Review of Guitarscapes by The Gothenburg Combo, 2014
Nice, really nice. Everything is nice in this record, starting with the cd’s cover, very unusual for a contemporary guitar record refers instead to 80’s sound and aesthetic , as the Kraftwerk’s album covers or “Ghost in the Machine” by The Police, with its fake digital characters.
But I don’t want to bore you with my aesthetic considerations: the disc is beautiful and Thomas Hansy and David Hansson are two guitar war’s engines. Their Duo is truly remarkable and their interplay is simply great, their guitars are joined together like two Siamese twins.
The music is really nice and not boring at all, the first part of the CD is occupied by America suites, composed by the same duo, and divided into five parts: Highway One – Music in 3 parts, Twin Cities, Nebraska, Zauberberg and 10 Seconds Left . In the booklet that accompanies the CD the duo explains that this suite is the result of their experiences and emotions acquired during their travels in the USA, the result is a mix of folk, blues and classic quotes with elegant and sometimes relaxing atmospheres that remind me the Penguin Cafe Orchestra of the great Simon Jeffes and Rachel’s music.
Equally beautiful and interesting is their version of In C, the masterpiece by Terry Riley. They themselves define their version “That sounds like something a blues-jam in the desert on smashed-up-guitars.” Version obtained using both classical and acoustic guitars. It ‘s nice to follow the variations required by minimalist structure of Riley and the result, although I have heard different versions of this passage, never fails to amaze me withwhat this musical structure manages every time to give the listener.
Reccomended: The Gothenburg Combo always stands for energy, intelligence and enthusiasm.
NeuGuitars 