Mark McGuire - Anhedonia (Self Release)

This post was originally published in The Slow Music Movement newsletter.

This one’s been sitting in the diary for a while and its time has finally come. Mark McGuire was 33.3% of Emeralds and since they disbanded in 2013 he seems to have hunkered up in the middle of nowhere with his guitars and is keeping himself busy self releasing the results on Bandcamp.

The music has been as erratic as the cover art, and it would take the most hardened of fans to go with every flight of fancy, but whatever your feelings there is no denying the guys guitar playing is top drawer. On this new release he sets off on a decidedly kosmische voyage, either soaring through or levitating above mystical realms, propelled by the mantric minimalism he teases from his acoustic/electric guitars and bass. It’s a trip.