NSRD, courtesy of The Latvian Institute Of Contemporary Art
We’re not luddites, we just feel you deserve better than some unsatisfying algorithmical advice when it comes to music. This is the fifth edition of our Low Culture subscriber’s newsletter, Organic Intelligence, which features tQ’s favourite people taking a deep dive into their record collections to offer you DJ bag gold, Discogs bargains and all-back-to-mine nuggets. This month Daryl Worthington unearths five gems from the world of Latvian cosmic pop. You can listen to the fifth Organic Intelligence playlist on Spotify, Apple and Tidal (and remember that all your monthly playlists, as well as your exclusive essays, can be found on the Low Culture Quietus page). To get access to the Organic Intelligence newsletter, you need to sign up to our subscriber system via the Steady checkout below.
Listen to the Organic Intelligence Latvian Cosmic Pop Playlist on Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal
Latvian cosmic pop is as much a story of a train track as it is of psychic escape. Starting in 1980, Hardijs Lediņš and Juris Boiko (both members of NSRD, aka Nebijušu sajūtu restaurēšanas darbnīca, Workshop for The Restoration of Unfelt Feelings), along with Imants Žodžiks annually embarked on a seven-kilometre hike along the Bolderāja railway. It’s a route I’ve wandered along myself, and even now it seems to exist in permanent liminality, suburban Riga blending into untouched forest via intens…
