fog” audio celiņi no Astro’n’out SoundCloud profila - https://soundcloud.com/astronout-official

-       Pāraranžētā (remiksētā) dziesma jāielādē .wav vai .aiff formātā www.failiem.lv vai www.dropbox.com failu uzglabāšanas servisos, un ielādētā faila links jāsūta uz info@astronout.lv ar tematu “Lion’s Share Remixes” līdz 18. maijam (ieskaitot);

-       Faila nosaukumā skaidri jānorāda dziesmas nosaukums un remiksētāja vārds / pseidonīms

-       Konkursa uzvarētājiem jānodod tiesības uz konkrēto fongrammu Astro’n’out izdevēju kompānijai SIA “Avantis Promo”

Uzvarētāju paziņošana un apbalvošana

-       darbus izvērtēs grupas Astro’n’out komanda;

-       līdz 23. maijam grupas menedžments paziņos konkursantiem rezultātus izsūtot e-pastus konkursa dalībniekiem;

-       labākie 3 darbi tiks iekļauti Astro'n'out “Lion’s Share Remixes” mini albumā;

Papildu informācija

-       dziesmu “So Close To Me” vai “In Fog” audio materiāls būs publiski pieejams no 2014. gada 22. aprīļa līdz 18. maijam;

-       dziesmu “So Close To Me” vai “In Fog” audio celiņi ir ar autortiesībām aizsargāts materiāls, atbilstoši Latvijas likumdošanai un tas paredzēts izmantošanai tikai Astro’n’out remiksu konkursa ietvaros

-       Dalībniekiem ir iespēja iesūtīt neierobežotu skaitu remiksu

KONKURSU ATBALSTA: MŪZIKAS CENTRS, DISCOMANIA

Informatīvi atbalsta: Tvnet, Easyget, Draugiem.lv

Jautājumu gadījumā rakstiet: info@astronout.lv

[astronouten]

Astro'n'out "Rewind"

[pandahatesyou]

The lovely Astro'n'out were lovely as always! ^^

[tasteblack]

Es sen vairs neticu pat sev

Tik ilgi baltu tēlodams

Es slēpjos mīmikās, kas tev

Tik viegli nebūs tulkojamas. 

[astronoutlv]

Astro'n'out "Rewind"

[astronouten]

Astro'n'out interview for bobe.me while before 10 year Anniversary concert