Exem

The musical career of EXEM epitomizes the fluctuation between the ambition for underground experimentation and the need for popular success typical for many 90s-born Lithuanian bands. Over the 16 years of searching for its own sound, the project has changed names, members, and (mostly electronic) styles, the core member Mindaugas ‘Kryžius’ Kazakevičius and his striving toward producing progressive dance music with a local twist being pretty much the only constants. Although the resulting eclecticism might not have added to the image of EXEM as a band with a consistent vision, the project certainly had some high points in the course of identity searches. The imaginative blend of ethnic motifs and electronic rhythms, surfacing in the classic album “Atlanta”, proved to work, and further developments in this direction won EXEM a fairly wide fan base.

Jurij Dobriakov