Stylewalker » Riga

Videointerview with Polarkreis 18

Thomas — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:28:33 +0000

I announced it and now, after heavy works of editing with a shitty piece of software (windows movie maker – someone sponsor me a good editing program, please!) I finally can present the interview with Bernd from Polarkreis 18, who I met in Riga by some magical coincidence.

They have been compared to Mars Volta and Muse, Sigur Ros and Air; their record, which will be out in early november 06 is mixed by Chris von Rautenkranz, their label is Motor. So, everything is going pretty well for the boys from Dresden and why? Because they deserve it. Their music is wonderful, emotional, a little melancholic and floating with the autumn fogs. Enjoy a little videointerview (in German) on a bridge and some sounds from the upcoming album.

Rigas Svetki House Music Night

Thomas — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 14:35:16 +0000

An old industry harbour area. City festival, 20th of august, the end of a great summer is getting closer. Thousands of young people celebrated the city festival “Svetki” and its saturday “House Muzikas Nakts” with Stressless Project (~~Lisboa~~ Porto) and many great local DJs. The music was perfect for the evening: Massive, loud, emotional, overwhelming. Warm air with a little wind surrounded the stage with the big screens on the wharf..

The party was awesome, I talked to many people and danced like I didn’t dance for a long time. Here’s a little video impression:

Mpg-Download (9Mb)

It took really long to edit this one minute but it was fun. I only used a Jenoptik Camera and Windows Movie Maker.

If you like this video you might also like
Riga Silent Club
Justice Release Party Madness
Deep in the club
Week-end with Steve Bug
and Techno is alive with Martin Landsky

That would have been a pity

Thomas — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 11:38:34 +0000

People who know me will not be surprised by this: I almost lost my flight from Berlin to Riga. In the end, it really was a matter of seconds.

I wanted to take the airport express from Alexanderplatz, but it was not on the display, it was cancelled due to an accident, I found out. So I had to take the S-Bahn which left later and takes much longer to Schönefeld. 7:50 was the scheduled take-off and I arrived at 7:35!

Thank god I had the boarding pass from Easyjet already printed out and thank god they let me take my two big bags into the cabin. Looking back, I realize what a shame it would have been not to go to Riga..

Stay tuned for the two missing videos: The open air houseparty in the harbour and the videointerview with Polarkreis 18, I am currently editing it!

Riga Streetart

Thomas — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:41:23 +0000

I knew this is an inspiring and creative place. I already was fascinated by modern Latvian culture when I saw all the animated movies from Riga students in the Red Shift filmfestival in New York. I was not mistaken. There’s art and creativity everywhere, the walls are full of little grafics and signs and sprayed items. Tons of streetart really, and I only took pictures of few of the pieces. Here’s my Riga streetart pictures gallery, my favourite stencils and symbols.

More fotos on Stylewalker Riga streetart on Flickr
and many more on Streetart Riga on Flickr

Videointerview with Juan, owner of Riga Hostel

Thomas — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 19:13:27 +0000

The place I am staying in is charming, cosy and has a familial atmosphere. People share stuff, cook together, party together and everywhere you find postcards and post-its with regards and good advice for the rest of the visitors. To find out more about the background of such a nice place, I interviewd Juan, who came from Spain to Riga to start a hostel business about the history and his secret tips about Riga.

www.riga-hostel.com

Riga: still to come on stylewalker.net

Thomas — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:08:54 +0000

There are two movies I have to edit with stuff from Riga: First, there was this mindblowing party in the old industrial harbour, with thousands of people, great music and enthusiastic dancing. Expect ecstasy! The second is a video interview with Polarkreis 18, an uprising band, getting started now and going to be huge. Don’t miss that!

Update: Here are the movies:

Riga Open Air Houseparty crowd
A video interview with Polarkreis 18

Riga’s Silent Club

Thomas — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 11:45:21 +0000

Once a year, Riga celebrates the “Silent club” in front of the National Opera House. Stylewalker checked it out for you and made some fotos and a little video.

Figure out why it is called “Silent Club” – the movie is not edited and you hear the original sound!

It was a pity that the DJ was not one of the best. As one dancer put it:”They spent so much on the headphones, so they couldn’t afford proper music”. At least it got better in the end and besides you could always take the headphones off and talk. And vice versa: once you’re annoyed by somebody talking nonsense, you just put the headphones back on. Like: “Yeah, whatever”.

Contest!
What is the song that the people are listening to?
It’s not hard to find out, answer in the comments!

Riga Impressions

Thomas — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:33:05 +0000

Without many commentaries, I just invite you to enjoy some pictures of a beautiful day.

Going to the beach (Jumala, trainstation Majori), watching people in the street, going up in the elevator of the Reval hotel, drinking a cocktail in the Sky lounge, enjoying the parks.

More fotos has Stylewalker@Flickr about Riga

Going out to Casablanca

Thomas — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:39:20 +0000

Foto by Tim Protlove“Naktsklub” is Latvian for nightclub and does not necessarily have to do anything with “naked”. After a night in Riga’s old town, one cannot be so sure about that anymore. Red lights wherever you go, girls in the street, strange men trying to drag you into shady grottos.

We couldn’t care less and went to “Casablanca”, a nightclub which deserves its name. And it’s not less sexy than any Rolexxx or Orion, on the contrary! People dance tight, carry each other around, hug and kiss and have a good sexy time. Together with nice funky music blended with some hits a good recipe for a night out in Riga.

Tonight, there’s a houseparty organized by the city festival. The headliner are Stressless project from Portugal, some progressive house Djs and apparently whole Riga’s youth is going. So am I.

Riga-Hostel: A place like a shared flat

Thomas — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:18:06 +0000

In the background the coffee machine makes cosy noises, somebody is watching tv, I have a Latvian dark beer sizzling right next to my laptop, a guy is reading, the Japanese girl writes postcards. Riga-Hostel is like a shared flat, has a big kitchen, a big fridge where people put things and I just fried some delicious salmon. I am staying in a dorm with 12 people, all very nice so far. I will try to do an interview with the owner later. His name is Juan, he is Spanish, so half of the people here are from Spain, especially from Barcelona, isn’t that nice.

Riga is beautiful, charming, calm, friendly and its inhabitants are helpful and literate in many languages. The old town is lively and I found a nice bakery to hang out. I even rented a boat and rowed on the little river for a while. Perfect day. And yet to come: This weekend, Riga celebrates itself with a big festival, the Svetki festival. Houseparties in the harbour, classical concerts in the park, all for free.

Stylewalker@Flickr has more fotos.

Riga and no shorts

Thomas — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:18:25 +0000

Damn, should have brought shorts! It’s hot! People go to the beach, hang out in the city, relax in the sun and are really, really friendly. I found a nice hostal (a dorm with 12 beds – 10€) with cool people (everybody shares food) and now I am going to explore the city. Expect some fotos later.

Riga and hospitalityclub.org

Thomas — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 16:00:11 +0000

Foto from Brent@FlickrI am going to Riga! Yeah! From thursday to tuesday I’ll be travelling in the wild east and enjoy the atmosphere of the beautiful Baltic city. So you can expect some reports from Riga on stylewalker.net

By some magic coincidence I met some Latvians on the train (they looked cool and had t-shirts with a strange language print, so I assumed they had to be Latvians. I asked them: and it was true!) who recommended hospitalityclub.org. Check it out: you’ll be amazed.

I am fascinated by the idea of connecting people over the internet who offer their places for travellers and really curious how this is going to work. The communication so far with the people I wrote to in Riga has been very friendly and pleasant and I am looking forward to meeting them.

And on my search for travelling information about Riga I found some interesting blog-stories and information sites, you can see them in my delicious-list about Riga

Talk to you soon from Riga!