Home » Entertainment » Līgo soundtrack 2022. ‘Auļu’ album ‘Sit, Jānīti!’ review

Līgo soundtrack 2022. ‘Auļu’ album ‘Sit, Jānīti!’ review

Each long-standing ethno music group sooner or later arrives at their Midsummer album. In 2022, the drum and bagpipe group “Auļi”, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary next year, took care of such a gift for its fans at the main summer festival, releasing an album with a name emphasizing the importance of a comma in our language “Sit, Jānīti!”.

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In addition, this is the first Midsummer album in the history of world music, which has also been released in “Dolby Atmos” format. No matter how much the new 9.1.6 speaker placement appeals to Kaspars Bārbals, the main steer of “Auļi”, it is of course still nothing democratic and freely available to everyone. Yes, the new format can be simulated in the stereo system for all users of Apple products by turning on the corresponding 3D audio effect or “spatial audio” menu, but let’s be honest, especially in the context of the Midsummer celebrations, we will probably stick to the good old stereo.

It will definitely make sense to stay at the music streaming services at the “Auļi” menu, because this is a very good Līgo soundtrack. It must be said at once that you may want to hear a slightly more unusual selection of holiday songs, because the songs are mostly heard in more than one version, but once we have agreed on democracy in the sound format, we will only have to do so in terms of content.

Yes, this is not an instrumental album “Auļu”, because the band continues to collaborate with various singers from themselves, from far away countries. This time, foreign guests took part only in the presentation concert of the new album at the Valmiermuiža ethno music festival and the album cannot be heard, leaving its mood 100% Latvian. This time it is taken care of by the young and folk studio “Banga”, which sings clearly and full of energy. Patricia Karele, as well as prolific men in voice and soul – Andrejs Planders and Eduards Plankājs from the Ropaži folklore group “Trejasmens” together with Edgars Zilberts from “Vilkači”. At the end of the album, you can even hear the choir “Pa Saulei” curated by the Ozoli family of conductors. There is no shortage of scope, as usual for “Auļi”.

The most powerful composition in the digital new album “Sit, Jānīti!” although it is the very first – “The sun is shining in the fogs”, which was made together with Asnati Rancāns and could be declared the unofficial anthem of this Midsummer evening. It has all the necessary qualities, including a strong sonic scope, a magical mantra sense and a Latvian code encoded somewhere deeper than the top layer of consciousness.

The “Janis sitting in the oak”, “The golden belt of Janis”, “The back of the grass burden” and “Janis’ standing on a hill” made together with the really fresh-sounding “Bangu” are also quite powerful and “audible” arrangements of folk songs, but they still have the depth of the introductory song. does not reach. The closest thing to it is “John ‘s Sitting in the Oak”, which once follows the album’ s introductory song. Probably thanks to the suffix singing, not forgetting the well – known stretch of the vowel “ē” for nine miles.

The songs “Janis rode all year round”, “Happiness, John’s children”, “I saw Midsummer night” and “Midsummer fields, lilac meadows” sung by the men of “Trejasmens” / “Vilkači” also have good power, but they are relatively lacking. depth. Rather, they are simply high-quality arrangements of either folk or lyrical arrangements of folk songs. The weakest song in the album is “Midsummer’s Day is a holy day”, because Anna Patricia Karele’s song is unfortunately not convincing and the arrangement itself with all the “ligo, ligo, rally” trellis seems a bit “gritty” for “Auļi” album.

The ending with the choir is simply beautiful and would fit well into the song festival program, but it also lacks a bit of “ausle” depth. It is possible that “Auļi” has already set itself a very high bar of musical quality and always expected power, especially if we remember the ambitious pre-crown ring project “Voices of Ancestors”, so such a waving Midsummer album still seems a bit lower.

However, the joy of a great ethno-addition to the musical festive table. It is only necessary to mention what the three main composers and arrangers of the group – Kaspars Bārbals, Mārtiņš Miļevskis and Edgars Kārklis – will hatch in the atmosphere of “Lauskas” studio 9.1.6 in a year or two. The longer “Auļi” settles in peace, it is as if to be guessed.

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