ジョン・マッケンタイア・プロデュース! 90'Sシカゴ・シーンに想いを馳せる渾身のニューアルバム!!

幾何学模様とのコラボ・ライヴ盤『DEEP FRIED GRANDEUR』も話題を呼んだシカゴのシンガーソングライターRYLEY WALKERが自身のレーベルHUSKY PANTS RECORDSより放つニューアルバム。

『シカゴ音響派』をはじめとする1990年代のインディー・シーンからインスピレーションを受けており、ウォーカー自身がレジェンドJOHN MCENTIREに直談判しプロデュースを依頼。プログレッシヴ・ロックからポストロック、そして現代のインディーロックに至るまでの進化と繋がりを感じさせる"RANG DIZZY"は、鮮やかなギターワークと美麗ストリングスが絶品!

プロデューサーとしてJOHN MCENTIRE、そしてもう一人のシカゴの大物BILL MACKAYや、ANDREW SCOJ YOUNG (TIGER HATCHERY, HEALTH&BEAUTY)らが参加。90'Sポストロック・シーンのド真ん中を通過したリスナーから現在進行形のインディーキッズまで全員必聴な渾身のニューアルバム!

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2022/10/24）

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. 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, Walkers fifth album. 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). 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 Walkers career. 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. 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 formers inventive prog-pop with the latters detailed hi-fi indie fusion, sounding like nothing from either coast. Album 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. 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. 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. 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. Walker may tip his hat to Chicagos experimental underground or prog behemoths like Genesis, but with this release, hes very much his own man. ~ Timothy Monger

Rovi