Reviews

03.2007 Geiger

Mange kedelige ting er i tidens løb blevet lavet i avantgardens navn, men som Brian Eno har pointeret, så kan man sagtens glæde sig over, at der er nogle, der laver de helt ekstreme og abstrakte lydeksperiementer, også selvom man ikke nødvendigvis selv orker at høre dem. Der er stadig tale om en slags musikalsk grundforskning, hvis resultater siden kan vise sig brugbare i helt andre og langt mere givende sammenhænge. At sige, at der er tale om ”grundforskning” er samtidig det absolut pæneste, man kan sige om Gintas Ks 60 x one minute audio colours of 2kHz sound, selvom forskningen samtidig må siges at være så banal, at det er svært at forestille sig, at den nogensinde ville kunne bruges til noget som helst. For en halvtreds år siden eller mere, hvor simple elektroniske tonemanipulationer stadig var en relativt ny ting, ja, der kunne det måske have været brugbart, men den dag i dag er det ærlig talt svært at se, hvem der har brug for – endsige kunne finde på at høre – en hel time med en 2 kHz-tone, som mere eller mindre systematisk køres gennem en række digitale modulationer, med en ny hvert minut.

Det er måske ikke teoretisk umuligt, at der kunne komme noget godt ud af denne tilgang, man kan trods alt komme ret langt omkring rent lydmæssigt ved modulation af rene toner. Imidlertid går Gintas K meget puritansk til sagen, og mere end halvdelen af værket lyder som et prøvebillede hørt med forskellige mængder af ørevoks i ørene. Dette kombineres så med passager, hvor der er lidt mere ”gang” i den, hvilket stort set vil sige forskellige former for simpel puls i varierende hastigheder, og momentvise udbrud af støj. Ud af den time det hele varer, er der måske alt i alt en fire-fem minutter, hvor det tangerer noget let stemningsfuldt. Resten er endnu mere dræbende kedeligt, end man havde troet muligt ud fra det teoretiske udgangspunkt.

Så er der langt mere at komme efter på Lengvai, den første halvdel af den dobbelt-cd, som 60 x one minute udgør anden halvdel af. Også her er der tale om abstrakt atonal ”lydkunst”, blot med den markante forskel, at numrene har fået lov til at udvikle sig som lange, flydende og varierede forløb i stedet for at være underlagt en benhård teoretisk spændetrøje. Gintas K viser sig her som en fin repræsentant for hybrid-stilen mellem minimalistisk glitch og atmosfærisk støj, beslægtet med navne som Pan Sonic og Pixel, og fyldt med skærende blip-lyde, mørkt rugende loops og hakkende digitalfejl-grooves. Intet af dette er videre originalt, og Lengvai er samlet set også lige lidt længere end det har godt af, men den musikalske kvalitet er ikke desto mindre ganske høj, og det bliver aldrig decideret kedeligt eller overflødigt – højst en smule anonymt i perioder. For tilhængere af stilen skulle der således nok være noget at komme efter, hvis de ellers kan bide i sig også at skulle betale for 60 x one minute i samme ombæring.

En anden plade, som fremstår splittet mellem interessant avantgarde-electronica og et lidt for dominerende teoretisk koncept, er Gescoms MiniDisc. Splittelsen opstår dog i dette tilfælde, fordi værket – oprindeligt en eksklusiv mini disc-udgivelse fra 1998 – nu genudgives på cd, og dermed i nogen grad underminerer sit eget koncept. Den originale ide var, at man skulle benytte mini disc-afspillernes avancerede og mere eller mindre selvgenererende redigeringsmuligheder til at skabe en musik i konstant forandring; en plade, som blev sat sammen på en ny og uforudsigelig måde, hver gang man hørte den. Følgelig indeholdt MiniDisc heller ikke virkelig ”færdige” kompositioner, men i stedet en lang række korte, åbne fragmenter, skabt til at kunne køre i loop eller blive kombineret på kryds og tværs. Om denne idé så rent faktisk fungerede i sin oprindelige form, forbliver en hemmelighed forbeholdt de få, som har dyrket både mini disc-formatet og hardcore avanttronica, men overført til en almindelig, sammenhængende cd, uden det interaktive element, ja, der bliver det mildt sagt en blandet fornøjelse.

To tredjedele af Gescom, i hvert fald i denne udgave, er identiske med Autechre, og man kan måske lidt få den mistanke, at det netop er Autechres store og trofaste fanskare, der sigtes efter med cd-udgivelsen af MiniDisc. Det er næppe alle Autechre-hoveder, der fik fingre i originalen, endsige havde en tilstrækkelig avanceret mini disc-afspiller til at få det optimale udbytte ud af den, og nu virker det så som om, gruppen har erkendt, at konceptet måske alligevel var for avanceret for almindelige dødelige, og følgelig opgiver de de fine kunstneriske fornemmelser og udgiver skidtet i et format, hvor alle kan være med – uanset om musikken så er skabt til det eller ej. Selvom enkelte passager fremstår som forholdsvis færdige numre, så består udgivelsen stadig mest af korte, abrupte bidder, som ofte lyder som mere eller mindre tilfældige afprøvninger af diverse digitaleffekter.

Man kan så påpege, at der inden for traditionel elektronisk avantgardemusik er en lang tradition for den slags opklippede og kaotiske lydbilleder, og det er da også langt mere oplagt at klassificere MiniDisc som netop traditionel avantgarde, snarere end den electronica, man typisk forbinder Autechre-projekter med. Når det er bedst kan det minde om Vangelis’ sælsomme eksperimentalmusik på det underkendte Beaubourg-album – mystisk, uvirkeligt, drømmende – men for det meste lyder det desværre mere som glitchgenerationens lidt for billige udgave af klassisk musique concrete. Det ville have været langt bedre for projektet, hvis de mest uinspirerede ligegyldigheder var blevet luget ud, og det bedste i stedet var blevet splejset sammen til en kortere og mere gennemtænkt helhed. Det kunne faktisk være blevet en ganske hæderlig udgivelse, som ikke havde behøvet stå i skyggen af det oprindelige koncept, endsige være så ujævn og frustrerende at komme igennem, som det nu er tilfældet.

Jannik Juhl Christensen

12.2006 Ox

Vom gleichen Label, aber von einem ganz anderen Kaliber ist die Doppel-CD "Lengvai/ 60 x One Minute Audio Colors Of 2kHz Sound" (cronicaelectronica.org/A-Musik) von GINTAS K. "Lengvai" bedeutet soviel wie "einfach, leicht oder unbeschwert" und es hört sich auch so an, obwohl unheimlich viel Arbeit und Innovation in diesen Sounds steckt. Wie ein besessener Schatzsucher frisst sich GINTAS K durch die aktuellen elektronischen Spielarten und nagt sie bis auf das minimalste, noch überlebensfähige Rhythmusskelett ab. Konsequent selektiert und reduziert, werden aus ein, zwei reinen Tönen Rhythmen und ans extremen Dynamiksprüngen Basslinien, die dann in ihrem ausgewogenen, filigranen und perfekt aufeinander abgestimmten Zusammenspiel einen meditativen und unglaublich hypnotischen Sog erzeugen. Noch einen Schritt weiter in Richtung radikaler Reduzierung geht GINTAS K dann auf der zweiten CD. Alle Klänge wurden auf der Basis eines 2kHz-Tones produziert und die Klangfarbe, Modulation und so weiter werden konsequent jede Minute ausgewechselt. Für Menschen mit Tinnitus sicher nur schwer zu ertragen, wird eine weitere, höhere Stufe der Meditation erreicht. Ein kompletter Klangkosmos wird durch Suggestion individuell im Gehirn des Hörers erzeugt, sofern er bereit ist, sich auf einen solchen Trip einzulassen.

10.2006 Freemusic

DvojCD Lengvai / 60 x One Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz Sound je takřka čistokrevný "hard listening". Jinými slovy se připravte na to, že Kraptavičiusova sonická minimal vyšinutost na hranici ultrazvuku made in Lithuania dá vašim uším pořádně zabrat.

Po dvou albech vydaných německým labelem Retina Scan se zvukových experimentů Gintase Kraptavičiuse tentokrát ujímá malé portugalské vydavatelství Crónica. (Za zmínku stojí i fakt, že jedna deska tohoto Litevce produkujícího mikrosonické výlety za obzor vyšla dokonce u slovenského labelu Black Orchid.) Gintas K sice první kotouč svého dvojalba nazval Lengvai (což v překladu znamená "lehko, snadno"), z čehož by jeden odtušil, že se po roztočení disku v přehrávači dočká příjemného a odpočinkového "easy listeningu", ale ono je to s pěti tracky, které dávají dohromady více jak hodinovou stopáž, přesně naopak. Vysokofrekvenční minimalismus, jenž Gintas K jen velmi zlehka (že by právě tady byl skrytý význam onoho zatra-slovíčka Lengvai?) modifikuje a obohacuje dalšími prvky, není žádný balzám pro hlukem všedních dní unavená sluchová ústrojí.

V jednu chvíli jsou zvuky použité na Lengvai až podezřele podobné těm, jež vyluzovala stará analogová rádia, když jste na nich manuálním otáčením ladícího knoflíku v pásmu AM, potažmo FM hledali rozhlasové stanice. Krátce nato zase křupání a neustále přerušované syčení přímo vybízí k černým myšlenkám o správném fungování vašich reproduktorů (všichni známe to nepříjemné lupnutí, které se ozve v momentu odpojení beden od proudu, aniž by se před tím regulérně vypnuly, hm?), načež se vzápětí ujišťujete, že ne, to vám nehvízdá k zbláznění v obou uších najednou, to jen Gintas Kraptavičius experimentuje s takřka nesnesitelným zvukem o kmitočtu 2 kHz.

Při obzvlášť hlasitém poslechu Lengvai bych se ani příliš nedivil, kdyby u citlivějších osob došlo k "únavě materiálu", jímž myslím v tomto případě bubínky. (I když mě nenapadá jediný důvod, proč by si někdo chtěl užívat zrovna tuhle obskurnost opravdu hodně nahlas.) Gintas K jde ve své vizi digitálního "pure soundu" skutečně až na zvukovou dřeň, ale pořád je to ještě slabý odvar toho, co na posluchače čeká na disku druhém, s podtitulem 60 x One Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz Sound.

Jestli u Lengvai váhám, nakolik mám onu pětici "skladeb" brát vážně, zda-li má smysl pokoušet se ji pochopit a najít její skryté krásy, pak u šedesáti minutových tracků o frekvenci 2 kHz mám jasno. Zde není co chápat, brát vážně, nedej bože hledat nějakou skrytou krásu v tom sonickém experimentu šíleného doktora Gintase, který snad nemůže vydržet v kuse doposlouchat do konce ani opravdový hudební sadomasochista. Ostatně proč taky, pokud je během prvních pěti bolestivých vteřin prakticky každého tracku jasné, jak bude (když ne zcela, tak velmi podobně) po zbylých pětapadesát pokračovat... A nutno podotknout, že vyhlídky to většinou nejsou nikterak radostné či příjemné. Varovná nálepka "explicit content", která by na druhém disku rozhodně plnila svou funkci, se mi zdá být jako naprosto nedostačující a navíc ne zcela přesně vystihující podstatu věci. Možná předpona ultra- by to spravila.

Jarda Petřík

10.2006 Terz

Harter Stoff - oder easy listening for the hard of hearing? CD 1 untersucht post-technotische Fre- und Sequenzen, sehr abstract und kristallin und leider relativ baßlos, daher leicht spaßlos. CD 2 ist nur was für Buffs: 60 x gibt es eine Minute lang Klangfarben eines 2kHz Tons. Wer sich da nicht beim Hörtest wähnt oder gar Tinnitus vermutet, ist wohl schon etwas fortgeschritten.

10.2006 D-Side

(...) le Lithuanien Gintas K porte en lui l'heritage de la post-techno minimale inaugurée par le label Raster Noton et ce format double en est un digne représentant. Tout en beats secs et saccadés, en glissements numériques, LLengvai est certes très bien fait en ne manque pas d'ampleur (les seize minutes de "Kulgrinda" par exemple), mais n'en apparaît pas mons daté, et surtout déjà entendu. Plus radical et dépouillé encore, le bien nommé 60 x One Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz sound présente exactement ce qu'il announce, à savoir soixante titres constitués d'une variété d'expérimentation autour d'une fréquence unique de 2kHz. Parfois étrangement lyrique et habitée, ailleurs terriblement bruitiste et presque tout le temps perçante et aiguë, la "musique" alors produite par Gintas K rend audible l'infinitement petit et c'est dans cet esprit d'analyse méticuleux, bien plus que dans les titres convenus de Lengvai qu'elle prend toute son ampleur.

Jean François Micard

09.2006 Musiques & Cultures Digitales

Avec Gintas K nous sommes à la croisée des chemins, entre expérimentation sonore et technologique. La notion de "musique" étant finalement rendue aussi abstraite que les sons générés avec son ordi : bleeps, clicks & cuts, interférences, bruits blancs, glitch, infra-bass, effet de masse, etc. Une véritable autopsie de la musique électronique. Et pourtant, avec ces matériaux disparates et pas forcément agréables à l'oreille, il parvient à élaborer des rythmiques elekto-groovy, rugueuses et synthétiques. Entre Roger Rotor, pour le côté mécanique et techno-indus, et Ryoji Ikea pour son approche clinique et "microscopique". Cette démarche étant "palpable" sur le deuxième CD, 60 x One Minute Audio Colors Of 2kHz Sound, qui propose à nos oreille déjà bien fatiguée pas moins de 60 courtes séquences (une minute) en forme de variations sur des hautes fréquences (2KHz, à la limite de l'audible), des bruissements numériques et autres pulsations ultra-toniques...

06.2006 balsas.cc

Gintas K (Gintas Kraptavicius) – one of the most renown artists in Lithuanian sound art and experimental electronics scene – had crossed another one nomadic circle through international internet and physical collaboration networks, and in spring of 2006 exported his new release. It‘s a double CD „Lengvai“ (eng. „Easily“) and „60 x One Minute Colours of 2kHz Sound“, presented by acknowledged Portugese label „Cronica“. The CD mirrors the developement of Gintas K style for nearly ten years – style, that is dense of kaleidoscopic post-techno rhythms (from hypnotic ones to those nearly inviting to dance), organized by compositions, based on strict and precisic logic. In a swinging pendulum manner his tracks balance on the boundaries of pure electronic minimalism and overloaden mass of sound, conveyor of synthetic noise. Melodic tunes, gainning uncommon variations and loaden by continuously growing tension, are thrown into the axis of constant rhythmic dynamics. Frequently pure sinewaves and wiggling of the air, sensed by the skin, in Gintas K music ties the high pilotage of sound amplitudes and turns the psycho-sensorics of the listener into the instrument of resonating acoustic adventures.

The Portugese label „Cronica“ is known as a label, specialising on digital experimental electronics and is quite well known in international catalouges of digital sound. Among it‘s releases are works by such famous sound artists as Frans de Waard, Paulo Raposo, Marc Behrens, Pita, Pure, Stephan Mathieu and others. The double CD by Gintas K is a nice discovery along another one path through the up-to-date digital sound aesthetics.

The structure of the release is quite unusual and gripping. It‘s a combination of two conceptually and musically differing CD‘s. The first one – „Lengvai“ – is rather typical for Gintas K style (called „Easily“, the album sounds really easier in comparison with his earlier works). From the very begginings – minimalistic intro presented in a track „Lengvai“ – lucid and bright atmosphere covers all five tracks. Masterly organised and leisurely prolonged rhythmic strands are developed in two longer tracks „Ilgiau ilgiau“ and „Kulgrinda“ (ancient Lithuanian word that describes a path in the middle of swamp). In „Kulgrinda“ the merry-go-round of the sound gets acceleration of rhythmic windings and makes speakers swing from intense mass of melodic sound, twisting around hypnotising chords of overdriven electric guitar (excerpt). However „Koto“ brings back minimalistic and ascetic pureness of synthetic minimalism (excerpt). „Early Set“ – the longest one – consistently dives through all over the scale of dynamics. From slowly running up rhythms of pure frequencies (excerpt) towards another one massive flashpoint – this time the last one. One of the paradoxes of the composition – after sensitively developed paths, leading towards the culmination, unexpected turns are following. This break of compositional stereotypes makes a listener a bit confused and tricked, but step by step compulsive intertwining of musical motives appears.

The second CD „60 x One Minute Colours of 2kHz Sound“ is a conceptually integral work, that consists of sixty compositions that are one minute long. They‘re all based on 2kHz frequency sound, which gets static transformations in every track or, speaking metaphorically, in every colour of pure 2kHz frequency. This CD is not designed for the easy listening. However it‘s full of variety – from microscopic silent passages to physically effective and sometimes almost unbearable frequencies. When listened to at home it can become a sound instalation for space. A possible recipe of listening here can be borrowed from Sachiko M: „Use your head as an instrument“. Moving around the chamber space you hear differing sound (which is quite static in a composition itself). The sound material of this CD was used in sound, light, and space instalation, that had been set up for the festival of electronic music „Jauna muzika 2004“ (Young Music 2004, Vilnius). On the other side, listening to „60 x One Minute Colours of 2kHz Sound“ leads to astonishing time perception. So what at least could be said as a summary sketch for the „60 x One Minute Colours of 2kHz Sound“ is that a spectrum of sixty colours of one frequency offers intensive acoustic experiences, unfolding during careful and quite meditative listening.

Tautvydas Bajarkevicius (aka audio_z)

04.2006 infratunes.com

De sa Lituanie natale, Gintas K adresse au reste du monde sa vision d’une musique électronique expérimentale, qui oscille entre une efficacité narquoise et un parti pris plus difficile à entendre. Meilleur exemple en date, le double album produit cette année par Cronica Electronica.

D’un côté, Lengvai, manifeste post-techno léger à force de minimalisme revendiqué. Avec peu, Gintas K construit de mini structures rythmiques faites pour accueillir les inserts de toutes natures : bourdon, larsens, souffles et craquements. Quelque soit les matériaux utilisés, le musicien adopte une posture ludique qui surprend souvent l’auditeur, l’amuse parfois, pour le convaincre enfin de l’évidente originalité de ses dynamiques malléables.

De l’autre côté, 60 X One Minute Audio Colours of 2 KHz Sound, sur lequel 60 échantillons d’une minute respectent la fréquence annoncée. Se contentant d’abord d’un larsen au ton changeant au gré des plages, l’homme lui destine ensuite quelques effets : oscillations, découpes, adduction de crachins ou d’inserts acoustiques divers. L’aigu, malgré les obstacles, court toujours, faisant naître rapidement pour divulguer ensuite crescendo une lassitude insurmontable.

Reconnaître qu’ici le divertissement, réussi, aura eu raison de la recherche, vaine et sourcilleuse. Pour apprécier comme il se doit les rythmes fabriqués à partir de presque rien de Lengvai, plutôt que de chercher, sinon un sens, du moins une qualité, aux 60 minutes suivantes.

Grisli

Gintas K

06.2007 e/i magazine

For this effort, a pure sound at the frequency of 2kHz forms a malleable network which is lubricated by steady rhythmic formulations. Accordingly, the concerns of these compositions, specifically those featured on the second disc, are technical, not musical. Cold, clinical and transfixing in its sparse, endless motion, these works slowly suss out infinitesimal combinations, seeking their optimal modulation and technical sophistication. Even when certain pieces seem but an unending stretch of tonal stasis, a gritty glow or subtly shifting set of tones will fizzle to the surface, reminding one that, like a gambler who tries to exhaust all of the permutations in a game of chance, Gintas K is trying to explore all of the possibilities of his program. With each study set at just over a minute ‘s length, Gintas K ventures through a spectrum which ranges from alienated high notes, frenetically vibrating shards of sound and malevolent streams of white noise which speak of chaotic disintegration. Despite the fact that certain moments are clotted by intense pressure, the mathematical precision of the movements means that they don’t cast a shadow on matters of a sublunary nature. Instead, this is a universe of calm indifference, unmarked by memory or a clear sense of time. The first album strikes a markedly different poise, though one which is nevertheless staid and aseptic. Individual compositions resurrect a post-techno formula, but in its overly strict adherence to the model, it endows them with a certain aping quality. This approach opens up a sort of ironical distance in the heart of the works, just enough for a bit of play and interaction to begin again. On “Koto,” the electricity from the brisk pointillism of the electronics introduce a certain physicality, but is then camouflaged by a monotone drone. Similarly, numerous other tracks direct the rarefied minutiae of the high frequency tones into a relation of structural tension against the relentless flux of the rhythmic movements. The sudden appearance and disappearance of gaps in these works thereby permits one to pass from a somnambular absence in the simple decoding of the tightly sealed segments, while the airier compositions call for reception and a certain pleasure in their subsequent interpretation. (MS)

02.2007 Phosphor

The latest output by the mysterious Gintas K can be divided in two parts. The first CD offers digital post-techno, as if Raster-Noton meets Esplendor Geometrico or Sonar. Deep hypnotizing betas go along with high-pitched peeps and rhythmic noise fragments. But always keeping a mathematical abstractness and systematic, precise built-up. The second CD features 600 tracks, each one minute long. All sonic material is created from pure sound at the frequency of 2kHz. It's like a test CD for your speakers, in this case more for your brain, because those sinus waves are rather abstract. Nevertheless getting more complicated later one. Interesting, but very conceptual.

11.2006 Wreck This Mess

Laurent Diouf

10.2006 Bad-Alchemy

Musik, die mir nicht als Lebensmittel taugt, als Stimulans von Freude, als Aha- effekt, als Pharmakon gegen sinnliche Verhornung oder soziale Verfettung, die ist mir weitgehend gleichgültig. Und wenn sie mir dumm kommt, dann stört sie mich. Diese Gefahr besteht bei Living-Room-Electronica selten. [Von Tanzmusik reden wir hier grundsätzlich nicht, nicht aus Snobismus, sondern weil sie per definitionem nicht bequatscht, sondern getanzt werden will.] Ob mangels Ehrgeiz ihrerseits oder mangels Sensibilität meinerseits, sei dahin gestellt. Was soll mich auch daran stören, wenn mir jemand die Schädelinnenseite mal neu mustert oder meine Wohnzimmerwände mal wieder anders tapeziert?

Ersteres fällt bei mir in die Kategorie ‚aisthetisch‘, ‚psychedelisch‘ oder einfach ‚dekorativ‘, letzteres - mit gleitenden Übergängen und Vexiereffekten - unter ‚ambient‘, ‚illbient‘ oder ‚sombient‘. Ersteres suggeriert: Sein ist Design und eine Frage der Brille, Letzteres: Du bist nicht allein und Dein Leben ist mal mies mal heiter usw. Der lithauische Sinuswellenreiter und Konzeptkünstler GINTAS Krapatvicius ist, wie wahrscheinlich 80 % aller Elektroniker, Minimalist, ein Designer von repetitiv rotierenden Pulsmustern, von mehrspurigen Stakkati, die an den Säumen noisig ausfransen. Sein Sortiment bei Lengvai / 60 x One Minute Audio Colors of 2kHz Sound (Crónica 024, 2 x CD) reicht von spaceig abgeflachten Dröhnwellen zu harschen Electronic-Body-Stomps, von furzelnden Granulationen zu munter gesteppten Tausendfüßler-Plops, beschleunigtem Leerlauf oder monoton loopenden Pfeiftönen. Im mit 27 Minuten epischen ‚Early Set‘ fließen all diese Stilmerkmale noch einmal organisch ineinander und gipfeln in einem pathetischen Vocalsample. Das exakt 1-stündige Spektrum von 2kHz-Tönen zeigt anschließend den Konzeptkünstler Gintas K, der mit 60 je 60-sekundigen stechenden oder alarmierend pulsierenden Haltetönen die vibrierende Farbpalette der genannten Frequenz ins Hirn injeziert. Und da nehm ich dann doch mein ‚Stört mich selten‘ kleinlaut zurück.

10.2006 Sands-zine

Gintas K è un agitatore elettronico/sperimentale della scena lituana, noise, glitch, digital sounds, esplorazioni del minimale, studi sulle vibrazioni acustiche, realizzazione di musiche per film, teatro ed installazioni; sono tutta farina del suo sacco.

È stato membro di una delle prime band lituane di elettronica/industriale (Modus), ha lavorato in radio alternative come la stazione Kapsai dove presentava un programma intitolato The Ways And Mistaken Pathways; insomma: uno di quelli che non si ferma mai!

Ora la label portoghese Crónica ci offre con questo doppio cd un esaustivo reportage all’interno dell’arte di Gintas K.

Il primo dei due cd (“Lengvai”) si muove lungo algide strutture minimali radicalmente post-techno, spettri frenetici di Pan Sonic ambientali e rancorose movenze Daniel Menche ad agitarsi sullo sfondo; in controluce traspare anche una grossa affinità con il Thomas Brinkmann inceppato di “Klick” (la strepitosa Kulgrinda tutta ritmo e guitar sound electro a disegnarne la melodia).

Bello veramente lo stile di Gintas!

Battiti frenetici al silicio ed interferenze ambientali più melodiche che stemperano l’atmosfera opprimente; mirabile esempio di digitale con anima!

Ci si muove comunque sempre lungo coordinate ostiche, ma le secche del genere vengono abilmente eluse grazie ad un approccio istintuale alla materia che sembra possedere le stigmate del (possibile) genio in divenire.

Le conclusive Koto ed Early Set sono tutte una serie di rigogliosi cascami elettronico/ambientali a bassa battuta che regalano ampi spazi meditativi senza scadere mai nell’offesa brutale gratuita.

Stupefacente!

Il registro muta radicalmente (sigh!) nel secondo cd (60 x One Minute…).

60 composizioni sui 2kHz della durata di un minuto ciascuna, statiche/microscopiche variazioni; sibilanti passaggi fisici che incollano i timpani ed alterano la struttura temporale.

Ikeda colto da ictus nel suo studio di registrazione?

Colonna sonora ideale per installazioni spaziali; meditativa autopsia sul suono.

Nessun facile ascolto da queste parti (a me ha causato un bel mal di testa!).

Preferenza scontata per Lengvai.

Comunque; da tenere d’occhio.

08.2006 chaindlk.com

This time for none can say Crònica hasn't been followed a sort of ideal unexspresive thread for its last releases and with an interesting result. Also Ginta K can be filed in that same grey area where you could also meet Vitor Joaquim I mean somewhere abstract melodies e microstructures. Considerably different from his label mate Ginta K is more focussed on minimal electronics bastardised with microwave sounds all mixed in a really soft texturr. Lengvai (the first cd) features five sketches of rhythmical but yet minimal electronic music with a definite post echno feel. Kaptavicious taste for proportion has the undoubtfully quality of duelling to save everything from getting boring without falling in the compistional trap of hyperstructures. This cd is far from being immediate, infact I think the more you listen to it the more you tune your ears to his hidden qualities but at last isn't that the real essence of minimal electronic music (Yoshihiro Hanno for exemple). This self described as containing "Colourful Hypnotizing beats" and that's true but going to the second cd it all changes. "60 x one minute audio colours of 2kHz sound" is developed around a 2kHz frequency that keeps changing minutes after minute, it's a creative study/work based on a minimal but yet interesting idea that many would describe as microsound. The result is quite good for both of the cd and the second one is undoubtfully interesting but I still prefer the "Lengvai" one.

Andrea Ferraris

06.2006 monochrom.at

Gintas K presents both the most exciting and the most tedious example of what the label calls "experimental digital post techno" on this double release. But it is also sort of like the victory of the organic and naturally flowing musical structure over the completely structural and structurally constructed approach towards music. But, let's get things straight beforehand and say first things first.

"Lengvai", CD one in this double back, consists of five richly structured and multilayered pieces of evolving sounds that build, grow and rise from various subtle sounds into impressive walls of sounds, building up a beat and a groove together with an exciting transition of noises, however small they might be at the beginning, into big parts of accomplished electronic composition. Gintas K keeps the balance between the minimal monotony and the flourishing growth of sounds perfectly while he also keeps an eye on the development of the overall track. Within these rather long tracks (except for the title intro track) you suddenly find yourself groving to beats so tiny and reduced that they are almost inaudible. A stroke of genius far above the multitudes of superficial electronic acts within the cologne school of minimal techno and thereby probably the best electronic whatever release up to now.

From the strictly noise turned to percussion complexity of "Kalgrinda", where sharply cut white noise, digital clicks and other ticks form a post electronic rhythm group constantly shifting and changing beat patterns, adding complexity and syncopation, to the long winding bleeps and peeps turning into harmony of "Koto" or "Early Set", Gintas K shows one of the most audacious yet most harmonic approaches to sound experiments within this genre. When the electric guitar sounds in "Kalgrinda" add the opposing layer to the more and more frenzied percussions it is clear that the aim is a fusion of old and new approaches, forfeiting various styles and ways for blandness and conceptually going straight for the main pathway - even if the result is richly masked and adorned. Especially when that track turns into a burning thunderstorm of percussive noise after about a quarter of an hour before dissolving into nothing quite quickly. It is sharp, witty and keen on one side and natural, organic and harmonic at the other side, both at the same time, with a sharp does of eclecticism to round things up.

The other CD in this package is a completely different thing, though. It is exactly what the title says: 60 times 60 seconds of static electronica, changing after exactly sixty seconds into the next groove, layer, beat or whatever it will be. I never had much of anything for those legendary loop records, where every single line on a vinyl record was a single loop, and things like these. The single pieces don't get their time to evolve, they stand next to each other like commodities on a supermarket shelf, with no life or development of their own. The transition from one to the next is arbitrary and sharp. Maybe some people like that. With a fitting dose of masochism, it is imaginable. On the other hand, lots of people like lots of things and even more things are imaginable. Anyway, in my book this kind of arbitrary strictness doesn't count for anything, even if it is theoretically appealing and consequently executed.

Fortunately, "Lengvai" is over sixty minutes of great electronic experiments that sounds nothing like experiments and completely able to stand on its own. It bridges a wide area of electronic noise and groove without ever straying to far from its core concept, so that it has compositional precision and overflowing natural abundance at the same time. That may sound like opposites, but every good piece of art has its paradoxes and inherent discrepancies.

04.2006 VitalWeekly.nl

Gintas K is perhaps the best known of this lot, or perhaps to the readers of Vital Weekly. He has released a whole bunch of CDRs before, and I believe this is first real CD, a double right away. It displays both sides of his work. 'Lengvai', which translates as 'easily', shows his more up-tempo, almost techno like work. In each of the tracks he takes a lot of time to build up the pieces, but when he is there, things really rock the house. I was reminded of PWOG's 'Record Of Breaks', as Gintas K has a similar long built up per track, and the tracks have that similar groovy sound, that isn't exactly techno, but are rhythmical as hell. The second CD is made out of a 2Khz frequency, which is transformed in all sorts of ways, and cut into sixty different pieces, which make a good flow. This material, deals with the idea of changing colors, and therefore could be seen as ambient music, although I think the high pierced sounds are a bit far off for the ambient posse. But those are in favor of the works of Ikeda and Alva Noto, and especially the non rhythmical side of it, may surely know how to appreciate this, even when Gintas K occasionally cuts the material up and brings out small microscopic rhythms.

FdW

Crónica 024~2006

07.2007 Auf Abwegen

Die Computerwelt öffnet sich zusehends für andere Quellen. Ging es vor ein paar Jahren noch darum zu zeigen, was innerhalb dieser abgeschlossenen Welt alles für Sounds möglich waren, so geht es heute eher um einen Dialog und das Durchbrechen von Ästhetiken, die einer bestimmten Produktionsweise geschuldet sind. Flow ist genau das: ein Fluß aus warm-pulsierenden Klängen, die nicht nur rein synthetisch sind, sondern Gitarre und Stimme inkorporieren. Und dies auf perfekte und bereichernde Weise. Die akustischen Signale scheinen das digitale Umfeld zu neuen Bewegungen zu motivieren. Die Matrix lebt. Kryptischen Datapop gibt es von Gintas K, der gleich auf einer zweiten Disc 60 einminütige Audiofarben einer bestimmten Frequenz mitliefert. So kann sich jeder seinen alternative Version zu seinem strottelnden, leicht federnden Prototechnosound basteln.

01.2007 Big Load

Das neue Doppelalbum des aus Litauen stammenden Sinuswellensurfers Gintas Kraptavicius beschränkt sich auf ein übersichtlich gehaltenes Sortiment an Ausgangsmaterial und liefert zwei gegensätzliche Entwürfe im kompromisslosen Umgang mit diesem . "Lengvai" ist dabei das am Reißbrett gefertigte Rhythmusmonster, das aus ultrapräzise strukturierten Kleinstbestandteilen eines reduzierten Clicks'n'Cuts-Sprachschatzes mittels hypnotischer Grooves und vorsichtiger Dramaturgie einen beeindruckend komplexen Post-Techno herausfräst. Dabei folgen die fünf Stücke dem Prinzip von kontinuierlich verlaufender Verdichtung - im Extremfall bis zum weißen Rauschen hin -, im Zuge derer noch einige mehr oder wenige schräge Melodielinien aus den überladen knisternden Elektrostatik-Texturen lugen. Im Gegensatz dazu wird auf der zweiten, recht treffend betitelten CD kein Spannungsaufbau in diesem Sinne betrieben. Alle Stücke sind klangfarbliche Variationen eines 2kHz-Sinustones von exakt einer Minute Dauer, von denen sechzig Stück in Form einer Dröhn-, Pfeif-, Puls-, Noise-Collage vorüber geführt werden. So begrüßenswert es prinzipiell ist, der Idee eine so konsequente Umsetzung zukommen zu lassen, so wenig ersprießlich ist letztendlich das Ergebnis. Der praktische Vorteil dieses Doppelpack soll dabei jedoch nicht verschwiegen werden: mit "Lengvai" als erlesenem Partygeber, gesellt sich der böse Zwillingsbruder nötigenfalls als zuverlässiger Rausschmeißer zu einem so gesehen schlüssigen Ganzen.

10.2006 Etherreal

On découvrait Gintas K en juin dernier lors d'une soirée aux Instants Chavirés autour de la scène musicale balte. Lors de cette soirée globalement d'une très bonne tenue, le Lithuanien nous avait alors présenté un set honnête mais dont on regrettait le systématisme : introduction façon minimal techno, puis éléments de plus en plus denses, apparitions de textures pour finir de manière plus abstraite et bruitiste.

Sorti quelques mois avant ce concert, Lengvai est logiquement assez proche de ce concert. Il s'agit d'un double album présentant deux facettes du travail du Lithuanien. D'une part cette électro minimale revisitée, et sur le deuxième disque un travail purement conceptuel de recherche sonore.

Lengvai est en fait le premier disque, qui se découpe en cinq pièces d'une durée de 4 à 27 minutes. Avec ses 4 minutes le morceau titre qui ouvre l'album fait figure d'introduction dans le sens où c'est le plus court mais aussi celui qui permet de rentrer dans l'univers de Gintas K. Ultra minimal, sorte d'ambient-click avec quelques nappes de laptop, sa fonction est uniquement d'éveiller les sens et de préparer l'auditeur aux prochaines pièces. On rentre véritablement dans l'album avec Ilgiau Ilgiau : les clicks sont plus francs et construisent une rythmique à la Frank Bretschneider. Minimale et efficace, ponctuée de sifflement stridents et de bruits blancs, en extrapolant un peu on pourrait comparer ça à un croisement entre Bretschneider et Pan Sonic, ou plus globalement à COH, avant que de délicieuses notes limpides n'apportent une certaine douceur à l'ensemble. On est un peu surpris de trouver ce genre de production chez Cronica, généralement plus difficile d'accès, mais on est aussi content de trouver ce type de morceau sur un album globalement assez austère.

Alors qu'on avance doucement dans l'album, le son s'affirme, les bruits sont plus secs, plus fermes, les jets de bruit blancs fusent de toutes parts sur Kulgrinda, les nappes chargées de la part mélodique sont saturées, et après un break aquatique le son devient lourd, et aux influences industrielles. Avec ses 27 minutes Early Set est forcément construit différemment. Introduction ambient minimale avec basses rebondies et rythmique faite de gouttes d'eau. les éléments de densifient, et le tempo s'accélère sur une première partie fort prenante. La suite joue sur l'abstraction : arrêt de la rythmique, superposition de notes limpides, sifflements de laptop, grésillements jusqu'à l'obtention d'un calme relatif, ponctué d'infrabasses et de gazouillis suraigus. La dernière partie et conclusion de l'album révèle un nouveau changement de ton, sorte d'ambient hypnotique à la Vladislav Delay marquée de textures grésillantes, et souffles bruitistes. Une magnifique et étonnante conclusion d'un disque intéressant mais qui souffre d'un manque d'organisation de ses idées.

On sera assez bref sur le deuxième CD, purement conceptuel. Le titre expose le principe : 60 x One Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz Sound. Il s'agit donc pendant une heure de 60 manipulations sonores sur un son qui est une fréquence pure de 2kHz. Gintas K lui applique divers effets déformant le son, créant des syncopes, chacun donnant une couleur différente à ce son qui parait tour à tour plus grave ou plus aigu. Il s'agit là uniquement de recherche sonore, dont la rigueur lui confère le statut de document : toutes les minutes un nouvel effet apparait alors que le tout aurait pu s'enchaîner en douceur au profit d'une unique pièce sonore.

Considéré dans sa globalité, Lengvai et 60 x One Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz Sound forment une curiosité. Deux CD complètement différents, album un peu à part au sein de la discographie du label portugais, on ne doute cependant pas de la sincérité du travail de Gintas K qui devrait séduire les fans de COH, Bretschneider et Pan Sonic.

Fabrice Allard

10.2006 Orkus

Vorsicht, Verletzungsgefahr. Was Acts wie Sutcliffe Jügend oder Masonna mit ihren Noise-Orgien längst nicht mehr schaffen, gelingt Gintas Kraptavicius spielend und ohne jeglichen Gewaltgetus. Es geht um die körperlich schmerzhafte Erfahrbarkeit von Tönen. Ob dies tatsächlich beabsichtigt ist, sei dahingestellt, aber derart unangenehmne Frequenzen wie auf Lengvai have ich seit langer Zeit nicht mehr gehört. Ein streng durcharrangiertes Werk aus Sinuswellen und White Noise, nicht nur im weitesten Sinne tanzbar, sondern ohne Wenn und Aber auf ganz eingene Art und Weise groovend. Aber eben auch in einem Frequeszbereich angesiedelt, der jedem, dessen Ohren hier nicht schmerzen, einen Besuch beim HNO-Arzt nahelegt. Das zweite Album dieses Doppelpacks enthält, wie der Titel schon sagt, 60 einminütige Tracks, bei denen Kraptoavicius ausschließlich mit unterschiedlich modulierten 2kHz-Tönen arbeitet. Liest sich sehr arty, klingt aber dennoch streckenweise ziemlich unangenehm.

Sascha Bertoncin

09.2006 www.touchingextremes.org

I'm certainly not attracted by the large part of contemporary glitch-and-skip electronica, but this double CD by Gintas Kraptavicius is surely a good antidote against the "light-hearted laptop" syndrome that is affecting the world today. Will anyone ever prevent all these nondescript twiddlers from releasing neat-sounding "bell-and-whistle" tiny songs slightly disturbed by electrostatics to give them that oh-so-experimental aroma? Luckily, Gintas K is not one of these entities. "Lengvai" contains five pretty long pieces of "techno vs industrial" with perfectly clean, but also horribly dirty crunches to spare (a few sections sound like a cybernetic version of Muslimgauze's late production); ear-tickling frequencies and harsh stabs of hissing noise alternate with nerve-massaging combinations of distorted/flanged waves. The title of the second disc is self-explanatory: starting from a single 2kHz tone we're pierced, intrigued, distracted and often amused by the bleeping hypnosis and test-like pulse of this digital ultra-minimalism. Near-inaudibility deprivations and ice-cold headaches are all contained in a simple concept that work better than honey-dripping, third rate Fennesz-ism. With this stuff you could even punish, if so desired, your "thing-that-wouldn't-leave" kind of undesired home guests.

09.2006 Neural.it

Dalla Lituania via Crónica Electronica (Portogallo) arriva un doppio cd deflagrante nelle articolazioni soniche di raffinate sequenze sperimentali, astratte e minimal. Incursione nei territori post-techno operata da Gintas Kraptavicius, aka Gintas K, coerente e sistematica nelle strutture non immuni da influenze anche noise-industrial. In 'Lengvai', diviso a sua volta in altre cinque incisioni, le ricche scale armoniche c'inondano con le loro dinamiche in vibrazioni altamente fluttuanti e dall'attitudine sintetica. Inviluppi d'onde, effetti, click e 'gliccerie', oscillanti nell'elaborazione che confluisce talvolta in densi momenti ritmici. '60 x One Minute Audio Colours·' registrato appunto alla frequenza di 2kHz, insiste in maniera certo ancor maggiormente sperimentale in variazioni millimetriche che si susseguono incalzanti ma eteree. Microsuoni assoluti, sostanza acustica per estreme, radicali, esperienze auditive.

Aurelio Cianciotta

08.2006 The Wire

On this double CD containing two separate but related works, sound artist Gintas Kraptavicius organises dry moments into neat sets. Lengvai is a sequence of four tight compositions that allow complexity to emerge from small things but in a precise order. Working with a simple rangle of clicks, sinewaves, silences and repeated effects, Kraptavicius shows a remarkable facility for arranging the largest number of changes over the shortest periods of time. The accompanying work, composed entirely of a single 2kHz tone changing its time once every 60 seconds for an hour, follows a similar behavioural line. Even when hidden by the dirtiest hues, the time retains a luxurious gleam. You can only imagine how tidy this guy's bathroom looks.

08.2006 www.musiquemachine.com

Lithuanian electroinca /sound artist Gintas K has been making music since 1994. This double disk set offer up two very different albums in one package. Lengvai moves in denser and ambient warmed Raster- Noton sound space. 60 x one Minute Audio Colours of 2kHz Sound 01-60 is 60 minute one snapshots of the sound frequency 2khz thats altered and twisted in his machines.

I find Lengvai the most satisfying and enjoyable of the two, sadly 60 x one Minute Audio is a interesting idea, but most of it comes off like a hearing test ,as the pitch alter, just slightly. It does pick up interest towards the end, but by this point I feel the listener will either have given up or fallen asleep. It just feels too academic, and far too little entertainment value or mind stimulating.

Some of the stand out moments from the first disk are: Iigiau Iigiau which mixes a great static and sine waves beat patterns, wonderful foot moving in its clean white lab vibe, but just as you feel you can predict how the track will play out, a wonderfully airly harmonic looping melody is added, like watching speeded up footage of vegetation rippling and covering over clean white structures, in the end all its sleekness is hidden, but its beat shape is still defined. Koto starts with a series of rhythmic static and electro glitches, but adds more and more elements, little ripples or ticks, stretches of sounds until the surprising guitar element enters, its quite unexpected really- but really works, the guitar loops out Arabic sounding melody thats been jacked into electro buzzing life, the second half of the track dips down into watery electronic ambient sheen, that drifts off as far as the eye can see.

So in summing up one album of interesting and different takes on digital post- techno, that utilizing surprising elements. The other album a failed experiment, in laboratory sound painting. Worth picking up for the first disk really. To play some samples and buy direct, follower the wires to here.

Roger Batty

06.2006 jazzearredores.blogspot.com

Directamente da cena electrónica experimental da Lituânia para a editora portuguesa Crónica Electrónica, Gintas K. (K. de Krapatvicius) expõe os ambientes rarefeitos e o minimalismo da sua maquinaria. Gintas trabalha sobretudo com micro-sons em baixa frequência. Experimenta combinações dinâmicas e cromáticas e interessa-se pelo impacto das frequências sonoras no ouvinte, através dum acervo sonoro que desafia as concepções mais comuns e arreigadas no meio da arte sonora electrónica.

No duplo CD recém-editado pela Crónica, Gintas K. reuniu duas peças, a primeira (“Lengvai”) sob a forma de um conjunto de painéis oscilantes, com alguns vestígios rítmicos referenciáveis à parentela do techno minimal, assim dito por comodidade de expressão, resíduos glitch, vibrações e ruídos perfurantes que animam uma paisagem em que os acidentes são a excepção, dada a quase linearidade do fluxo em que a mesma se processa.

Mais plano ainda é o conteúdo do disco 2, sugestivamente intitulado “60 x one minute audio colors of 2 kHz sound”, em que a coloratura sonora desenvolvida na citada frequência altera a configuração do ciclo em cada ciclo de 60 segundos, a duração de cada “fotograma” de uma instalação sonora planante e sem ritmo evidente (um ouvido muito atento captará intervalos microscópicos entre sons), que se transmuda como se de um enorme e infindável loop se tratasse. Experiências bálticas (uma e outra) fortemente apelativas compõem um disco de que a Crónica de pode orgulhar de ter publicado.

Eduardo Chagas