I spent a lot of last night downloading the new album (and filmclips) by Prata Vetra.
They are called Brainstorm in English but have now officially reverted to their Latvian name due to the fact there's also a German heavy metal band called it.

Anyway, I *love* them.
They came 3rd in Eurovision 2000, and since then I've bought their albums, downloaded their clips where I can and watched whatever little stuff on tv they have had on here (namely 2 other Eurovision appearances - hosting 2003 Eurovision, and co-hosting the 50 Years of Eurovision special). Renars Kaupers - the lead singer, is just such a cutie.

For me, Eurovision is about stuff like Prata Vetra. Finding hidden musical gems in a small part of the world. Usually its surrounded by trash, but finding one great artist every 4 years or so keeps me watching. Like Swedish band The Ark in Eurovision 2007. Glam pop just like T-Rex... since been included in a number of film soundtracks (eg. Shortbus) I like.

So... their new album... Its entirely in Latvian. Don't understand a word of it.
I still love it. It rocks in much the same way as the likes of Kaiser Chiefs. Prata Vetra has always sounded quite Britpop like and thats why I love them.

I enjoy the music itself, much like how I enjoy certain German songs I've got on my Ipod. I understand some of the lyrics, but I get caught up in the melodies more. There's also the fact that when I hear those songs, it brings back memories of Berlin for me. Stuff like 'MfG' by Die Fanta Fier (I danced to it in nightclubs with my penpal), 'Wir Sind Wir' by Paul Van Dyjk (heard it on the plane as we were coming in to land at Berlin, and then playing all through the shops for the next 7 days) and Herbert Groenmeyer 'Mensch' in particular - it was no 1 on the charts when I was last there so I saw the clip for it on MTV at least 8 times in 2 days. I since have discovered the clip itself was by Anton Corbijn (the movie Control, as well as almost every Depeche Mode clip ever) and Herbert Groenmeyer is an actor in some very fine German films like Das Boot.

I believe the new Prata Vetra album will be released in English sometime early next year. I look forward to it, and god I hope my trip to Latvia coincides with a concert to celebrate its release. In the meantime, I've just ordered a DVD of their 2004 concerts in Latvian, so I'll enjoy it and try to understand what I have to look forward to.