Mark McGuire's albums are, amongst many other things, strong arguments for the album and for the stereo system. They're not just music; they're statements, and they demand to be experienced by the best sonic means available. They're throwbacks, not in style, but intent and effect. Put another way -- they don't make them like this anymore.
The wall of sounds contained therein constitute a degree of ambition uncommon since the 70s heyday of McGuire's forebears -- Göttsching, Eno, Fripp. This is not laptop music.
'Beyond Belief', his second full-length for Dead Oceans, finds McGuire now well on the way of his own trip. Fantastical liner note tales written to accompany and set the stage for his mostly-wordless songs delight and confound. Throughout nine tracks we find an unrelenting drive to refine, build upon, focus and maximize the effect of an already remarkably prolific body of work. Though deservedly known for his virtuosic multitracked guitar playing, McGuire in fact plays every bass / synth / piano note, and every beat on the album himself, his vocals more prominent than ever before. 26 months in the making, the passion going into 'Beyond Belief' is self-evident, and the effect is overwhelming.
Like many before him, McGuire isn't entirely comfortable with the critically-bestowed 'new age' tag, but the resonance is there particularly in McGuire's prose, and it's not unreasonable that he appeared alongside venerated new age masters Iasos and Laraaji in The New York Times' appraisal of the new age music renaissance ('For New Age, the Next Generation', Mike Rubin, February 16, 2014).
Running nearly 80 minutes, the bold and fearless 'Beyond Belief' is McGuire's magnum opus to date, but in truth, there is no end in sight for McGuire's vision, making any such assessment wholly premature.
credits
released December 4, 2015
Mark McGuire - electric guitar, vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, drum machine
I believe the last track was released as a single, and I remember listening to it while I had a terrible flu. It blew me away into a fever dream... in a good way? It was quite a somatic experience. I adore this album and recall the show at Knockdown Center a few years ago fondly. AD
Max Cannataro’s debut EP boast three soft-focus guitar pop songs (and two remixes) full of gauzy, dreamlike instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable May 21, 2022
All I can really say is THANK YOU Dylan & co. for bringing new,amazing,dense,deep and interesting music into my life.I first heard about Earth through listening to Mark Lanegan 's book "Sing Backwards and Weep",the mention from Mark and also learning of he and Dylan's closely honed friendship and brotherhood of many years peaked my interest and I knew eventually I'd be embarking on this journey of interdimensional sound."Primitive and Deadly" is a masterpiece!!!!! monobri73