Flying Microtonal Banana
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Flying Microtonal Banana'' (subtitled ''Explorations into Microtonal Tuning, Volume 1'') is the ninth studio album by Australian
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (KGLW) are an Australian rock band formed in 2010 in Melbourne, Victoria. The band's current lineup consists of Stu Mackenzie (vocals, guitar), Ambrose Kenny-Smith (vocals, harmonica, keyboards), Cook Craig ( ...
. It was released on 24 February 2017 on Flightless Records in Australia,
ATO Records ATO Records (or According to Our Records) is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was established in 2000 by Dave Matthews and manager Coran Capshaw. ATO's roster includes My Morning Jacket, Brittany Howard, ...
in the United States, and
Heavenly Recordings Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves, and early singles by Manic Street Preachers. Current Heavenly artists i ...
in the United Kingdom. It is the first of five albums released by the band in 2017 and their first exploration of
microtonal music Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...
, utilising custom-built instruments. The album earned the band a nomination for Best Group at the
ARIA Music Awards of 2017 The 31st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) are a series of award ceremonies which include the 2017 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine ...
, losing to
Gang of Youths Gang of Youths are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 2012. Since 2020, the group consists of David Le'aupepe on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano, Max Dunn on bass guitar, Jung Kim on guitar and keyboards, Donnie Borzesto ...
for '' Go Farther in Lightness''. The album peaked at number two on the
ARIA charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...
(their first top 10), and it is also the first album by the band to chart on the US ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at 170.


Music

Subtitled ''Explorations into
Microtonal Tuning Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...
, Volume 1'', the album is recorded in
quarter tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (orally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...
tuning, where an octave is divided into 24 (logarithmically) equal-distanced quarter tones; it was originally conceived to play on a baglama, so the band members used instruments specifically modified for microtonal tuning, as well as other Middle-Eastern instruments like the
zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...
. The name "Flying Microtonal Banana" comes from Stu Mackenzie's custom-built yellow guitar, fitted with additional microtonal frets. The album has been described as
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage rock, garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelia, psychedelic subculture. While the term has sometimes been used interchangeably with "psyc ...
and
experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...
, with elements of
krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...
and Turkish music.


Reception

Upon its release, ''Flying Microtonal Banana'' received positive reviews from music critics. On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the album holds an average critic score of 72 out of 100, based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Tim Sendra wrote, "it's clear that the experiment was a success and that the microtuned instruments fit in perfectly with their oddball aesthetic" describing the melodies as "more exotic (to ears attuned to Western music anyway) and complex" compared to previous albums. While comparing it unfavourably to its predecessor, ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' contributor Stuart Bremen still commended the album, writing "if ''Flying Microtonal Banana''s randomized approach is ultimately less transfixing than ''
Nonagon Infinity ''Nonagon Infinity'' is the eighth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 29 April 2016 on ATO Records. The album is designed to play as an "infinite loop" where each song segues in ...
''s maniacal focus, it nonetheless shows that, after eight previous albums, this band's creativity and curiosity knows no bounds, and their singular balance of anarchy and accessibility is still in check. So even if you don't understand the first thing about microtonality, there's still plenty of flying banana here to keep you amused."


Accolades


Track listing

Vinyl releases have tracks 1–3 on Side A, and tracks 4–9 on Side B.


Personnel

Credits for ''Flying Microtonal Banana'' adapted from liner notes.Track listing and credits as per liner notes for ''Flying Microtonal Banana'' album King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard * Michael Cavanagh – drum kit ,
bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...
, percussion *
Cook Craig Nicholas Roderick "Cook" Craig is an Australian musician, singer and songwriter and is a part of groups King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and the Murlocs. Craig releases music under the name Pipe-eye. Solo history Pipe-eye's debut EP ''Cosmic ...
microtonal Microtonality is the use in music of microtones — intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of twelve equal interv ...
guitar , microtonal bass guitar * Ambrose Kenny-Smith – microtonal harmonica , vocals *
Stu Mackenzie Stuart Douglas Mackenzie (born 26 October 1990) is an Australian musician best known as the frontman of rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. He serves as singer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist for the band and is recognized as its le ...
– microtonal guitar , microtonal bass guitar , piano , synthesizer ,
zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...
, vocals , percussion * Eric Moore – drum kit , bongos *
Lucas Skinner Lucas Harwood () is an Australian bassist known for his role in King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard as well as Atolls (band), Atolls and Heavy Moss. Biography Early life Harwood is a native of Geelong, Victoria (state), Victoria. When he was a ...
– microtonal bass guitar *
Joey Walker Joseph William Quinn Walker (born 11 October 1988) is an Australian musician, singer, and producer who is best known as one of the three guitarists for the band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Walker was previously part of the electronic duo ...
– microtonal guitar , microtonal bass guitar , vocals Production * Stu Mackenzie – recording * Jarvis Tavenieremixing * Joe Carra – mastering * Jason Galea – artwork and layout


Charts


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2017 albums ATO Records albums Heavenly Recordings albums King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard albums Flightless (record label) albums Acid rock albums Experimental rock albums by Australian artists Microtonal albums Krautrock albums