Autodidact are (or were? This was recorded in 99-00 and issued last year) Rkf (guitars, effects, loops, editing) and The Ice Queen Esmeralda (beats 'n bass). "The blooming of one hundred shotguns" is a long journey through abstract but evocative atmospheres. Tracks are often composed of several movements, like mini suites. It's mostly effected guitar drones, which are very well orchestrated so that the result is an ever mutating, ominous sonic mass - psychedelic but often scary and grand. Sometimes the bass and programmed beats come in, giving a more rockin' backbone though mainly repeating the same riffs in a quite minimalistic way - it's like an ambient version of noise-wave, with some resemblance of bands like Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine or Jesus and Mary Chain. You have to approach the whole work with adequate mood and concentration, since tracks are very long and the structure based on repetition can put you off at a first listening - but it's a good cd of experimental guitar-based ambient.