Ryley Walker currently resides in New York City. But his latest LP is a Chicago record in spirit. The masterful "Course In Fable", the songwriter's fith solo effort, draws from the deep well of that city's fertile 1990s scene, when bands like Tortoise, The Sea and Cake and Gastr del Sol were reshaping the underground, mixing and matching indie rock, jazz, prog and beyond. Walker spent his formative years in Chicago, absorbing those heady sounds and finding ways to make them his own. Even though he emerged at first in folk-rock troubadour mode, it makes sense that he's arrived at this point; each LP has grown more intricate and assured, his influences distilling into something original and unusual. To put it simply: "Course In Fable" is Walker's best record yet, full of active imagination and endless possibilities. Last October, Ryley went straight to one of the primary architects of the Chicago sound to make the LP. John McEntire is the producer/engineer/ mixer of "Course In Fable", and can rightly be called a legend for his work with Tortoise, Stereolab, The Red Krayola, Jim O'Rourke and countless others over a prolific career that now spans more than three decades. Another Chicago exile, McEntire is based on the west coast these days, working out of the Portland, OR studio he's dubbed Soma West. On the seven songs here, he delivers the signature shimmering and pristine sonics he's become known for over the years. But McEntire was also intimately involved with the overall creative process. "I told him to take the mixes and have at it," Walker says. The result is a rich, immersive affair - a headphones record if ever there was one. The songs are twisty, labyrinthine things, stuffed full of ideas. For this record Ryley assembled a band made up of several longtime collaborators: guitarist Bill MacKay, drummer Ryan Jewell and bassist Andrew ScoJ Young. Beneath their wondrous interplay, you'll find some of Walker's most personal - if still typically cryptic - lyrics, hinting at some of the trials the songwriter has been dealing with in recent years. Balanced with necessary doses of dark humor and oddball poetry, "Course In Fable" feels most of all like a life-affirming record, fresh air in the lungs, sun on your skin. "Fuck me, I'm alive," Ryley sings at one point, a moment of both disbelief and pure joy. Walker has released his albums on a who's-who of independent labels over the past decade - Tompkins Square, Dead Oceans, Thrill Jockey and Drag City among them. This Cme around, he's doing it DIY-style, puang Course In Fable out on his own Husky Pants imprint. You're in good hands. This is an album that sounds great (mastered by Greg Calbi), looks great (artwork by Jenny Nelson and design by Michael Vallera). It probably even smells great. Whether you've been onboard since the beginning or are new to the Ryley Walker universe, you're in for a treat.