Label: Melodia Records (Russia), C60-13771-2
Style: Electronic Music, Rock, Pop
Country: Riga, Latvia
Time: 28:04
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 172 Mb
Zodiac was a space disco music band that existed in the 1980s in Latvia, then a part of Soviet Union. The band was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and has been credited by critics as the Soviet answer to the French band Space who were popular at the time.
Zodiac was formed by Janis Lusens, then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga (now Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music). The other four members of the group were also students of various faculties of the same conservatory.
Zodiac's first vinyl record "Disco Alliance" was released in 1980 on the monopolist Melodiya label, during the band members' studentship. The album was produced by Aleksandrs Griva, who was also the father of band member Zane Griva. The music featured a lot of then-unusual synthesized sounds and effects together with more conventional euro disco elements.
The second album "Music in the Universe" released two years later was much inspired by a meeting with cosmonauts in the Star City, Moscow and their tales about space flights. The music of the second album was much more rock-influenced than the first.
During that time the band also performed the music of Viktor Vlasov for the films "Woman's Joys and Sorrows", 1982 and "The Tank Crew", 1983, the soundtracks for the both films were released on a vinyl record "Music from the Films" in 1985. The music of the group was also used in the documentary film about the cosmonaut artist Alexei Leonov "Star Palette", 1982.
The album "In Memoriam" was composed and produced by Janis Lusens alone and released in 1989. The album was dedicated to the ancient and modern cultural and natural heritage of Latvia. The sounding of the album turned from disco to light techno/synthpop while gaining a lot of classical music influences as well as the influence of Jean Michel Jarre's ambient works.
The last album "Clouds'" was released in 1991 by RiTonis (former Melodiya). It contains a hit song of the early 1990s in Latvia "My favourite flowers".
"Disco Alliance" and "Music in the Universe" were released together on compact disc by Mikrofona Ieraksti (which represents EMI in the Baltic states).
In the early 2000s, the Russian electronic duo PPK recorded a remix of Zodiac's composition "Zodiac" from the "Disco Alliance" album. This remix, titled "Reload", entered the charts in a number of territories.
(en.wikipedia.org)
Musicians:
Janis Lusens - ARP Omni, ARP Odyssey, celesta, production
Zane Griva - piano, ARP Omni, vocals
Andris Silis – guitar
Ainars Asmanis – bass guitar
Andris Reinis – drums
Aleksander Griva – production
01. A1 Zodiac (05:22)
02. A2 Pacific (04:03)
03. A3 Provincial Disco (04:22)
04. B1 Polo (03:24)
05. B2 Mirage (04:13)
06. B3 Rock On The Ice (02:51)
07. B4 Alliance (03:46)
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