The fact I’ve never heard of Mark McGuire suggests that this double-disc compilation is intended for people like me (at 35, I’d like to think I still qualify as a young person). It transpires that McGuire himself is but a child at 24, and he's been releasing prodigiously over the course of the last four years, both as a solo artist and as a member of Emeralds (who I’m equally ignorant of, much to my shame). Still, given that most of his releases are produced in limited runs ranging from a couple of hundred to as few as 75 copies, it's perhaps not all that surprising.
Some of the tracks are incredibly brief, i.e. under two minutes in duration. They're matched by an equal proportion of tracks that are incredibly long, pushing beyond the seven, eight and nine minute marks and then some. Disc one track one, 'Dream Team', sets the standard: it's a seventeen-minuter, for goodness' sake! It sort of reminds me of early – pre-'Slanted' – Pavemrnt in its scuzzy, low-fi guitar buzz, but is largely instrumental (what vocals there are are buried) and doesn't really go anywhere, preferring instead to plug away at a single riff for an eternity. And yet, I can't help but rather like it. 'The Marfa Lights' follow it, and clocks in at over nine minutes. You wouldn't even think it was the same artist: a mellow post-rock epic of interwoven, chiming guitars swathed in chorus and delay, it transports the listener to another dimension altogether. It's pretty representative of McGuire's work, assuming the tracks chosen for this compilation are representative of his output as a whole. ‘Flight’ brings to the two elements together, an insistent guitar chug providing the bedrock for a soaring, spaced-out prog-influenced flight of sonic fancy.
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Disc two doesn't really offer anything different, there are no big surprises, just lots of big songs – and that's just fine. Over simple strummed rhythm guitars that spin on into the sunlit distance, the looping lead guitars – which don't really lead, as nothing in particular dominates, it's all about the overall effect of the instruments blending together – often often chime and soar, occasionally augmented with gentle splashes of synth here and there, adding further layers of texture and tone. Listening to McGuire's soft, dreamy compositions are like watching a skilled artist paint a scene in watercolour: the little dabs and washes are nothing in themselves, but to watch the painter effortlessly create something by bringing the elements together is a joyous experience. The joy of McGuire's music lies in its simplicity and effortlessness, his free and spacious style of playing and the moods he creates with, to all intents and purposes, quite limited means.
'A Young Person's Guide' is guitar-based chillout music par excellence, and over the course of almost two and a half hours, really does tick all the right boxes in terms of providing a comprehensive and well-judged introduction to Mark McGuire's work.
Mark McGuire Online
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