Konntinent / Adam Flynn: If I Could Buy A Map Of Hope...
Sonicpieces

If I Could Buy A Map Of Hope... is being pitched as an EP but its forty-five minutes of collaborative material by Konntinent and Adam Flynn (who issued his debut-album i under the GP~00 guise for forgotten empire records in 2007) suggests it's more of a full-fledged album, regardless of its “split” character (and 100-copy run).

Flynn's material is “headphones listening” in the truest sense. Heard at low volume sans headphones, the material's subtleties can go unnoticed but closer listening reveals ample detail (e.g., crackle and wavering flute-like tones) surfacing within the iterations' windswept drones. The cloud formations roll out with unstoppable force, building in volume as they advance and their measured howl constantly threatening to explode into something more overpowering. Metallic sheets of sound emerge thirteen minutes into the twenty-minute, two-part soundscape before the tones collectively swell and grow progressively more agitated.

The four tracks by Konntinent (real name Antony Harrison) cut a wider stylistic swathe by comparison, with the term “cinematic” naturally springing to mind: the funereal “March” wends a slow and gloomy path through a subterranean crypt of electric guitar textures, string tones, and sleigh bell punctuations; the glimmering “Gestures” conjures a beatific ambient setting where an acoustic guitar slowly strums alongside harmonica and cello shadings; “Silent River, Take Me Home” opts for processed electric guitar shadings and ambient rumination; and “Terms of Endearment” carries one home with tremolo guitar playing, vaporous textures (crackle, surges), and even a beat-based rhythm. Based on the material presented here, one should definitely keep an eye out for Harrison 's full-length Konntinent debut Degrees and Integers on Symbolic Interaction.

January 2009