ALBUM REVIEW: "Sketches of Brunswick East" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Here we are at album number 3 in 2017 for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (with two more to come!), and as expected they haven't simply released Murder of the Universe or Flying Microtonal Banana part 2. Sketches of Brunswick East (referencing Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain and Stu McKenzie's hometown in Melbourne) is a more jazz-leaning collaboration with Mild High Club from Los Angeles. There are references to earlier works littered throughout the album, like a very Flying Banana section in "D-Day" coloured by microtonal tuning, which is likely due to the different writing process undertaken while on tour with Mild High Club. Stu McKenzie has called it "sampling culture, in which old ideas are reshaped and suddenly things make sense. It was like we were continually jamming with ourselves." This actually drew a mixed response from me; whereas the continuous nature of albums like Nonagon Infinity and Murder of the Universe created an unstoppable white-knuckle momentum, here it draws out the slower pace of most of these tracks in a way I really didn't like. I feel like breaks in between the tracks would have benefited the album a lot, 'cause I found my self switching windows to look at the runtime a lot. Having said that, it is another step forwards for and band that somehow keeps making new and original music at an absurd rate. Worth a listen, but I didn't love it.

Favourite Songs: Countdown and The Book

Least Favourite Song: Rolling Stoned

Rating: 5/10

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