Trimdon Grange Explosion on The Moon and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Return to The Moon


The Moon presents a double whammy of improvised psych-folk from Brexshity Blighty and some microtonality tuned Aussie psych-rock. Both are streamable from any old device via the wonder of Bandcamp.

First up we have the Trimdon Grange Explosion, named after an 1882 mine explosion in Durham which resulted in 74 deaths, but they are based in North East London and are formed from four former members of The Eighteenth Day in May, who released an acclaimed album of folk rock back in 2006, but then split.The album also has some connection with the now achingly hip Peckham is South East London. The artwork artist is Peckham based and they describe the album as "In celebration of the song in the shadow of Peckham Rye" - it is where William Blake saw Angels and may have inspired Damon Albarn to see Magpies

The sound ranges from spooky folk, beautifully sung in a classic Blighty female folk style that would not be out of place on an album by the ultimate spook folkers  The Hare And The Moonor on one of the Dark Britannica compilations, to full on rock n' roll that is rather like Teenage Fanclub, especially the vocals style of the male singer. Overall, they are most reminiscent of Peloton era Delgados, just more acoustic based.

Like The Hare And The Moon LPs, it is only available to stream via Bandcamp, but it downloadable for a minimum of just £3.50, which is hardly anything in Dollars or Euros these days...



King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana

The self proclaimed completely fried theremin wielding psychopaths are back on The Moon

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard return to The Moon for their third post, but the first one since November 2014. They have released 3 LPs since, and a track from their fine 2015 acoustic album did make it on A Best of 2015, but the Jazz award nominated Quarters! also from 2015, with 4 tracks each clocking in at 10 mins 10 secs, and the last year's Nonagon Infinity, which was apparently constructed to connect into an infinite loop, did not manage to float my boat and I did begin to wonder if they were becoming a bit style over substance. They have continued to experiment on this latest LP, as Stuart Berman in the  Pitchfork blog explains:

"Flying Microtonal Banana was the product of Gizzard king Stu Mackenzie acquiring a custom-made guitar modified for microtonal tuning, which allows for intervals smaller than the semitones that govern Western music. And since the new guitar could only be played with similarly tuned instruments, he reportedly paid his bandmates $200 each to also get their gear tricked out with microtonal capabilities. Translation for those who don’t hold a degree in music theory: Australia’s wiggiest band has found a way to hoist its freak flag a few inches higher up the pole. But this time, it flutters in a more gentle breeze."

It is probably their best release since the brilliant Float Along - Fill Your Lungs from 2013, which made up most of their first Moon post. The opener, Rattlesnake, does go on and gets rather Nonagon Infinityish and track two dawdles a bit Quarterishly, but the rest is brilliant with some great eastern sounds from the microtonality tuned instruments that do George Harrison proud. They are also planning to release 4 more records this year, so there might yet be  A Best of  King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in 2017 on The Moon.


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