– NPR
“Dylan Golden Aycock’s lineage is clear: the fingerpicked blues of John Fahey, the swirling compositions of Robbie Basho and the outward-looking Americana of Jim O’Rourke’s Bad Timing and The Visitor. That’s not a bad crossroads to meet your demons at, especially when so much of what we call American Primitive now is in a state of transformation. Church Of Level Track kicks up dream dust in a positively lush collection of cosmic rags, ambient country tunes and steel-string ragas.”
…”Aycock’s recordings weave ambient, experimental, and classical influences into the fabric of traditional American musical styles. Flecks of country and blues appear, but they’re mutated into enveloping soundscapes that go far beyond those genres’ tropes.” -Decoder
“2016 feels very much like a breakthrough year for the glut of adventurous folk guitarists who’ve been nurtured in the underground these past few years. As William Tyler, Steve Gunn and Ryley Walker gain mainstream kudos, the next tranche of players – Chuck Johnson, Marisa Anderson, Sarah Louise – are moving up a level. Witness Tulsa’s Dylan Golden Aycock, curator of the fine Scissor Tail label (he put out the fantastic Scott Hirsch album earlier this year) and the latest graduate of the Imaginational Anthems comps to assert himself. “Church Of Level” mostly finds Aycock respectfully expanding on Takoma School roots, moving towards the sort of chamber folk compositions mastered by James Blackshaw and Tyler himself, circa “Impossible Truth”. A bustle of drums augment the guitar solipsisms on “Lord It Over”, but the key weapon is subtly deployed pedal steel, giving downhome fingerpicking workouts like “Red Bud Valley II” a pleasing ethereal undercurrent.”
– Uncut Magazine
…”Serene shades of Loren Connors and Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand in Dylan Aycock’s first LP” – MOJO
…”Each song is a jewel box of subtly shifting textures and moods centered on Aycock’s expert fingerpicking, and layered with dreamy pedal steel drifts, percussive touches and interlocking arrangements. Church of Level Track switches between crystal clear visions of the country and pleasingly disorienting and dissonant moments, Aycock guiding us through the journey with a sure hand. An album that keeps on giving.” – Aquarium Drunkard
…”Aycock does that by using more than just acoustic guitar. On his latest album, Church of Level Track (released on his own Scissor Tail label), he’s credited with nine different instruments, including violin, drums, and synthesizers. That could make for crowded tunes, but each of the album’s seven songs focuses squarely on acoustic guitar, using other elements to add atmosphere to Aycock’s thoughtful picking. – Bandcamp
…”But, to be fair, the entire album is something of note. Seven songs of artfully mastered guitar, intricately woven through soft percussion to create a wave of raw sound. Not to mention Church of Level Track really does serve as the perfect backdrop to the unfolding of Autumn. Be it the opening track “Lord It Over” – the twangy strings which remind us of our American roots -, “Red Oak Black” – a melancholy track that leaves us feeling, to its credit, reinvigorated somehow -, or “Scratch The Chisel” – the perfectly placed last song that folds itself into a psychedelic world mid-track -, there isn’t a note on this album that isn’t inviting to the ears. Aycock has found his sound, perfected it, and brought it to life in a very real way.” – Impose Magazine
…”individually plucked notes, and countermelodies made on his acoustic guitar, but liquid pedal-steel swells quickly join the soundscape, followed by electric-guitar embroidery, and finally a shuffle pattern on drums, all overdubbed by Aycock. A couple of minutes into the closing epic “Scratch the Chisel” tumbling new-age synths trickle down, but they end up generating tension more than easing the music toward meditation. Aycock, 30, only picked up the guitar six years ago, and though he seems fully formed, I can’t wait to hear what he’s doing in another six.”
– Chicago Reader
…”vagaries are what make Aycock’s work endlessly fascinating. The dude is excelling at creating lovely music that continually questions where one sound ends and another begins (if a new sound begins at all), while marrying folk simplicity to sonic complexity.” -Tiny Mix Tapes
“Dylan Aycock (a.k.a. Talk West) plays a sort of disconnected blues, sparse and twinkly and replete with the American guitar idioms we all know and love.” – Ad Hoc
Dylan Golden Aycock …reflects a cohesive understanding of the state of the acoustic guitar. – The Fader
“Red Bud Valley” by Dylan Golden Aycock recall the “Takoma School” of playing (Leo Kottke, John Fahey) with bright, clean lines. – No Depression
“…grim guitar meditations create a dynamic listen and one that benefits from multiple trips;
after all, there’s a reason it’s the soundtrack to a recurring dream…” – FACT Magazine
“Dylan Aycock has created a record that does one of my favorite things: it transcends season and location. ‘Black Coral Sprig’ works in the heat, the cold and everything in between. It’s a dusty neither-here-nor-there guitar record that is simultaneously familiar and evasive” – OMG Vinyl
more…
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