How do I even begin to measure how much ass Emerald’s Mark McGuire kicked this year? Working under several different project names including Sun Watcher, Skyramps, and Peoples Parties, Mark quietly conquered the ambient underground in 2009. To combat sleeplessness, tour schedules, and boredom, he filled his four-track with buoyant, rhythmic meditations for guitar and tape with a deeply submerged pop sensibility.
While varied stylistically, the handful of releases he put out this year are all anchored around his fluid and intuitive sense of song structure. If I had to pick one release that most accurately describes his “sound”, it would probably be Loosing Sleep, where nostalgic phased guitar tones hover and multiply into lush airspace. Recorded at his home between 3 and 6 am, this album captures an adolescent wonder for the looming potential of the after hours. The epic “Marfa Lights 2″, hones darting notes of Tangerine Dream-soundtrack ambiance, culminating into an absurd metropolis of coexisting guitar loops stacked a mile high (all of which he bangs out live).
It’s worth noting that his collaborative efforts from this year have yielded equally compelling results as well. One highlight was Skyramp’s Days of Thunder. With the help of Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, they create five sprawling tracks built on Fripp & Eno sine waves of metallic fuzz jockeying over Kraftwerk electronics. Whatever his working title may be, Mark has become sort of like the ambient Robert Pollard, only more prolific and on target twice as often.
You can view Mark’s complete discography, as well as links to purchase the albums here.
For Fans Of: Fripp & Eno, Mountains, Oneohtrix Point Never
MP3 :::
Mark Mcguire – No Eye Noon Doe
Skyramps – Skyramping
Sunwatcher – Teaming Up
