Satellites LV
Encyclopedia
Satellites LV, formerly known as The Satellites in their early Britpop
period (1996–1999), is a Latvian musical group formed in 1996 in Riga
, Latvia
. The core members of The Satellites are brothers Janis and Edgars Zilde. Other projects and groups related to Satellites LV include Kuba, Mofo, Raadio, Autobuss Debesis and Stāvi, the experimental solo album of Janis Zilde.
The Satellites' debut single "Nekad, nekad" received heavy rotation on Latvian radio stations in the spring of 1997. The song reached 4th position in the Radio SWH top 40. Also on popular radio station 106.2, "Nekad, nekad" held the top position for several weeks. Their self-produced videos Nekad, nekad, plus Disko and Happy to Follow were shown frequently on TV as well. The video I Wish I Was a Beach Boy, directed by Martins Grauds, was also released.
In the summer of 1997, The Satellites won the Grand Prix of Liepajas Dzintars, the biggest rock music event in the Baltic States
. Soon after, the band started working on their first record.
After troubled recording and mixing sessions, their debut album, Piens
, was finally finished and was released in 1998 through local label Platforma Records. The album features Uldis Marhilevics, who is known as a member of the 80' legendary Latvian band Remix
.
In 1998, inspired by the Heaven's Gate
religious cult suicides in 1997, the "Happy to Follow" single was released.
Janis has continued to explore different angles of persuasion and social movements in the US. Some of the ideas are again incorporated in "This Is More Than You Could Ever Hope/Move Inside" double A-side single, which was released in 1999, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors.
The Satellites music has continued to evolve into a more post-rock
/experimental
sound.
In 2000, the band changed its name to "Satellites LV" and started working on their follow-up album, Kind of Glue
. The album features legendary Latvian trumpeter Gunārs Rozenbergs, drummer Haralds Bondaris and other guest musicians. Three recorded tracks were first released on the Latvian indie music sampler Starteris Tornis Rec.. In the middle of the recording sessions, Edgars Zilde relocated to Cleveland, Ohio
(in America
) where he studied the following five years.
Kind of Glue was released in 2001. The album received critical acclaim in Latvia and reached #28 on the Latvian music charts. Songs from the album were played on several radio stations in Europe (VPRO – "Night Train" (Holland), from Studio Brussels). The name of the album, "Kind of Glue" is a reference to the Miles Davis
legendary recording Kind of Blue
.
(2005–2008)
In December 2005, after five years of absence, Edgars Zilde returned to Riga. Both brothers and Toms Ostrovskis decided to reunite Satellites LV. In the spring of 2006, musical project Kuba performed its last show and officially splits up. A radio/TV single and its video "Aukstu tēju" were soon released. In 2007, the plan was set to record Kuba's final album.
Meanwhile Satellites LV also worked on their new material.
On July 4, 2007 "Satellites LV" was invited to open for Antony and the Johnsons
in Riga Dream Factory. Unfortunately, the show was canceled at the last moment, due to Antony's medical condition.
On July 16, 2007, the band released its first radio single "Dienas Gaismas Detaļas" since its reunion. As predicted, due to sophisticated and "unusual" (for the general Latvian audience) content, the single was not included in Radio SWH daytime playlist.
Band members explained to National Latvian Radio 1:
On July 21, Satellites LV performed their first show in Liepāja
(Fontaine festival).
On July 27, the band performed its second concert in the Saldus
festival.
On July 28, Satellites LV performed in the Salacgrīva
festival PositivusAB
, the same day with Stereophonics
, The Concretes
and James
.
"Right now you are the best band in the country," after the show said Uldis Rudaks, the most recognized Latvian music critic and journalist.
On September 10, radio single "Karavirini" was presented on "Radio SWH", the most popular radio station in Latvia. DJ Artis Volfs introduced Satellites LV with the words, "Latvian indie music legends..."
On September 28, the single "DGD" ("Dienas Gaismas Detaļas") reached the top position on the most popular indie radio station in Lavia, Radio Naba.
On October 11, Satellites LV performed in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius
, during the BBC
DJ John Peel
tribute gig "John Peel Day".
On December 1, Satellites LV opened for legendary The Wedding Present
in Riga, Latvia. In January, 2008, the Satellites LV third radio single, "Pirmais" reached number 1 on the Radio SWH top 20 and stayed there for two weeks.
In 2001, Jānis and Toms with other musicians formed a new project Kuba ("Cube") and soon after released an album 15 Episodes of Kuba which was distributed in Latvia
, Japan
, Greece
, Russia
, Taiwan
, Croatia
and Slovenia
.
. Critics compared Kuba's music with likes of Tortoise
, The Sea and Cake
and Herbie Hancock
. The album also received two prestigious Latvian Music Awards in 2002 (Best Instrumental Album of the Year and the Best Debut award).
All of the band members have had previous experience playing in other bands prior to the formation of Kuba. These were mostly post-rock music bands, as well as pop, electronic, and triphop projects. For example, Arnis was the soloist and songwriter for Dull Doll, Toms – Satellites LV and Mofo, Janis – Satellites LV and the founder of Pilots Buda, kuba's drummer Mareks founded groups Zalas Saules and Withcut, but Gonzalez – Lolitas brinumputns, T-plox, Spinners
, Sirke and was the initiator of some solo projects. They decided to put some ideas together, and tried to offer a slightly different sense and take on the complexity of sound.
In 2001, they also participated in some of the major festivals in Latvia. For example: Liepajas Dzintars 2001, the Trincstock festival and Bildes 2001, opened for Macy Gray
in Riga. That year, they played in almost every well-known club in Riga (Metro, Casablanca, DIZZI, Saksofons, etc.) at least twice.
Some of their musical inspirations are Herbert
, Tortoise
, Steve Reich
, Burt Bacharach
, Curtis Mayfield
, Marvin Gaye
, also some other postrock bands and soul music of the 60s and 70s.
The name of the group itself comes from the film
Cube
.
Kuba provides interpretations of many themes – not to whittle away at each style's characteristic nuances, but to directly accent the finer moods, notes, and harmonies. It is possible to offer an attitude in an understandable form, not pretending to be pretentious, allowing the listener to choose for themselves their own recognizable, acceptable scale.
, ambient
and pop
elements.
Both albums, perhaps, absorb all the best traditions cultivated on the flat post-rock
field – they are epical, mostly instrumental, played with attention to the nuances, sometimes (but not always) slow-building guitar-centric pieces, augmented with occasional radio recordings, xylophone, rhodes, trumpet
and sporadical electronic sound effects.
The ultimate merit is the music being quite varied – more diverse than any recording of Tortoise
, Tarentel
, Bark Psychosis
, Mogwai
etc. (named also by band members as their influences) – while remaining integrated and conceptual whole. Not the last role in diversifying of the music is played by inclusion of jazz elements – a few celebrated Latvian jazz musicians are guest-featured on both albums.
On Stavi (which is basically translated as "Floors"), more academic music elements are present, including mezzo-soprano vocals, live cello and string group cameos. A flavor of experimental electronics is also added to one of the tracks... All these guest appearances, just like the main body of sound, are highly nuanced and incorporated with restraint, which deserves attention and respect against the widespread overplaying and endless improvisation.
Stavi starts off with a main theme – an 18-minute epic, slowly unfolding, featuring beautiful and extra deep-sounding guitar lines, resembling Tarentel
a bit, supported by rhodes
, xylophone
and gentle pulse of drums. The piece is crowned with that mezzo-soprano female vocal appearance. The next tracks flow in mostly different directions, starting with an energetic postrock/avantgarde jazz digression, followed by cello/laptop dialogue and then by various instrumental tracks, presenting postrock/improv/jazz/ambient element combinations in different proportions. All pieces can stand on their own, at the same time comprising a conceptual 40-minute suite, which can be a highly rewarded listening from start to finish.
That concept can also be applied to the Kind of Glue EP, which is shorter in duration and contains a few songs in addition to instrumental-only tracks. A sound recording deserves a separate word. The sound is so deep and tasteful, that listening gives simply a pure gourmet satisfaction... big respect to a sound engineer. All in all, these two albums should stand out and be noted worldwide, even having so many bright and talented similar artists working in this field.
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
period (1996–1999), is a Latvian musical group formed in 1996 in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. The core members of The Satellites are brothers Janis and Edgars Zilde. Other projects and groups related to Satellites LV include Kuba, Mofo, Raadio, Autobuss Debesis and Stāvi, the experimental solo album of Janis Zilde.
The Satellites
(1996–1999)The Satellites' debut single "Nekad, nekad" received heavy rotation on Latvian radio stations in the spring of 1997. The song reached 4th position in the Radio SWH top 40. Also on popular radio station 106.2, "Nekad, nekad" held the top position for several weeks. Their self-produced videos Nekad, nekad, plus Disko and Happy to Follow were shown frequently on TV as well. The video I Wish I Was a Beach Boy, directed by Martins Grauds, was also released.
In the summer of 1997, The Satellites won the Grand Prix of Liepajas Dzintars, the biggest rock music event in the Baltic States
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
. Soon after, the band started working on their first record.
After troubled recording and mixing sessions, their debut album, Piens
Piens (album)
Piens is the debut album by The Satellites, released in 1998.The debut single "Nekad, nekad" received Power Play rotation on Latvia's most popular radio stations in the spring of 1997...
, was finally finished and was released in 1998 through local label Platforma Records. The album features Uldis Marhilevics, who is known as a member of the 80' legendary Latvian band Remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
.
In 1998, inspired by the Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (religious group)
Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religion based in San Diego, California, founded and led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles...
religious cult suicides in 1997, the "Happy to Follow" single was released.
Janis has continued to explore different angles of persuasion and social movements in the US. Some of the ideas are again incorporated in "This Is More Than You Could Ever Hope/Move Inside" double A-side single, which was released in 1999, with a slightly different sound than its predecessors.
The Satellites music has continued to evolve into a more post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
/experimental
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
sound.
Satellites LV
(2000–2001)In 2000, the band changed its name to "Satellites LV" and started working on their follow-up album, Kind of Glue
Kind of Glue
Kind of Glue is the second album by Satellites LV, released in 2001."Kind of Glue" features many guest musicians including legendary Latvian trumpeter Gunārs Rozenbergs and drummer Haralds Bondaris. The album received critical acclaim in Latvia and was also played in several radio stations in...
. The album features legendary Latvian trumpeter Gunārs Rozenbergs, drummer Haralds Bondaris and other guest musicians. Three recorded tracks were first released on the Latvian indie music sampler Starteris Tornis Rec.. In the middle of the recording sessions, Edgars Zilde relocated to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
(in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) where he studied the following five years.
Kind of Glue was released in 2001. The album received critical acclaim in Latvia and reached #28 on the Latvian music charts. Songs from the album were played on several radio stations in Europe (VPRO – "Night Train" (Holland), from Studio Brussels). The name of the album, "Kind of Glue" is a reference to the Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
legendary recording Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue
Kind of Blue is a studio album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released August 17, 1959, on Columbia Records in the United States. Recording sessions for the album took place at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City on March 2 and April 22, 1959...
.
(2005–2008)
In December 2005, after five years of absence, Edgars Zilde returned to Riga. Both brothers and Toms Ostrovskis decided to reunite Satellites LV. In the spring of 2006, musical project Kuba performed its last show and officially splits up. A radio/TV single and its video "Aukstu tēju" were soon released. In 2007, the plan was set to record Kuba's final album.
Meanwhile Satellites LV also worked on their new material.
On July 4, 2007 "Satellites LV" was invited to open for Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
in Riga Dream Factory. Unfortunately, the show was canceled at the last moment, due to Antony's medical condition.
Band members explained to National Latvian Radio 1:
- "The new song can be viewed as a desire to show our attitude and understanding toward music as an expression of art, rather than a classic radio single in its more familiar sense. It should be perceived as a whole, one unit, and not as a commonly understood traditional musical expression (verse – bridge – chorus)."
On July 21, Satellites LV performed their first show in Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
(Fontaine festival).
On July 27, the band performed its second concert in the Saldus
Saldus
Saldus is a Latvian town located in Courland and is main town in Saldus District. As of 2005, the town has a population of 12,707.The year 1856 is considered as foundation of Saldus town when the board of Domens' decided to establish a trade center...
festival.
On July 28, Satellites LV performed in the Salacgrīva
Salacgriva
Salacgrīva is a town in Limbaži County, in the Vidzeme region of northern Latvia. The town has a port, situated on the mouth of the Salaca river and the Gulf of Riga...
festival PositivusAB
PositivusAB
Positivus festival is an annual music festival in Salacgrīva, Latvia that was first held in 2007. It is organised by .Throughout the years the festival has featured such headliners as Muse, Scissor Sisters, Editors, James, Hurts, Moby and Fatboy Slim, as well as local headliners Prāta Vētra,...
, the same day with Stereophonics
Stereophonics
The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
, The Concretes
The Concretes
The Concretes are a popular Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm, currently composed of eight members.-History:The Concretes began with Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. Since their formation in 1995, they have gradually acquired new members, growing into an eight piece band...
and James
James (band)
James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...
.
"Right now you are the best band in the country," after the show said Uldis Rudaks, the most recognized Latvian music critic and journalist.
On September 10, radio single "Karavirini" was presented on "Radio SWH", the most popular radio station in Latvia. DJ Artis Volfs introduced Satellites LV with the words, "Latvian indie music legends..."
On September 28, the single "DGD" ("Dienas Gaismas Detaļas") reached the top position on the most popular indie radio station in Lavia, Radio Naba.
On October 11, Satellites LV performed in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, during the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
tribute gig "John Peel Day".
On December 1, Satellites LV opened for legendary The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present are a British indie rock group based in Leeds, England, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four to more varied forms...
in Riga, Latvia. In January, 2008, the Satellites LV third radio single, "Pirmais" reached number 1 on the Radio SWH top 20 and stayed there for two weeks.
Electronic instruments
- Yamaha DX-21
- Korg MicroKorg
- Philips Philicorda Organ
- Yamaha YC-10
- Vermona Synthesizer
- Formanta drummashine
Kuba – 15 Episodes Of Kuba
(2001–2006)In 2001, Jānis and Toms with other musicians formed a new project Kuba ("Cube") and soon after released an album 15 Episodes of Kuba which was distributed in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
.
. Critics compared Kuba's music with likes of Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
, The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake
The Sea and Cake is an indie rock band with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-1990s in Chicago out of the ashes of local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol...
and Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
. The album also received two prestigious Latvian Music Awards in 2002 (Best Instrumental Album of the Year and the Best Debut award).
All of the band members have had previous experience playing in other bands prior to the formation of Kuba. These were mostly post-rock music bands, as well as pop, electronic, and triphop projects. For example, Arnis was the soloist and songwriter for Dull Doll, Toms – Satellites LV and Mofo, Janis – Satellites LV and the founder of Pilots Buda, kuba's drummer Mareks founded groups Zalas Saules and Withcut, but Gonzalez – Lolitas brinumputns, T-plox, Spinners
Spinners
Spinners can refer to:* The Spinners , an American R&B/soul group active from 1957 to the present* The Spinners , a British folk group active from 1959 to 1989...
, Sirke and was the initiator of some solo projects. They decided to put some ideas together, and tried to offer a slightly different sense and take on the complexity of sound.
In 2001, they also participated in some of the major festivals in Latvia. For example: Liepajas Dzintars 2001, the Trincstock festival and Bildes 2001, opened for Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
in Riga. That year, they played in almost every well-known club in Riga (Metro, Casablanca, DIZZI, Saksofons, etc.) at least twice.
Some of their musical inspirations are Herbert
Herbert
Herbert may refer to:*a Germanic name, see Herbert *a surname, see Herbert Places* Herbert, California* Herbert, California, former name of Knowles Junction, California* Herbert, New Zealand* Herbert, Saskatchewan...
, Tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
, Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
, Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, also some other postrock bands and soul music of the 60s and 70s.
The name of the group itself comes from the film
Cube
Cube (film)
Cube is a 1997 Canadian science fiction psychological thriller/horror film directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film was a successful product of the Canadian Film Centre's First Feature Project....
.
Kuba provides interpretations of many themes – not to whittle away at each style's characteristic nuances, but to directly accent the finer moods, notes, and harmonies. It is possible to offer an attitude in an understandable form, not pretending to be pretentious, allowing the listener to choose for themselves their own recognizable, acceptable scale.
Jānis Žilde – Stavi
Stavi is a 2004 solo album of Janis Žilde, co-founder and the main songwriter of Satellites LV. It continued the direction started with 2001's Kind of Glue EP by Satellites LV, a diversified post-rock with jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
elements.
Both albums, perhaps, absorb all the best traditions cultivated on the flat post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
field – they are epical, mostly instrumental, played with attention to the nuances, sometimes (but not always) slow-building guitar-centric pieces, augmented with occasional radio recordings, xylophone, rhodes, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and sporadical electronic sound effects.
The ultimate merit is the music being quite varied – more diverse than any recording of Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
, Tarentel
Tarentel (band)
Tarentel is a band based in San Francisco, California, which formed in 1995. Initially, the band consisted of Danny Grody and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma...
, Bark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis
Bark Psychosis are an English post-rock band/musical project from east London formed in 1986. They were one of the bands that Simon Reynolds cited when coining "post-rock" as a musical style in 1994, and are thus considered one of the key bands defining the genre...
, Mogwai
Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
etc. (named also by band members as their influences) – while remaining integrated and conceptual whole. Not the last role in diversifying of the music is played by inclusion of jazz elements – a few celebrated Latvian jazz musicians are guest-featured on both albums.
On Stavi (which is basically translated as "Floors"), more academic music elements are present, including mezzo-soprano vocals, live cello and string group cameos. A flavor of experimental electronics is also added to one of the tracks... All these guest appearances, just like the main body of sound, are highly nuanced and incorporated with restraint, which deserves attention and respect against the widespread overplaying and endless improvisation.
Stavi starts off with a main theme – an 18-minute epic, slowly unfolding, featuring beautiful and extra deep-sounding guitar lines, resembling Tarentel
Tarentel (band)
Tarentel is a band based in San Francisco, California, which formed in 1995. Initially, the band consisted of Danny Grody and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma...
a bit, supported by rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
and gentle pulse of drums. The piece is crowned with that mezzo-soprano female vocal appearance. The next tracks flow in mostly different directions, starting with an energetic postrock/avantgarde jazz digression, followed by cello/laptop dialogue and then by various instrumental tracks, presenting postrock/improv/jazz/ambient element combinations in different proportions. All pieces can stand on their own, at the same time comprising a conceptual 40-minute suite, which can be a highly rewarded listening from start to finish.
That concept can also be applied to the Kind of Glue EP, which is shorter in duration and contains a few songs in addition to instrumental-only tracks. A sound recording deserves a separate word. The sound is so deep and tasteful, that listening gives simply a pure gourmet satisfaction... big respect to a sound engineer. All in all, these two albums should stand out and be noted worldwide, even having so many bright and talented similar artists working in this field.
Current members
- Jānis Žilde (guitar, vocals, synth, percussions)
- Edgars Žilde (guitar, vocals, electronics, synth)
- Toms Ostrovskis (bass)
- Mareks Ameriks (drums, percussions)
- Ervings Znotiņš (synth, vocals, electronics)
Guest musicians & past members
- Gunārs Rozenbergs (trompete) (Satellites LV)
- Jānis Volkmanis (trompete) (Satellites LV)
- Mikus Solovejs (saksofons) (Satellites LV, kuba)
- Tīna Ostrovska (perkusijas, ksilofons, vijole) (Satellites LV)
- Haralds Bondars (sitamie instrumenti) (Satellites LV)
- Martinez Gonzalez (rhodes piano, sintezators) (kuba)
- Uldis Zariņš (sitamie instrumenti 1996–2000) (The Satellites)
- Arnis Račinskis (ģitāra) (kuba)
- Laura Ziemele (balss 1996)
- Kristīne Blekte (balss 1996)
- Egīls Eglītis (bass 1996)
- The Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (The Satellites)
- Uldis Marhilevics (stringed instruments 1998) (The Satellites)
Albums
- PiensPiens (album)Piens is the debut album by The Satellites, released in 1998.The debut single "Nekad, nekad" received Power Play rotation on Latvia's most popular radio stations in the spring of 1997...
(1997/1998) - Kind of GlueKind of GlueKind of Glue is the second album by Satellites LV, released in 2001."Kind of Glue" features many guest musicians including legendary Latvian trumpeter Gunārs Rozenbergs and drummer Haralds Bondaris. The album received critical acclaim in Latvia and was also played in several radio stations in...
(2001) - Bezvadu (2009)
- VaduVaduVadu may refer to several villages in Romania:* Vadu, a village in Corbu Commune, Constanţa County* Vadu, a village in Sântămăria-Orlea Commune, Hunedoara County* Vadu, a village in Vărgata Commune, Mureş County...
(2009)
Singles
- "Happy to Follow" (1998)
- "This Is More Than You Could Ever Hope/Move Inside" (1999)
Radio singles
| Year | Name |
| 1997 | Nekad nekad |
| 1997 | Disko |
| 1997 | Baseins |
| 1998 | Publiskā vieta |
| 2001 | Kind of Glue Kind of Glue Kind of Glue is the second album by Satellites LV, released in 2001."Kind of Glue" features many guest musicians including legendary Latvian trumpeter Gunārs Rozenbergs and drummer Haralds Bondaris. The album received critical acclaim in Latvia and was also played in several radio stations in... |
| 2001 | I Wish I Was A Beach Boy |
| 2007 | Dienas Gaismas Detaļas |
| 2007 | Karavirini |
| 2007 | Pirmais |
| 2008 | Policija brauc! |