Lentu Gabalini LP

Dzeltenie Pastnieki are a Latvian new wave band formed in 1979 in Riga, Latvia. Their name means “The Yellow Postmen” in Latvian. The constant core members of the band have remained Ingus Bauškenieks (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Viesturs Slava (guitar, keyboards, vocals), with Zigmunds Streikis (keyboards) and Ilgvars Riškis (drums). They released six albums between 1981 and 1987. All were recorded at the band’s home studio and distributed on 1/4? reel-to-reel tape and compact cassette, with no artwork.

Their sound ranges from electronic post-punk to experimental tape manipulation all sung in Latvian. ‘Lentu Gabalini’ is a 10-track compilation featuring songs from each of the band’s six albums, all songs appearing on the vinyl for the first time. In Fall 1981 the band recorded their debut album, ‘Bolderajas dzelzcelš’ (The Railroad of Bolderaja) a mix of dubbed out guitar/bass/drums. For their second album ‘Man loti patik jaunais vilnis’ (I Really Like New Wave, 1982) the band used a Estradin Pulsar drum machine made in Russia and adopted a synthesizer-based sound. Following a period of inactivity, the band were asked to compose the music for an amateur stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking-Glass’.

The resulting album, 1984’s ‘Alise’ (Alice) adopted a colder minimal electronic sound, largely due to its modest recording circumstances. Leftovers from ‘Alise’ as well as even earlier sessions formed the basis for the fourth album, ‘Vienmer klusi’ (Always Quiet) also released in 1984. ‘Depresiva pilseta’ (The Depressing City) was assembled from out-takes, alternate versions, and solo tracks by individual members of the band in 1986. ‘Naktis’ (Nights, 1987) could be seen as a ‘back to the roots’ effort that made use of the progress of home studio advances made by Bauškenieks over the previous years.