Ryley Walker (Jansch-style vocals, finger-picking folk guitar with double bass and violins grooves)

New album All Kinds of You is pretty good

What do you think?

I can see some people saying it's pretty derivative, and offers nothing new, but I'm a huge fan of this type of sound, so ya.

He's on Spotify

We've discussed him some on this thread-
Revolt of the ILX Brigade: New Post-Fahey Folk For PPL that post in the Takoma & Tompkin's Square Threads

crap, sorry. when i searched i didn't include posts, just thread titles. you can delete or close this

well, i don't see the need for that! maybe people will enjoy him having a thread of his own. don't worry.

Awesome. I just read that he was touring with Cloud Nothings? Why do a lot of different bands and musicians I like end up playing with each other somehow even though they have different tastes. It happens a lot to me.

Different sounds*

he's good! easy to point out the influences, but i don't know, he does the style really well. and he's a hell of a guitarist.
i like that there's a less wispy approach to this genre, which is what most of the Nick Drake acolytes from the last decade or so have latched on to.

the Tim Buckley influence here is enormous.

specifically, i'm referring to what i've heard of Primrose Green.

Kinda surprised more people aren't talking about this album. It's great. Definitely check him out live. His band is fantastic. Closest I can imagine to seeing Tim Buckley circa Happy Sad.

The 1968 Buckleyisms were what put me off this record: it seemed so derivative it was almost pastiche.

I guess not being super familiar with Buckley helps, as that doesn't bother me at all. I absolutely love this record. More than anything else, I was picking up a John Martyn vibe.

yeah i get more of a Martyn thing from the vocals (though Buckley is certainly in the mix). pastiche complaints are valid, but i just enjoy it regardless.

this record rules

Agreed about this, I think it's a great record and that the backing band is hot shit. The Buckley vibe doesn't bother me in the least. I also hear a bit of Nick Drake in parts. I'm seeing him at Solid Sound this year. I sincerely hope he has his band with him, but I doubt it.

the hot shit drummer is my teacher!! he's awesome. apparently they only had one rehearsal the day before they recorded the album? i had no idea he was on it until for some reason i looked him up to see what he was up to and saw he was playing with RW and then i read this

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ryley-walker-primrose-green-guitar-dead-oceans-bachman/Content?oid=16985488

this record rules

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, May 7, 2015 5:49 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've already said it in two other threads but yeah I fucking love this album

Yeah really like it, need to get a physical copy.
Do like the mix of influences.
Incidentally just noticed earlier this week that Terry Reid's River is in his Original Album series 5cd set. Think that lp would fit in with the Buckley, Martyn and Drake already mentioned. As would Van Morrison around Moondance/Veedon Fleece.

overall, i'm really warming to this album. some of the arrangements are terrific, and i actually think that the spectrum of artists he is choosing to draw influence from is quite refreshing. in addition to the loose, windy Buckley-isms, i'm hearing Bert Jansch in the vocal delivery, which is appealing. and yeah, plenty of John Martyn, definitely.

in fact, the first thing that the album title reminded me of -- before i'd heard a note of the music -- was Jansch's Rosemary Lane.

also just realised that there's a p4k review for this album that completely misses the point.

this record rules

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, May 7, 2015 12:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

:) this makes me happy i think i've always hoped either tyler or ryley could break out of the ilx brigade post fahey ghetto

Can't get out without a y in yr name

stevey gunn too

this record rules

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, May 7, 2015 12:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

:) this makes me happy i think i've always hoped either tyler or ryley could break out of the ilx brigade post fahey ghetto

― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, May 8, 2015 3:01 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

for a moment i thought you meant they were ilx'ers

No, probably just that they're not quite as unsung as they were. Not sure how well known they would be still. Do know that there is a Riley Walker track on the Paul Weller chosen tracklisting for the current Mojo cd Beyond Saturn.
I'm still not sure how well known anything would be. I don't frequent coffee shops or anything so not sure how likely they would be to be onplaylists for things like that if taht would actually be widespread in itself. Also don't listen to radio.

I still don't really know how recognised pretty much anything would be. Like is Jeff Buckley really widely known by the general public, not just people who actually seek out music. or how well known somebody like Nick Cave would be, or Paul Weller since its his mix on that cd I mentioned. I guess the Jam would be pretty well known but is that only by people of a certain age who still care about music and is that itself marginalised?

Anyway do like taht record.

THe first live set I've come across by him has just appeared on Dime
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=529845

it's a bit quiet but is at least a live recording. Think it is at least listenable.

Oh man you gotta head here: http://www.nyctaper.com/2015/03/ryley-walker-march-15-2015-babys-all-right-flacmp3alacstreaming-set/

Also here http://www.nyctaper.com/2014/10/ryley-walker-september-6-2014-hopscotch-music-festival-fletcher-opera-theater-raleigh-nc-flacmp3full-set-streaming/

And here http://www.nyctaper.com/2015/02/ryley-walker-january-13-2015-babys-all-right-flacmp3streaming/

Haven't listened to all of them, but NYCTaper almost always has high-quality recordings sound-wise.

yeah nyc taper has all the walker live stuff you need.

Cool, been wondering why there hasn't been more appearing on Dime etc

Here you go Stevolende, another new full-band set put up:

http://www.nyctaper.com/2015/06/ryley-walker-june-26-2015-le-poisson-rouge-flacalacmp3streaming/

Have at it.

I saw him with this band at Solid Sound this weekend. It was an amazing, soulful set. I just wish it wasn't at noon. It was more of a late night set. The band is quite something.

nyc taper set is pretty great!

thanks for posting. LPR show was fantastic. perfect opener for jessica pratt

http://ryleywalkerbootlegs.blogspot.com/
more live stuff from the man himself ...
new album coming sometime later this summer i think?

saw him two weeks ago and he had the best feedback coming out of his guitar

Looking forward to this.

http://cdn.folkradio.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Golden-Sings-That-Have-Been-Sung-min-1170x650.jpg

https://youtu.be/55I8CvHH1U4

has he been touring with the same band this year? heard that the primrose green players are busy with their own thing (health & beauty)

I've been in the 'definitely hugely talented but needs to get some stuff out of his system' camp for a while. Good to hear him try some different things on the new album, but while Bert Jansch's lawyers can stand down, big Jim O'Rourke's lawyers' might be taking notice...

how is it possible to be original in the year 2016 tho

i get the o'rourke/gastr del sol comparisons w/ this one, but walker's vocals are almost the opposite of o'rourke's. his lyrics too.

Digging these new Ryley tracks. Not hearing enough O'Rourke biting to be bothered by it, and anyway I like Ryley's new tracks better than O'Rourke's last album hah hah.

loving this, it's a very autumn record to the last one's summer

Have to admit that this is really growing on me. Hearing the long versions of the songs on an NYCTaper set really gave a sense of space, space which now feels enfolded in the shorter versions,

Listening to "Golden Sings" now and I'm not familiar with any of the artist he's been compared to (aside from Nick Drake). I really like this new album, how it combines the feel of the folk singer-songwriter with some different sounds like the zither. It starts with a bang with "The Halfwit In Me" and grabs me by the collar with "The Roundabout", but the ending "Age Old Tale" has this Fairport Convention-meets-American Music Club vibe that's a total winner.

just found out he plays psych guitar on the Spiral Galaxy record with Plastic Crimewave folks etc.

Oh wow, I didn't know that either! I've been meaning to check that one out, I'll bump that higher on my list. Thanks.

Yeah, this new is fantastic.

"new one", that should have been. Really great and probably my favorite thing he's done yet.

It's wonderful in every way except for the songs themselves, which haven't reeled me in at all, save for the closer, 'Shiva with Dustpan', which finally rises to the level of 'memorable'. It's probably just me, though.

Great album, very Jim O’Rouke

where are yall hearing this? my bandcamp library still says "pre-order"

the kikagaku moyo collab is a burner and it's like the heaviest vinyl record i own, 1800g lp

xxpost i haven't heard the new one, but your experience lines up w/ mine, generally speaking ... for years now. i love everything about Ryley but i've just never been able to really latch on to his vocal melodies.

just from the singles this sounds pretty damn good

his vocal melodies

Yeah, that's the main sticking point for me as well. I assume this is why I loved the (instrumental) Kikagaku Moyo collab so much.

where are yall hearing this? my bandcamp library still says "pre-order"

Yeah I still haven't gotten the digital version, but my CD copy showed up like two days after I placed the pre-order. Was definitely not expecting that to be the case.

This week I’m two years sober off dope, coke, and booze. Still don’t have the key to happiness or all the answers. Just know it’s 100% possible to live without picking up. Nothing comes before sobriety. Couldn’t have done it alone. Asked sober people what they did and listened.

— Ryley walker (@ryleywalker) March 21, 2021

I love Ryley but I get a headache from this record! Really bums me out :(

first one i've heard and really enjoyed it. the Jim O'Rourke vibes are very strong, but so few people do anything in that style and where Jim doesn't do song records that often, i'm totally fine with it.

Dude's on a roll. His new record with David Grubbs is exceptional! Started out kinda like I would have expected, but gets really weird and out fairly quickly.

I'm really enjoying this new(ish) one. It's grown on me. His vocal has for the most part lost the si-hi-hi-nging style of the last record. Maybe I should give that one another go.

Clad With Bunk ends with a guitar riff like Drag Racer by the Doug Wood Band. Known to older UK listners ad the theme to the snooker.

Any ilxors who have ordered the new Post Wook from his bandcamp received theirs yet? According to the bandcamp email I should have had it a few weeks ago, but nothing yet. It still says "ships out within 5 days" and no notices about any delays, so it doesn't seem to indicate any delays.

I haven't ordered it yet but my previous experience was ordering the Ryley/Kikagaku Moyo album and it shipped out almost immediately so it might be worth emailing just to make sure it didn't fall through the cracks

yeah, i'd just email — ryley is pretty responsive, I've found. cool record! he might even have done it a bit of a disservice with the jokey title, haha.

Yeah, I'll do that. I dunno, I kind of love when he gets all goofy. Kicking myself for missing that Steve Gunn drone tape.

it's kind of cool to read the thread title: Ryley Walker (Jansch-style vocals, finger-picking folk guitar with double bass and violins grooves)

and realize how much he's changed and evolved, that doesn't even come close to describing him now

i guess if you were going to find a good comparison, it'd be john martyn — which means Ryley is about to make his One World?

I wouldn't hate that.

had the pleasure of seeing Ryley live with his band, absolute beast of a bass player Andrew Scott Young and two(!) drummers

he seems so effortless in his playing

ryley walker is hella good. i had no idea...

Post Wook is really great. Have been dipping into his back catalog stuff I haven't heard and it's so diverse. He has a really creative and ambitious musical mind, that takes him in pretty different directions from a lot of his brethren in the post-Faheyverse. Going back to his older stylez search also SpiderBeetleBee w Bill MacKay

Dude seems really happy since getting sober, seems to enjoy working at that burger joint.

He's great fun live - you can tell he's enjoying himself

playing bass last night with the Moles. been a while, good to see him. and yes, he was having a good time up there.

Moles warming up for a GBV opening spot they have coming up, Ryley also has a show with Tara Jane O'Neil in April, as the TJO Duo.

i saw him open for bitchin bajas a couple of nights ago. he seems like a pretty twitchy, insufferable person. is there something about chicago that produces these sort of macho meat-head avant dudes? anyway the music was pretty good!

He’s always been like that live, sober or otherwise. A little aggro. Terrific player though, I’m a fan. First saw him when I wandered in midset at an early Big Ears.

is there something about chicago that produces these sort of macho meat-head avant dudes?

feel like this could be a whole thread

i saw him earlier this summer and some of the new music was incredible. some ppl i know who have heard the album say it’s very good

ryley's a good guy in my experience and I've always found him to be very funny onstage!
new album is great, some very cool sounds/songs.

I guess I think of him more as goofy than macho

yeah, macho doesn't seem right. he's just a guy who talks shit. he's a shit-talker.

he did go a little hard on vinegar based color slaw in this video I took 10 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlkpC8J7y38

vinegar slaw rules. he seems cuddly enough though!

I'm on your side with regards to vinegar slaw

Whoa? New one? Missed that completely

He's definitely more goofy than macho. I think he's likeable.

Agree, good guy. Got to see him play 4 sets in different venues at a festival a few years ago, and it was interesting to go from a show where the crowd got his humor to another where they were completely nonplussed.

Alpine static otm — a shit talker for sure, not macho. Puckish? Testy? A little antisocial? One thing I will testify to is the overall unfriendliness of this Chicago type.
But no one said you have to be friendly.

definitely get the sense that while he likes to lean into challops they still originate in his actual musical preferences

one of my big "near miss" gigs i'll always wish i could have seen is a few years ago i was in the Shetland Islands and noticed that he was randomly booked to play the small pub in town a few days after i was leaving, place was a shoebox without even a little corner stage or clear performance area of any kind, no idea why such a tiny out of the way gig would be worth it to him, maybe he was just on holiday, but man i bet it was an interesting night

When he lived in Chicago he hung out at J&M Tap and all the times I talked to him there he was super nice and loved talking about music and film. ‘All Kinds of you’ cover shot just down the street on Iowa street.

what's the new album? can't find it on bandcamp

Coming out early next year! Just one track — “carrier” — out now.

ah, thanks!