Eleven minutes in, “Pour Dampness Down in the Stream” blossoms into a percussive jam not unlike the Grateful Dead coming out of “Space” into “The Other One” or Led Zeppelin crashing into “In the Evening.” 

“Dampness” is one of two 18-minute tracks – “Shrinks the Day” is the other – that make up Deep Fried Grandeur, the new joint between Chicago-based American guitarist Ryley Walker and the Japanese psychedelic outfit known as Kikagaku Moyo. 

Dead and Zep comparisons notwithstanding, it’s impossible to know where Ryley and the band come together – or, indeed, break apart – as this instrumental LP finds them fully integrated in a batch of sometimes-formless psychedelic soup that entertains in spite of itself. 

“Shrinks” is its counterpart’s opposite, looking toward the East in an amplified nod to Ravi Shankar with George Harrison’s western adaptations woven throughout. It ultimately explodes into a bit of kaleidoscopic, Velvet Underground-inspired drone-rock before dissolving into a sonic reprise of “Dampness’” opening theme and galloping off on a garage-band, guitar-and-percussion-driven coda. 

Deep Fried Grandeur is not for everyone. But in the right ears and in the right environment, it’s a sonic adventure worth taking.