The most recent of these experimental collaborative releases is Deep Fried Grandeur, by Ryley Walker and Kikagaku Moyo.ĭeep Fried Grandeur was conceived at the 2018 Le Guess Who Festival, a Netherlands based festival celebrating various forms of experimental music. With the growth of Bandcamp and DIY indie labels, we are lucky enough to have high-quality access to many of these performances. Throughout the last few years, it was par for the course to walk into a club to find troupes of semi-famous (if not niche) psych rockers joining forces to create powerful music on the fly. Ryley Walker x Kikagaku Moyo - 'Deep Fried Grandeur', live at Le Guess Who? 2018Ĭhicago-based songwriter and guitarist Ryley Walker and Japanese psych-rockers Kikagaku Moyo gave a special collaborative performance at Le Guess Who? 2018.One of my many favourite parts of the recent improvisational psych renaissance is the indelible respect and collaboration between the artists. Now, the artists release the recordings of that show called ‘Deep Fried Grandeur’ two lengthy, kaleidoscopic jams featuring a revolving cast of folk jazz, acid rock, and psychedelia in a heavy-improv setting. The album is released digitally and as a limited edition LP (black and orange wax) via Ryley Walker’s own label Husky Pants.ĭeep Fried Grandeur by Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo 'Deep Fried Grandeur' was recorded live at De Helling in Utrecht during Le Guess Who? 2018. The album is produced and mixed by Cooper Crain the audio was recorded by Don Funcken and Marc Broer and the LP was mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA.At twelve years old, Ryley Walker discovered that music was the only thing that made him want to get through each day. A midwesterner born to working class parents, as well as an uninspired student who sucked at sports, the only thing in the world that seemed cool to Walker was rock music and guitars. By the time he reached highschool, he began immersing himself in jazz guitar, discovering the polyrhythmic work of Nick Drake, and the melodically dexterous coterie of ‘60s British singer-songwriters that surrounded him.įavoring Jimmy Page, Sonic Youth, Led Zeppelin and “fucked up sounds” that made his parents feel nauseous, he formed his first basement punk band on the cusp of teenagehood. Building on his musical influences and DNA, naturally, Walker became a fingerpicking lunatic. Walker began his career in the early 2010s, after moving from Illinois’ provincial town of Rockford, and settling into Chicago’s independent scene. After a slew of cassette and vinyl releases, Tompkins Square put out his debut album in 2014, which was then followed up by the Dead Oceans released Primrose Green a year later. Working alongside several of Chicago’s distinguished experimental and jazz musicians, including cellist Fred Longberg-Holm, Walker has almost always left room for improvisation in his music, typically building from a central groove and then mutating and expanding outwards, until the song resembles something like a convulsive octopus.įor the past decade, his output has been prolific. In 2015, Walker released an instrumental album, recorded in collaboration with fellow Chicago musician Bill MacKay, entitled Land of Plenty. Following the release of his fourth solo album, Golden Sings That Have Been Sung, in 2016, the duo's second album, Spiderbeetlebee, was released by Drag City in 2017. Around the same time, he teamed up with free-jazz drummer Charles Rumback, the result was 2016’s Cannots, released by Dead Oceans in 2016, and later, Little Common Twist, released by Thrill Jockey in November, 2019-which followed 2018’s The Lillywhite Sessions, an album of covers of Walker’s beloved Dave Matthews Band. In 2021, he released Deep Fried Grandeur, a live album in collaboration with Japanese psychedelic band Kikagayu Moyo, just before releasing his sixth and most critically acclaimed solo album to date, Course In Fable. Most recently, in September, he released A Tap On The Shoulder alongside frequent collaborator and Squirrel Bait founder David Grubbs. In 2019, just before the lockdown, he founded Husky Pants, his first record label. After parting ways with Dead Oceans, he opted to release his sixth solo album independently, and has since used his label to release music by artists he admires. “These days I love being at home and putting out other people’s music and advocating for them.
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