GP~00 - "i"
[Forgotten Empire Records]

The name Adam W. Flynn may be familiar to the more attentive readers. His .Redshifts project was featured here a couple of weeks ago, with this review. While that particular venture dealt with rather toxic electronic sounds, as GP~00 Flynn aligns himself closer to drifitng ambient passages and slowly, unfurling post-rock.

Most tracks on "i" are centred around Flynn's experiments with the guitar, in particular differing guages and the effects of oscillating strings with strong fans. These experimental techniques, when looped, help build a multi-layered sound almost much like an orchestra. They prove to be immensely hypnotic when reinforced with captured atmospheres and Flynn's own field recordings, such as the tranquil rain sounds on "Fall (Holy Circles)".

"From The Trail To An Altar" provides a reflective air, slowly building from brooding drones and firefly sounds into a more static-drenched modulation. "Pictures" gives us an opportunity to hear the 'guitar orchestra' in action and Flynn doesn't disappoint. His coiling tones represent a slow motion take on Jonny Greenwood's angular guitar structures and culminates in one particular heart-breaking chord change. "...And Slowly We Drift (In And Out Of Apnoea)", meanwhile, plays like a series of discordant, backwards drones, but soon develops into a haunting cycle of echoic white noise.

It's rare for ambient passages to strike such a chord. The intense "All The Little Remnants" is the sound of the atmosphere of some distant, alien planet millions of miles from Earth. Slow and impossibly dense, it points to the work of ambient pioneer Brian Eno, but leaves you wondering if it is a series of manipulated guitar parts filtered and melded into something other-wordly.

Both "Trains" and "Achromatic", on the other hand, revert to Flynn's reverbed, emotive guitar practices. The former in particular builds masterfully like a full blown Godspeed You Black Emperor epic.

Sitting somewhere between the undulating drone work of Sunn0))) and the melancholic beauty of Radiohead, Adam W. Flynn (as GP~00) has provided a multi-layered and magnificent album that deserves your attention.

"i" Track Listing

1. Other Eden
2. Achromatic
3. Trains
4. All The Little Remnants
5. And Slowly We Drift (In And Out Of Apnoea)
6. Still
7. Fall (Holy Circles)
8. Pictures
9. From The Trail To An Altar