![]() In Tim Buckley terms, he’s in the Starsailor period: to some, genius but others simply scratch their heads. While the album is intriguing and never dull, I would stop short at classifying this as a return to form for Ryley Walker. There’s a complete change of tack with the soaring closer Shiva With Dustpan and it’s by far the best thing here, evoking a lazy summery groove, almost a throwback to his older material, filtered through the smoky haze of his current prog sound. The seven minute Pond Scum Ocean opens with a disco beat and some seemingly aimless sounding guitar noodling, though it resolves itself into a very agreeable folk song despite the distracting beat. It plods along agreeably for three and a half minutes before a bluesy electric guitar takes over. It starts promisingly with nice melodic guitars before disappearing up its ass with needless percussion and… horns, goddamn it! Clad with Bunk is almost jazzlike 70s folk-rock. The tone of the album is exemplified by Axis Bent. A Lenticular Slap is busy and at times, wilfully obtuse with many musical twists and shifts. Music Reviews: Course In Fable by Ryley Walker released in 2021. The music is pleasant and intricate, and the lyrics are just a little cumbersome. Ryley Walker's 'Course In Fable': impossible to listen without thoughts turning to possible influences Although Course In Fable is, as Ryley Walker albums go, pretty straightforward some sharp left turns indicate that the formerly Chicago-based, now New York-dwelling guitar whizz isn’t content with limiting a single musical line of attack to. ![]() While the earlier release was folky, dronelike, and punctuated by lines. Rang Dizzy reminds me of a post-rock take on Nick Drake’s Hazy Jane I, “I’m so fried…. Course in Fable, Walker’s fifth proper solo LP, offers a markedly different listening experience than Deafman Glance. Opener Striking Down Your Big Premiere is knotty and complex but will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky, with added guitar fret-bothering. With John McEntire (Tortoise/Gastr del Sol/The Sea and Cake) involved it’s probably not surprising. Walker has been exploring prog for the last few years and he has just made what is best described as a prog-folk album. There’s a will for the lad to succeed but if you’re hankering for the melodic simplicity of Primrose Green you won’t find it here. This is his first album of songs since 2018, back from the wilderness, if you like. Since 2018, Ryley Walker has mostly operated on the fringes with out-there collaborations and extended jam sessions being his main forms of musical expression. The masterful Course In Fable, the songwriters fifth solo effort, draws from the deep well of that citys fertile 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The. Ryley Walker – Course In Fable – Album Review
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