An intriguing and engaging disk; recommended.
author: Jim Stokey
From what I can tell, Athens' Georgian Contemporary Unit is not so much a band as a project consisting of six musicians who work in various combinations. Their first CD, The View You Never Get, contains twelve 'real' tracks (I don't count the 11-second "Introduction".) Six are ensemble tunes featuring several (but not, I think, all) members together; the remaining six are solo/duet pieces. Guitars are overwhelmingly the main instruments here– and they come in all shapes and sizes. Kyle Dawkins and Brian Smith both play classical guitar, Colin Bragg plays electric and classical guitars, Hungarian expatriate Sandor Szabo plays 16-string acoustic and classical guitars, and Erik Hinds plays a custom-built 18-stringed instrument called a H'arpeggione that is part acoustic guitar, part Hardanger fiddle, and part cello. Blake Helton is the odd man out, playing drums and (on one track) piano. The group pieces tend to be longer (eight to ten minutes each) and have a highly improvisational feel to them, with freeform structures and lots of noodling. These near-jams wander around stylistically, borrowing ideas freely from jazz, classical, folk, rock, and non-western music. They remind me vaguely of improv bands Mushroom and Species Being, although GCU's music has a lighter, airier feel since most instruments are acoustic guitars. The solo tunes and duets are shorter (about four minutes on average) than the ensemble tracks and tend to be slower, more melodic, and more composed. An intriguing and engaging disk; recommended.
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Georgian Contemporary Unit seems to have set out to consciously explore all avai
author: Justin Kownacki
The View You Never Get is more of a classroom experiment than an album, the audio equivalent of a graduate film or a thesis -- work that straddles the line between art and a technical exercise intended for like-minded individuals to experience and learn from/debate. It is not intended for the masses to absorb, although the band would likely be overjoyed if everyone were open to this refreshingly clearheaded approach to music.
These are stellar musicians at work; otherwise, The View You Never Get would merely be an exercise in excess. Consisting of members of the Georgia Guitar Quartet, SS Puft and Riveter, as well as 16-string guitarist Sandor Szabo from Hungary, the Contemporary Unit brings an international, almost unworldly approach to the album. Seemingly freeform, deconstructing the concept of the jam band while gelling together, the music is simultaneously familiar and unheard of. The closest thing I can think of to compare it with would be a concert-ending invitation from the closing band at a world music fest for each of their opening acts to join them onstage for a final send-off.
The structure, the rules, are universal, but the ways to break the rules are innumerable, and the Georgian Contemporary Unit seems to have set out to consciously explore all available options. The results are middle eastern cathartic ("Dialogue"), insistently picturesque ("Assiana"), and forebodingly evocative ("Offering 3"). Every musician is given a chance to shine, yet none outdoes the other, working seamlessly as a unit -- hence the name, I'd imagine. Unlike other avant garde projects, I was never lost by The View You Never Get. Granted, it takes a conscious effort to surrender an album of this type, but the clear, clean guitarwork kept me alert, involved, interested in where the players would take me next. And to my surprise, I was never disappointed.
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delve in and begin again
author: Nicky Rossiter
If you love guitar, banjo and drum music and enjoy experimentation with musical styles, this is the one for you. Over 13 tracks, you will be transported by the Georgian Contemporary Unit into a landscape of sounds. Some you will love, others will intrigue and a few may jar your senses.
The track titles may give an indication of the sounds. These range from "Tippoo's Tiger" through "Carillion" to "Severe Moderation Suite." I don't believe that there are any hit singles hidden in here, but as a concept album it will attract more than a few followers. As the publicity says, "Forget all you know about guitar music and begin again."
Forget your perception of what most people purchase a CD for, delve in and begin again.
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