Mark McGuire - A Young Persons Guide

This young chap and Dustin Wong are like the new gods of guitar nowadays. Sod writing blazing lead parts and eschewing songwriting in a traditional sense. All you need is a load of delay pedals, a shaggy hair do and a laptop and off you go, right to the top of some poncy magazine /online blogs "best of" lists. This guy play mainly guitar in Emeralds and has been releasing material on numerous labels since the dawn of time it would seem. He's a 24 year old guy from the US of A who is into soundscapes and loops, coupled with freeform meandering. He released something like 32 records over 3 years which is some feat. It's quite an interesting listen. Layers of guitar loops with constant keyboard/synth passages. The compositions on offer here are every bit as wonderful as you can imagine them being. I wasn't convinced at first but as you delve deeper into the album, it starts to feel oddly compelling and quite moving. There are numerous moments on this record that will really grab you and there are more than a few moments that really tug at your heartstrings. It's great to hear music that evokes feelings of a positive nature rather than being subjected to bleak harsh industrial type miserablism, foppish indie or dubstep. This is an enchanting foray into the world of McG. and it's a sweet place to end up. As an afterthought; this CD comes with an interesting poster of McG looking a bit like a roman emperor. Comes with a years free subscription to "Crab Style!!" the only magazine dedicated to walking sideways through life...