To your attention, the selection of the independent Latvian groups “Odekolons”, which has just come out and is still a little steaming after the concert held last week at the “Noass” art center, which, as always, has been collected, compiled, compiled and published by the leader of the group “Innokentijs Marpls” Raimonds Lagimovs alias Dambis.
This is the seventeenth selection in the “Odekolon” series, which features the brightest representatives of domestic independent music in recent years. The compilation includes songs by groups and artists such as “Židrūns”, “Oranžas styty”, “Nesen”, Imants Daksis, “Nova Koma”, “Krāsa”, “Martas asinis”, “Bērnības militija”, “Jānis Runģa’s presence”, “Advanced Blue” and other songs, plus there are also new names – hardly many will have heard of, for example, Kuzucuk. Of course “Innocent Marple” is also represented – with the song “Ha ha hā”, the version of which is different from the one contained in the album “Kauliņi iretween”. “The selection reflects not only the trends in alternative music and the sentiment of the era, but also the spirit of free thinking, which I like. God allowed us to be creative, so we shouldn’t be canonical repeaters,” comments Dambis on the new one. edition.
The previous selection from the “Cologne” series was released four years ago. When this series resumed, the label was planning to release a new album every two years, but the covid (with its accompanying pandemic) ruined those plans.
The songs piled up and piled up until they were collected in such an amount that Dambis even considered releasing a double disc, but that would have prolonged the release process (and also made it more expensive), hence the selection. it was eventually released in a CD format. Stylistically it is very broad, from indie-pop to various rock “smaguchi”, moreover, it should be noted that Dambis collects from time to time even the most specific selections of “punk / hc” and metal music. The new “Cologne” has a total of 25 compositions.
PAR. At the beginning, as is customary in the case of the release of such selections, praise to Dambi for the great and selfless work in disseminating independent music and collecting songs (at this moment there is applause, which turns into a wild ovation) . The CD booklet also contains short and concise information about the members of each band, as well as the year and location of the recording. Furthermore, it seems that for the first time Dambis has also “squeezed” the real and complete names of the musicians (otherwise you could get away with the initials of the surnames or even the stage names). So the reviewer learned that, for example, the Latvian punk brand of the 1930s, the “sinful partisan” Pūkis, also has a name and Pūkis is not a nickname; which musicians play in the “DZ” group; as in reality and according to the passport data, the men of “Orange Holidays” Kali, Andžiks, Balais and Ješka, etc.
On the songs you would like to highlight. On all the songs “30 hours” made by the two projects of Philip Derum “Blood of March” and “Childhood Militia” (the song “I’m at work / 30 hours from the place / Is it enough?” The mind for a long time …) and “With good night, room”, Jānis Irbe is divine (the song “Many abandoned thoughts”), as well as “new wave”, a cross between indie and synth “Plenērs”. The most rock representatives of the selection “Nova Koma”, “Krāsa”, “Bēdu brāhdi”, “Zōna” and especially “Banga” (with the song “I don’t care”) catch your ears.
Punk girl “ŠNK”, who was heard relatively often at concerts this summer, and charismatic walker of her own path with suggestive vocal timbre Katie Barbale are amazing: the first is that, apparently, she sounds professional enough in his high quality recording made with Lomik (the song “Par draugiem”, which after singing “All my friends hate me” probably everyone knows); the second with the fact that, it turns out, they also tend to experiment with digital sounds, instead of just playing guitar (the song “I Rarely Walk In The Zone”). And also – “Nottinghill” with the song “Bullis”, so that Matīs Runtulis can make music well and easily under that sun …
VERSUS. In the case of such and similar music compilations, one can always debate ad nauseam why exactly that group or performer is included in the selection and not another group or performer, why the one included in the selection is represented by that and not another song, etc. etc. – it’s all subjective. Oddly, not a single piece struck the viewer, apart from the distorted ringing of the “Marstra 1337” project, and the choice of songs seemed questionable only in the case of the “DZ” group (they seem to have more expressive songs than the song “Plūdi” ). The rest: something may not be present, something may be missing, but it is not important.
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