Various – Imaginational Anthem, Vol. 9: Ryley Walker Presents
Tompkins Square – Out Now
Fourteen years ago, Tompkins Square record label kicked off its career with Imaginational Anthem Volume One, a seventy-plus minute epic project of solo guitar pieces stitched together from live recordings, archived tunes and music recorded specifically for the album. Familiar names such as Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Max Ochs, John Fahey and Kaki King peppered the set and it began a compilation run that brings us to volume nine, compiled by Chicago’s guitar maestro, Ryley Walker. Across the various albums through the years, names like Bill Orcutt, Daniel Bachman, William Tyler and C Joynes stand out, players extremely well regarded in the genre of solo guitar music, but on volume nine, we are treated to eleven tunes from as yet lesser-known players that Ryley holds in high regard.
Although in his album cover message Ryley hails those supporting the future of solo guitar music, anybody expecting a compilation of American Primitive influenced acoustic finger-style instrumentals will be surprised by the variety of material present on this disc. This shouldn’t be wholly unexpected, considering the eclectic nature of Walker’s own musical interests, himself switching from Windham Hill style picking on All Kinds of You to electric guitar workouts and prog movements on Deafman Glance. That said, things start off in a relaxed way, with Ryan Jewell, aka Mosses, playing a calming outdoors tune on the twelve-string acoustic, complete with nature sounds and chime-like bells. ‘Om Ah Hung’ is a hypnotic piece of playing with an edge of anxiety mixed with the lovely orchestral sound of the big twelve-string, played loosely enough to suggest an improvised bent to the composition. The vocal coming in towards the end hints at less conventional things to come, but following track ‘Leicester Hwy’ by Shane Parish is a solo instrumental piece, taking in jazz styles and fascinating methods in repetition and percussion. On the surface, it is a straight forward, leisurely paced track, but the technical ability subtly displayed suggests plenty of skill and ability in this artist.
Elsewhere, a full band version of Norma Tanega’s ‘Walkin’ my Cat Named Dog’ performed by Dida Pelled is a lovely thing, beautifully sang, with serious guitar chops just below the surface, and Kendra Amalie’s ‘Boat Ride’ is a highlight, with the tune bringing in drums and bass to enrich the guitar part. There is a driving rhythm to this piece and some quite haunting playing in the very background that adds unease to things and suggests the boat ride is perhaps one on a misty river. Also creating eeriness is Pete Fosco on his ‘Variations on Themes for Blind Dogs’; often an improviser, Fosco’s piece here uses layers of sound at points and significant space at others to create an unknown landscape. The boldness on display and the confidence in the composition is quite mesmerising and it makes ‘Variations’ an experimental wonder. That said, if experimental is your thing then ‘Seedlings’ by Dave Miller will blow your mind, because his tune is a quite bonkers piece of work, stitching together heavily distorted electric guitar drones, feedback and string bends to create a patchwork of unsettled sonic abstraction. It’s pretty great, especially when butted against final song ‘I used to Sing’, by Matthew Rolin, which is an acoustic tune at points reminiscent of Rick Deitrich’s solo guitar work, and at others of Daniel Bachman’s quicker music. Rolin is obviously a cracking picker and he is keen to keep things moving at quite a pace on this last song, which does well to find balance between some of the raucous or challenging tunes on Volume Nine and some of the more relaxed playing, like Eli Winter’s lovely ‘Wooden Waltz’ (similar in style to ‘Woodlawn Waltz’ from his The Time to Come album) and Lucas Brode’s wonderfully considered electric guitar piece ‘Knots Where Never Was’.
Finishing the package is Matthew Sage, who gives us a gorgeous guitar tune called ‘Camaro Canyon’ and ‘World of Objects’ by Fire-Toolz. ‘Camaro’ incorporates whispers of keyboards, percussion and some spectral slide guitar, all performed by the Chicago based musician, to result in a song that tries not to over-work itself or its listener; it is a piece of music seemingly only looking to be enjoyed, which it achieves with ease. ‘World of Objects’ is a very different beast, a minute and a half creation of computer-generated layered electric guitar playing and synths. This snippet piece fits plenty into its diminutive run time and fully illustrates the diversity of this set as a whole, because Volume Nine crams its forty-four minutes with enough musical styles and new artists to satisfy anybody for some time. Study the sleeve notes, seek out the players and have a load of fun with this ace compilation.
The whole Imaginational Anthem series are also now available via Bandcamp – https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/