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)