The thing
“Music is formidably strong. It beats out all other forms of art. Music is highly associative and will bring you to worlds [within], you were perhaps unaware of possessing.” (Rolf Lassgård in the movie En slags liv, translated from Swedish.)
“the only truth is music – the only meaing is without meaning – Music blends with the heartbeat universe and we forget the brain beat.” Jack Kerouac in Desolation Angels.
Right after soundcheck Ryley Walker was walking by me, but stopped, turned and exclaimed: “I love live music!”. The love for music in Ryley is apparent (and shared by this writer). For this show he was bringing two drummers with their own kits, perhaps a true sign of the love of the art of music?
The second Ryley Walker show of this writer in a few days time, on a Monday night, did not disappoint. If Huset in Copenhagen was jam packed and warm, this was a bit more mellow and laid-back. Songs of the tour had started to crystallize, bringing a lot of the warm sound from the excellent record Course in Fable while adding the in-the-moment jamming and improvising of Ryley’s live shows. There’s plenty of space in the soundscape for all four musicians on-stage to take part in the creative process taking place from the first touches of the instruments to the end of an excellent version of On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee.
The aura of the importance of music in the room didn’t stop with Ryley by the way. Two members of the audience were heard contemplating the role of music in the world, saying: “music has existed for longer than mankind. It is of bigger meaning than its importance to mankind.”
It’s just the way it is.
Ryley Walker – Guitars, vocals
Quin Kirchner – Drums, percussion
Ryan Jewell – Drums, percussion
Andrew Scott Young – Bass guitar
Setlist
1. Intro
2. Telluride Speed
3. So Certain Tall Tales
4. Shiva with Dustpan
5. Opposite Middle
6. The Halfwit in Me
7. Rang Dizzy
8. Striking Down Your Big Premiere
9. On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee
Tech
This recording was made by using Art S8 splitter feeds running into Digimax D8s and recorded with the old but trustworthy Alesis HD24. Two microphones were flying above the stage lip for ambience, chosen to be Milab DC196s in omni setting. The mix turned out well and gives a good representation of the music. Thanks to house tech Mattias for good sounds in the room.
Download links at https://archive.org/details/ryleywalker2022-06-13.flac24
Video
Rang Dizzy:
Links
https://www.ryleywalker.com/ – Official site
https://archive.org/details/RyleyWalker– A lot of live recordings of a wide range of Ryley’s projects.
https://huskypantsrecords.bigcartel.com/– Husky Pants Records