Hilariously enough, what is rapidly becoming Autodidact's most well-known release is the one about which i'm most ambivalent, and the one that has sown the most confusion among the cult. In the Autodidact catalog, this is an anomaly -- two of the tracks are actually remixed snippets of early, early (real early) Autodidact tracks, using different elements from different songs to form something new (yes, i really like SOUNDTRACKS FOR THE BLIND, thank you). One was assembled from pieces lying around, and the other two were basically recorded back to back over three successive nights, right after i had just bought a Nanoverb. It explains a lot, doesn't it? This is a curiosity that was never actually intended to be released. I like it (otherwise it would still be unreleased), but i don't think it's Autodidact's best album by any means (that would be REAP THE BLACK HARVEST, recently completed and as yet unreleased) and the songs are (yes) way too long....
NOW RKF EXPLAINS THE WEIRD TRACKING: Basically, there was a miscommunication regarding the titles; nine titles are listed even though there are only five tracks because four titles are actually parts of the first track. See below for the actual track listing.
1) the blooming of one hundred flowers:
--- a) flowers embrace the sun
--- b) the chairman dreams of boxcars filled with grain
--- c) the dream grows teeth (dead flowers)
--- d) maggots eat the stems
2) like a baby carved from stone
3) the forest, filled with wolves
4) celestial drift
5) blues for a li'l peach
SOME RANDOM NOTES FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT:
"the blooming of one hundred shotguns" is actually four totally different pieces recorded at different times then assembled, for reasons that totally escape me now. It's also my favorite track on the album.
"like a baby carved from stone" and "the forest, filled with wolves" are actually built up from segments of various old Autodidact master tapes overlaid with new drones. I still like the idea in theory but the execution needs work, apparently. I'd list the songs that were mined, but I've long since forgotten....
Yes, i know "celestial drift" sounds like Skullflower -- it's not fault, i can't help it....
There's a halfway entertaining story behind the title of the last track, but it's much too arcane to tell here. This is my second-favorite track, though, just because it's so overblown and ridiculous.