Zodiac
From Unearthing The Music
Zodiac (Zodiak, Russian: Зодиа́к, Latvian: Zodiaks) was a space disco music band that existed in the 1980s in Latvia, then a part of the 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.
Biography
Zodiac was formed by Jānis Lūsēns, then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga (now Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music). The other four members of the group were also students of various faculties of the same conservatory.
Influenced by electronic artists such as Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield and Vangelis, Zodiac's first vinyl record Disco Alliance (Russian: Диско альянс, Latvian: Disko alianse) was released in 1980 on the state label, Melodiya, while the band members were still studying. The album was produced by Aleksandrs Grīva, who was also the father of band member Zane Grīva. 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 (Russian: Музыка во Вселенной), 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 Viktor Vlasov's music for the films Женские радости и печали (Woman's Joys and Sorrows, 1982) and Экипаж машины боевой (The Tank Crew, 1983). The soundtracks for both films were released on a vinyl record entitled Music from the Films (Russian: Музыка из кинофильмов) in 1985. The band's music was also used in a documentary film about the cosmonaut artist Alexei Leonov, Звёздная палитра (Star Palette, 1982).
In 1982 Zodiac would perform at the "Youth of the Baltic" show in Moscow. This performance was well received and authorities offered to have the band tour the USSR. However, Jānis Lūsēns refused, as he would have to abandon his studies at the conservatory and thus faced the prospect of possibly being drafted into the army, and instead temporarly left the band in order to work in the field of academic music.
The album In memoriam was composed and produced by Jānis Lūsēns 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.
Their final album, Clouds was released in 1991 by RiTonis (former Melodiya). It contains one of the hit songs 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 2015, the group released the album Pacific Time, which contains updated versions of music from the first two albums of the group, as well as two new songs.
Discography
All the albums are equally known under their Russian and English titles and had both spellings on their original covers.
- Disco Alliance (1980)
- Music in the Universe (1982)
- Music from the films (1985) (Russian only)
- In memoriam (1989) (Russian only)
- Mākoņi (Clouds) (1991) (Latvian only)
- Dedication (1996)
- Mirušais gadsimts (2006)
- Best (2008)
- Pacific Time (2015)
Line-up
Since the group rarely performed live, every new album had a new line-up, with the only constant being its leader Jānis Lūsēns.
Disco Alliance:
- Jānis Lūsēns – ARP Omni, ARP Odyssey, celesta, production
- Zane Grīva – piano, ARP Omni, vocals
- Andris Sīlis – guitar
- Ainārs Ašmanis – bass guitar
- Andris Reinis – drums
- Aleksander Grīva – production
Music in the Universe:
- Jānis Lūsēns – piano, Yamaha SK-50D, production
- Aivars Gudrais – guitar on tracks 2–4, 6
- Dzintars Sāgens – guitar on tracks 1, 5, 7
- Ivars Piļka – bass guitar
- Andris Reinis – drums
- Aleksander Grīva – production
The line-up on Music from the Films is unknown, with the original CD cover offering only the following info:
- Viktor Vlasov – composition
- Aleksander Grīva – producing, sound engineering
In memoriam:
- Jānis Lūsēns – synthesizers, piano, production
- Zigfrīds Muktupāvels – vocals, DDD-1, violin
- Dzintars Sāgens – computer, guitar
- Guntis Zvirgzdiņš – synthesizer
- Maija Lūsēna – vocals on track 4
- Normunds Šnē – oboe on track 3
- Aivars Gudrais – guitar on track 5
- Ivars Piļka – sound engineering
Clouds:
- Jānis Lūsēns – synthesizers, piano, production
- Maija Lūsēna – vocals
- Zigfrīds Muktupāvels – vocals, programming, violin
- Aivars Gudrais – guitar
- Gatis Gaujenieks – sound engineering
- Ivars Piļka – sound engineering
- P. Joksts – cover design
External Links
Text adapted from Wikipedia.