A Surprise Album Review: "Sketches of Brunswick East" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club

When I created this blog, I had promised myself not to post any album reviews as I see this task a real challenge. I strongly believe that in order to publish a proper album review, you really need to know the artist(s) and the band. There are a zillion different points to investigate, to analyze and digest in order to be able to write an album review. You need to know and understand the backgrounds, past experiences, education, psychologies, political views and philosophies of the artist or the band to make a statement about their music. Therefore I had restrained myself to publish on this field.

However I plan to make an exception and write about an album that I enormously liked and enjoyed recently. I found the vinyl album in Rough Trade East in London just minutes before closing time. 
Please note that this post is mostly for sharing the Band and the Album with you and it should not be treated as a review, because as I have mentioned I am in no position to make judgments regarding the music, album or the band itself.

I had been hearing about the band and actually had listened couple of their albums on Tidal and/or Spotify. I really don't know how but when I saw this very album on the shelves I immediately felt that this would be a bit different than their previous works and after listening I found out that I was right...

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is a psychedelic band from Melbourne, Australia. They have been around since 2010. The band consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar, keyboards, flute), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig (guitar, vocals), Joey Walker (guitar, vocals), Lucas Skinner (bass), Michael Cavanagh (drums, percussion), and Eric Moore (drums, percussion). They are an incredibly productive band and they have recorded 13 full-length albums since 2012 (5 albums only in 2017). 
The band's name was created at the last minute just before a live show. Mackenzie wanted to name the band "Gizzard Gizzard" while another band member wanted Jim Morrison's nickname "Lizard King". They eventually compromised with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

The album I would like to introduce to you is called "Sketches of Brunswick East" and it is the 11th recording of the band. In this album the band has collaborated with "Mild High Club" (a psychedelic pop group led by Alexander Brettin, a Los Angeles-based musician).

The album cover

Mild High Club

Compared to other albums of the band,  "Sketches of Brunswick East" is more relaxed and easier to listen to. You can hear jazz and North African music influences on many tracks. There is no aggressiveness on any of the songs as opposed to many other albums of the band, maybe an impact of Mild High Club's musical formation.

One amazing thing about the album is the instrumentation. You can hear many micro tonal* instruments (keyboard, synth and guitar) on the tracks which I believe makes the sound of the album totally authentic. 

Saby Reyes-Kulkarni from Pitchfork says the title of the album is a reference to Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" especially in the area of freedom. In real life Brunswick East is the neighborhood where their studio is located.

"Sketches of Brunswick East Part I-II-III"

I found the album pretty jazzy and funky. I think it is highly creative music played amazingly well with interesting instruments. I can easily say that, for me, it is one of the top albums of previous year. I only regret that I have discovered it quite late than its release in August 2017.

"Tezeta"

Give it a try and comment below what you think about it...

*micro tonal: Typical western music uses the "Equal Temperament" system which divides an octave in 12 equal parts (think of the 7 white and 5 black keys of a piano or the frets of a guitar). In this interval system, all notes that are next to each other are half or semi tone apart. However in micro tonal system the intervals are less than semitones. "Micro tonal music" on the other hand can also be used to explain a tuning system that is not based on the equal temperament system. A good example is a fretless guitar that allows the player to play micro tones.