“[A] delightful slice of psych rock, with the seven songs encompassing the album twisting and turning in an exciting new direction.” – PureVolume
“[A]pproaches psychedelic rock from oblique angles, the better to cut through the subgenre’s traditional haze and fuzz, on a solid debut long-player.” – Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“[I]t’s a re-imagining of folk music, a la Devendra Banhart, though imagine that being recorded inside a bubble or beneath water” – Austin Town Hall
“[F]eels like a downstream float through a rainbow river.” – FLOOD Magazine
“[Y]ou could zone out to on a transcendental quest to all night long” – Impose
“[T]he perfect dose of laid back psych infused folk rock.” – The Revue
Today, The Dan Ryan’s swirling psychedelic self-titled debut is streaming in full via PureVolume. The Austin-based project of Nathan Dixey is also the first official release of Venice, CA label Cosmic Dreamer Music. The seven diverse tracks flow seamlessly to create a dreamy, kaleidoscopic sonic landscape. You can now stream the album in its entirety via PureVolume and Cosmic Dreamer.
If the Grateful Dead of 1977 started collaborating with the Grateful Dead of 1966 under George Harrison’s supervision in 2014, the result would sound similar to The Dan Ryan. Sonically, the LP is unique, blending pop sensibilities and electronic textures with tender vocals. Experimental and deeply personal, the songs bear a chapter of change with deep lyrical content, yet the music never becomes too dark or overbearing.
The Dan Ryan LP is also the first release from new record label Cosmic Dreamer Music, based in Venice, CA. Cosmic Dreamer is a platform for artistic expression. Founded by visual artists who play music, the label believes in the power of connecting with others through sight, sound, and experience. Future releases include those from Onsen and Allelujah.
Formed in 2011 as a side project of Hospital Ships’ Nathan Dixey in Lawrence, KS, The Dan Ryan is now based in Austin, TX, where the debut LP was home-recorded between December 2013 to July 2014. Psychedelic and deeply personal, these songs bear a chapter of change and evoke the fleeting nature of one’s perspective on life.
The Dan Ryan stretches eleven miles through the south side of Chicago. A clogged artery, the expressway slowly churns its commuters from the city’s heart to the ghettos, outskirts, and suburbs out beyond Northwest Indiana. Trains shuffle through its enormous median to 95thStreet. Great iron edifices deliver passengers east and westbound, roaring seventy feet above the freeway’s concrete floor. Tucked in the city’s southwest corner lays a patch of forest bearing the same name. Carved by glaciers, The Dan Ryan Woods boast Chicago’s highest vantage point. Climb its light towers to admire her big, broad, shimmering shoulders. Linger under its giant maples to escape the whirr of the city streets. The Dan Ryan represents the imminent collision between tranquility and transition; an acknowledgement that regardless of ones stature, seat, or disposition, you’re still along for the ride.
Musically Amusing 