Where to begin? It’s been another whirlwind year of unstoppable momentum for King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
The Australian psych-rock seven-piece, as widely known for their insanely energetic live performances as they are for their dizzying album output (13 albums since 2012), spent 2017 in a similar fashion, touring extensively to mostly sold-out shows and making good on their promise to release five albums in one year (the last one,ย Gumboot Soup, released just in time December 31st, 2017!).
They’ve managed to completely mix up their mainly psych-rock and world-music influences, pulling from jazz, prog rock, ambient, soul, and whatever else you want to throw in there.
It’s no less impressive that any one of these five last releases would have been enough to keep us guessing and marvelling at these eclectic adventurers. They’ve managed to completely mix up their mainly psych-rock and world-music influences, pulling from jazz, prog rock, ambient, soul, and whatever else you want to throw in there.
Flying Microtonal Banana, the first of the five, experimented with microtonal music and was followed by Murder of the Universe, self-described as “a concept album to end all concepts” and divided into three chapters.
The third album, Sketches of Brunswick East, was actually a joint album with Mild High Club, the Los Angeles based psych-pop and jazz project by Alex Brettin.
The third album, Sketches of Brunswick East, was actually a joint album with Mild High Club, the Los Angeles based psych-pop and jazz project by Alex Brettin. In this album, the bands produce a much softer jazz-influenced sound, with sunny improvisational tracks that blend into each other. The audience will most likely get a taste of this since both acts will be present at Astra Kulturhaus, but with five recent releases from King Gizzard and so much material to choose from who’s to say.
Just FYI, though you’re probably already overwhelmed, the last two albums of 2017 were Polygondwanaland, an entirely free download the band ceded any rights to, and Gumboot Soup, tracks that just didn’t “fit” into any of the other albums.
In other words, who knows what will happen at Astra Kulturhaus, March 7th, at the Berlin pitstop of the band’s UK and European tour. But as someone who has personally had their mind blown by two King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard shows (and once by Mild High Club), my advice to you is
