Description
Both Edgars Rubenis and Heikki Ruokangas play one solo set.
The founding member of Riga's experimental drone rock band Mona de Bo, in his solo practice Edgars Rubenis now works with traditions of blues and ragtime creating contemporary new music for acoustic guitar.
Since his 2020 acoustic drift, Rubenis’ music has been featured on London's Resonance FM radio, in concerts along with fellow guitarists Gwenifer Raymond, Liam Grant, de Vlaamse Primitieven, Eric Arn, Kadonnut Manner, Andrew DR Abbott, and on various festivals and tours in UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, The Netherlands and the Baltics.
– review of Shelterbelt by Jakub Knera, The Quietus:
Edgars Rubenis, after years immersed in experimental music, turned to writing for acoustic guitar during the pandemic. What began as a personal exploration of fingerpicked steel string traditions gradually evolved into Pains And Boogies – a trilogy rooted in a contemporary dialogue with early blues and ragtime forms. His compositions pay homage to the originators of the genres, yet repeatedly drift into unfamiliar territory, balancing the influence of the American Primitive school with a highly personal musical language of his own. On Shelterbelt, the persistent tape his, room noise, timing imperfections, and recording imperfections are essential compositional elements. These limitations sharpen its emotional and structural clarity, revealing the skeletal beauty of Rubenis' guitar work. The album's rough sonic character resists the hyperreal precision of contemporary production. It feels like a transmission from somewhere outside linear time: intimate, spectral, and deeply human.
LIVE VIDEO
– Populist Drag (live in Lucavsala)
Edgars Rubenis - Populist Drag - live in Lucavsala, Riga (2024 09 21)
ALBUM LINK
– Shelterbelt
Shelterbelt | Edgars Rubenis | dis ce que
Heikki Ruokangas (b. 1987) is an innovative guitarist, composer and improviser from Finland. His music is a dialogue between melody and noise, shifting from soothing and sensitive moments to violent avant-garde expression, to distinct melodies and atonal motifs. Ruokangas draws his inspiration from avant-garde, contemporary, and traditional jazz as well as from his native Finnish musical heritage and traditions. He’s performed in United States and throughout Europe and has released over 20 collaborative and solo recordings.
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