Mark McGuire

Much has been made of Mark McGuire's prolific nature, and for good reason. Since launching his solo career in 2007, the kosmische-minded guitar virtuoso has birthed a countless array of limited tapes, CD-Rs and LPs, with the 24-year-old quickly amassing well over 30 releases ― and that's not even counting those by his multiple side-projects and his work with his day job, Emeralds. It's enough to do any fan's head in, making A Young Person's Guide welcome relief. Culled from recordings made between 2007 and 2010, the compilation comes packing two CDs, 20 tracks and nearly two-and-a-half hours of transcendental, head-trippin' music. Unlike McGuire's Emeralds work, the comp focuses squarely on looped, layered and intricately played guitar-scapes, which, despite their wordless nature, pack some of the most beautiful melodies around. Factor in the comp's mammoth nature and it's easy to get lost in McGuire's guitar epics; then again, that's the point. Essential for McGuire heads old and new, A Young Person's Guide serves as one stunning document of one of the most inventive and skilled American experimentalists going.