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Jānis Lūsēns
Zodiac (, ) was a Latvian space disco band active in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1980 and 1992. 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. 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 Grīva, 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'' () released two years later was much inspired by a mee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planning Region, Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162 (as of 2025). The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava (river), Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers and lies above sea level on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201, and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. Riga hosted the 2006 Riga summit, 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship, and the 2006 IIHF Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanied by vast laser displays, large projections and fireworks. Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and grandparents and trained on the piano. From an early age, he was introduced to a variety of art forms, including street performers, jazz musicians and the artist Pierre Soulages. His musical style was perhaps most heavily influenced by Pierre Schaeffer, a pioneer of musique concrète at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales. His first mainstream success was the 1976 album '' Oxygène''. Recorded in a makeshift studio at his home, the album sold an estimated 18 million copies. ''Oxygène'' was followed in 1978 by ''Équinoxe'', and in 1979, Jarre performed to a record-breaking audience of more than a million people at the Place de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ARP Odyssey
The ARP Odyssey is an analog circuit, analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972. History ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Minimoog, Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, and less complicated "performance" synthesizers. ARP produced several versions of the Odyssey from 1972 to 1980. In early 2015, Korg reissued the Odyssey in cooperation with the original designer and ARP co-founder, David Friend. Design The Odyssey is a two-oscillator analog synthesizer, and one of the first with Polyphony and monophony in instruments#Duophonic, duophonic capabilities (the ability to play two notes at the same time). All parameters, including a resonant low-pass filter, a non-resonant high-pass filter, ADSR envelope, ADSR and AR envelopes, a sine and square wave LFO, and a sample-and-hold function are controllable with sliders and switches on the front panel. Features *Switchable between sawtooth, square, and pulse wave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ARP Omni
The ARP Omni was a polyphonic analog synthesizer manufactured by ARP Instruments, Inc. Overview The Omni featured preset, electronically generated Orchestral ensemble String voices including polyphonic Violin and Viola sounds as well as monophonic Bass and Cello. The instrument also included a monophonic Bass Synthesizer section and a polyphonic Synthesizer section. The Synthesizer section featured a 24 dB/oct Voltage-Controlled Low Pass Filter (LPF); an ADSR envelope generator and a single waveform (triangle) Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) were both routed to control the VCF Cutoff frequency. A Waveform Enhancement switch allowed selection of a square wave voice waveform vs. the default quasi-sawtooth waveform. The ARP Omni had a unique logo that was painted on to the back face of the unit. Voicing The String and Synthesizer sections of the 49-note Omni utilized the Mostek MK50240 Top Octave generator IC along with divide-down circuitry; as a result, these sectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jānis Lūsēns
Zodiac (, ) was a Latvian space disco band active in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic between 1980 and 1992. 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. 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 Grīva, 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'' () released two years later was much inspired by a mee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rundāle Palace
Rundāle Palace (; ) is one of the two major baroque palaces built for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia, the other being Jelgava Palace. The palace was built in two periods, from 1736 until 1740 and from 1764 until 1768. It is situated at Pilsrundāle, in Rundāle Parish, Bauska Municipality in the Semigallia region, 12 km west of Bauska. History In 1735, Duke of Courland Ernst Johann von Biron bought land in Rundāle with an old medieval castle in the territory of a planned summer residence. The old castle was demolished and constructed after the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli started in 1736. Construction proceeded slowly because part of the materials and resources were transferred to the construction of Jelgava Palace, a project which was more important for the duke. Following Biron's fall from grace in 1740, the palace stood unfinished and empty until 1762, when Biron returned from his exile. Under the supervision of Rastrelli, its construction was finish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Courland
Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were formerly held by the same duke. The literal meaning of the name is "Land of Curonians". Geography and climate Situated in western Latvia, Courland roughly corresponds to the former Latvian districts of Kuldīga, Liepāja, Saldus, Talsi, Tukums and Ventspils. When combined with Semigallia and Selonia, Courland's northeastern boundary is the Daugava River, which separates it from the regions of Latgale and Vidzeme. To the north, Courland's coast lies along the Gulf of Riga. On the west it is bordered by the Baltic Sea, and on the south by Lithuania. It lies between 55° 45′ and 57° 45′ North and 21° and 27° East. The name is also found in the Curonian Spit and Lithuanian ''Karšuvos giria'' - the Courland wood. The area c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiery Roads
''Fiery Roads'' (, ) was an Uzbek television series running from 1977 to 1984 based on the life of Uzbek enlightener Hamza Hakimzade Niyazi. Plot The series was closely based on the novel "Hamza" by Kamil Yashin, who was also the screenwriter, as well as the storybook "Furious Hamza" () by Lyubov Voronkova. It depicts Hamza's struggles to promote the revolution and modernization against a background of feudalism and Basmachi terror. Episodes * 1978: Season 1 "Heart of a Poet", episodes 1-4 * 1979: Season 2 "In Search of Truth", episodes 5-8 * 1982: Season 3: "Singer of the Revolution", episodes 9-12 * 1983: Season 4: "Fighting Turkestan" episodes 13-14 * 1984: Season 5: "My Republic" episodes 15-17 Cast (partial list) The diverse crew of the production consisted of various high-profile actors and actresses from across the Soviet Union, featuring cast members from Uzbek, Tajik, Russian, Kartvelian, Tatar, Ossetian, and other backgrounds. * Oʻlmas Alixoʻjayev as Hamza * Nab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''The New York Times'' as "Wikipedia-like". While the site was originally created with the goal of becoming the largest online database of electronic music, it now includes releases in all genres and on all formats. By 2015, it had a new goal: that of "cataloging every single piece of physical music ever created." As of 2025, its database contains over 18 million user-submitted album listings. History Discogs was started in 2000 by Kevin Lewandowski who worked as a programmer at Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo .... It wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One ( rus, Первый канал, r=Pervý kanal, p=ˈpʲervɨj kɐˈnal, t=First Channel) is a Russian federal television channel. Its headquarters are located at Ostankino Technical Center near the Ostankino Tower in Moscow. The majority of its shares are owned or indirectly controlled by the state. It was created by decree of Russian president Boris Yeltsin to replace Ostankino Television Channel One, which in turn replaced Programme One in 1991. From April 1995 to September 2002, the channel was known as Public Russian Television (, ORT ). The main news programmes are ''Vremya'' and '' Novosti''. Channel One's main competitors are the Russia-1 and NTV channels. The channel has 2,443 employees as of 2015. History When the Soviet Union was abolished, the Russian Federation took over most of its structures and institutions. One of the first acts of Boris Yeltsin's new government was to sign a presidential decree on 27 December 1991, providing for Russian jur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novy God
''Novy God'' or ''Noviy God'' () is a New Year celebration observed in Russia, in post-Soviet states, and globally by the diasporas of post-Soviet states. The holiday was promoted by the Soviet Union as a secular holiday that would supplant Christmas, which (along with other religious holidays) had been abolished due to the Communist Party's unofficial policy of state atheism. It incorporates traditions derived from Christmas, including gift-giving, decorated trees, and a Santa Claus-like figure— Ded Moroz ()—who is said to deliver gifts to children on New Year's Eve. Novy God's customs have remained a popular observance among Russians and diaspora since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as well as in parts of Central Asia. In 2016, Russian American journalist Leon Neyfakh called it "the most important family holiday of the season for Russians all over the world." History From AD 1492, the new year was originally celebrated on 1 September as per the Byzantin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PPK (group)
PPK () is a Russian trance duo based primarily in Rostov-on-Don. The group consists of and . The name 'PPK' is the abbreviation of founding members' initials; K was for short-time member DJ Kordj (Roman Korzhov). Career PPK became known internationally due to their single " ResuRection", which was available to download for free on mp3.com. The track had a few million downloads, which led to PPK signing a contract with Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto label. The track was used to celebrate the New Year 2003 in Warsaw, Poland (seen on Sky News Active, 31 December 2002). The melody of "ResuRection" is based on the original melody «Поход» ("Crusade") written by Eduard Artemyev for the 1979 Soviet movie Siberiade. The melody of "Reload" was based on "Zodiak" from the album ''Disco Alliance'' by Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
