Editions MEGO

Though barely a quarter-century in age, Emeralds guitarist Mark McGuire has amassed a catalog of material that could rival the cache of many artists twice, thrice and even quadruple his 24 years on this planet.

Though his last solo endeavor, 2010’s impressive Living With Yourself, was released on his band’s current imprint Editions MEGO, the majority of his work was issued on a strong, steady string of limited edition CD-Rs and cassettes of varying fidelity, each one displaying the evolution of McGuire’s homegrown fusion of layered acoustic and electric tonal finger-picking, tape manipulation, hypnotic synthesizers and treated vocals that falls somewhere between John Fahey, Durutti Column and Terry Riley.

Spanning the years 2007 to 2010, A Young Person’s Guide To Mark McGuire is a two-disc set that collects 20 of the finest moments from these DIY recordings for such private press micro labels as Pizza Night, Wagon Art and Everybody Else Has A Record Label among others. It serves as a profound showcase of Mark’s evolution as a musician, from the crude, no-fi riff bombs of his earliest compositions akin to The Process of Weeding Out -era Black Flag on through to his prodigy-like growth as a sonic collagist and master of the epic loop jam of the highest order.

If you already own both Living With Yourself and Emerlads’ brilliant Does It Look Like I’m Here? and are looking to delve deeper into the work of his immensely talented young lion of chillbient, this Young Person’s Guide is the perfect place to send you on your way.