![]() Those barely scratch the surface of all there is to love in this 80-minute set as this band’s virtuosity hits its peak, as they draw from both their compatriot forebears like Ghost to the wide world of American classic rock. Besides the obvious (musicianship, attention to melody), one of the things that makes this band so special is their comfort with different styles, from instrumental jammers like “Dripping Sun” from their current LP Masana Temples, to delicate folk numbers like “Cardigan Song,” which they played acoustically along with an unreleased new song they’ve been working on during this tour. Judging by the sold-out crowd at venerable Greenpoint venue Warsaw this past Friday, quite a lot of people have now gotten the message. Walker may tip his hat to Chicago's experimental underground or prog behemoths like Genesis, but with this release, he's very much his own man.If you’re like me, it was our friends at Beyond Beyond Is Beyond who first turned you onto Tokyo’s Kikagaku Moyo with their stateside release of the band’s second album, Forest of Lost Children. And yet, for all of its tricky rhythmic shifts and dazzling guitar work, Course in Fable is rife with appealing melodies and quirky, head-turning lyrics ("walk a victory lap around the whale shit tombs") lending the record its own air of distinction. ![]() With opaque lyrics that suggest hidden meanings and a husky delivery recalling mid-'70s John Martyn, he brings a casual elegance to what may be his most technically complex songs to date. The musical interplay between Walker, guitarist Bill McKay (another Chicagoan), bassist Andrew Scott Young, and drummer Ryan Jewell is simply electric, and his increasing confidence as an ace bandleader makes it all feel effortless. While Walker now resides in New York and McEntire in Portland, they meet (figuratively and sonically) in the middle with an impressive set that melds the former's inventive prog-pop with the latter's detailed hi-fi indie fusion, sounding like nothing from either coast.Īlbum opener "Striking Down Your Big Premiere" leans heavily into its progressive nature, shifting seamlessly between time signatures and conjoined micro-suites to create a surprisingly effective whole. His emergence in 2014 as a much-heralded folk troubadour grew over subsequent years into a snaky path of idiosyncratic left turns, somehow leading back (albeit transformed) to the influence of his hometown. The pairing of these two Chicago eccentrics from different generations is an inspired one and makes a certain amount of sense at this point in Walker's career. An artful nexus of impressionistic songwriting, prog-rock vision, and melodic nuance, these seven tracks shimmer and roil in hi-fi glory, thanks in part to the efforts of veteran producer/engineer John McEntire ( Tortoise, the Sea and Cake). At some point during this busy stretch, he also found time to compose and record some of his most intricate and satisfying solo material to date, released here as Course in Fable, Walker's fifth album. ![]() Since his last proper solo release in 2018, Ryley Walker has certainly maintained his sense of adventure, remaking a lost Dave Matthews Band album, releasing his second instrumental collaboration with drummer Charles Rumback, and getting deep into the weeds with Japanese psych combo Kikagaku Moyo.
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