Zodiac (musical group)
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Zodiac (Zodiak, Russian: Зодиа́к, Latvian: Zodiaks) was an electronic/disco/rock group that existed in 1980s in Latvia, then the part of USSR. The band was extremely popular in USSR and has been credited by critics as the Russian answer to the French band Space who were the big stars of that time.
Zodiac has been formed by Jānis Lūsēns then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga. The other four members of the group were also the students of various faculties of the same conservatory.
Zodiac has released their first vinyl record Disco Alliance (Russian: Диско альянс) in 1980, during the band members' studentship. The significant part of the group's blazing success was that the album has been produced by Aleksandrs Grīva, one of the best sound engineers of the country. The music featured a lot of then-unusual synthesized sounds and effects together with more conventional disco elements while in whole remaining very melodic, atmospheric and easy to understand.
The second album Music in the Universe (Russian: Музыка во Вселенной) released three years later was much inspired by the meeting with cosmonauts in the Star City, Moscow and their tales about space flights. The music of the album featured many rock tones and parts, became even more atmospheric and somewhat less conventional.
During that time the band also performed the music of Viktor Vlasov for the films Zhenskiye radosti i pechali (Woman's Joys and Sorrows, 1982) and Ekipazh mashiny boevoy (The Tank Crew, 1983), the soundtracks for the both films were released on a vinyl record Music from the Films (Russian: Музыка из кинофильмов) in 1985. The music of the group was also used in the documentary film about the astronaut artist Aleksei Leonov Zvyozdnaya palitra (Star Palette, 1982).
The last 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/synth pop while gaining a lot of fine classical music features that gave it a very unusual Baroque/Romantic taste, together with some ambient influences of Jean Michel Jarre.
[edit] Discography
All the albums are equally known under their Russian and English titles and had both spellings on their original covers.
- Disco Alliance/Диско альянс (1980)
- Музыка во Вселенной/Music in the Universe (1983)
- Music from the Films/Музыка из кинофильмов (1985)
- In memoriam (1989)
[edit] Line-up
Since the group rarely performed live every new album had a new line-up except the producer Jānis Lūsēns.
Disco Alliance:
- Jānis Lūsēns - ARP Omni, ARP Odyssey, celesta, producing
- Zane Grīva - piano, ARP Omni, vocals
- Andris Sīlis - guitar
- Ainārs Ašmanis - bass guitar
- Andris Reinis - drums
- Aleksander Grīva - producing
Music in the Universe:
- Jānis Lūsēns - piano, Yamaha SK-50D, producing
- 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 - producing
The line-up on Music from the Films is unknown, the original CD cover has only the following info:
- Viktor Vlasov - composition
- Aleksander Grīva - producing, sound engineering
In memoriam:
- Jānis Lūsēns - synthesizers, piano, producing
- 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
