It's sometimes strange how purely instrumental ambiance and hazy textures can evoke such strong feelings and emotions, even without the guidance of lyrics. Nostalgic moodsetting bleeds through in almost everything Cleveland, Ohio's Emeralds put out. None of the members in Emeralds seem more in touch with their childhoods than guitarist Mark McGuire; a player normally more well known for his ability to make his guitar sound not like a guitar than anything. His brand of swirling poppy drone is what sets Emeralds apart from their other electronic peers. McGuire's solo records tend to focus more on the ambient, looped, experimentation side of the coin. I've always felt as if he was somewhat of an unbalanced player, someone that writes really interesting parts but for some reason is hit or miss when it comes to is songwriting ability and his accessibility. His records tend to be more bits and pieces of ideas that would be fantastic if he just took a little more time to hash them out. However, in his newest record Living With Yourself McGuire is in top form; creating a concise album thats oozing with bright combination of both unaffected acoustics, childhood field recordings, fuzzy, sun bursting electronics, and most importantly, good fucking songs. Finally, McGuire has moved beyond simply tweaking sounds and and layering riffs until they sound pretty, he's finally found his voice as a songwriter. For an instrumental release, it is so easy to visualize the narrative that McGuire lays out for listeners. Rich with delay his arpeggiated loops and moving, swollen textures allude to a man exploring his relationships, both past and present; with both friends and family. Tracks like "Brain Storm (for Erin)" are so emotionally charged and moving it's hard not to put this kid up there with ambient layering greats like Brian Eno. Last year McGuire's Tidings II was one of my favorite discs, simply because without a hitch it could make me fall asleep no matter what. Living With Yourself evokes completely different states from me, I don't want to fall asleep to this record at all; it's so dense and interesting that the idea of sleeping to it seems like a disservice to the genius that floods my ears.
-YtWt
No comments:
Post a Comment