Nonagon Infinity#Track listing
{{use Australian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Nonagon Infinity
| type = studio
| artist = King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
| cover = Nonagon Infinity.png
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2016|4|29|df=yes}}
| studio = Daptone Studios in Brooklyn, New York{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/04/21/474678543/first-listen-king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard-nonagon-infinity|title=Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, 'Nonagon Infinity'|last=Katzif|first=Mike|date=21 April 2016|work=NPR|access-date=25 May 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1872845/stream-king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard-nonagon-infinity/mp3s/|title=Stream King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity|last=Breihan|first=Tom|date=21 April 2016|work=Stereogum|access-date=25 May 2016}}
| genre =
| length = 41:45
| label =
| producer =
| prev_title = Paper Mâché Dream Balloon
| prev_year = 2015
| next_title = Flying Microtonal Banana
| next_year = 2017
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Nonagon Infinity
| type = studio
| single1 = Gamma Knife
| single1date = 9 March 2016
| single2 = People-Vultures
| single2date = 4 April 2016
| single3 = Mr. Beat
| single3date = 11 April 2016
}}
}}
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 into the next and the last song segues into the first, so that "the record can be played front-to-back-to-front-to-back and the sound won't break".{{cite web|url=http://flavorwire.com/573813/king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizard-so-post-music-not-even-the-lead-singer-can-describe-it|title=King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: So Post-Music Not Even the Lead Singer Can Describe It|author=Shane Barnes|date=29 April 2016}} The title is a reference to this idea, as there are nine songs on the album that could be played "infinitely".
Considered the band's breakthrough album, Nonagon Infinity earned positive reviews from critics and gave King Gizzard greater international exposure, while becoming their first release to make the top 20 of the Australian albums chart. The album "controversially" won Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2016, with some accusing the ARIA of miscategorizing Nonagon Infinity.{{cite web|url=http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/493271/aussie-heavy-bands-slam-king-gizzards-aria-win.htm|title=Aussie Heavy Bands Are Slamming King Gizzard's ARIA Win|last=Moskovitch|first=Greg|date=25 November 2016|work=Tone Deaf|access-date=25 November 2016}} The album won Best Album at the Music Victoria Awards of 2016.{{Cite web|url= https://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-nominees|title= Previous Nominess| website=Music Victoria|access-date=13 August 2020}}{{cite web|url= https://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-winners|title=Previous Winners| website=Music Victoria|access-date=13 August 2020}}
The band has referenced or expanded upon various aspects of the album on subsequent projects. The opening track, "Robot Stop", briefly features use of microtonal tuning, a technique explored further on the band's follow-up, Flying Microtonal Banana, while themes from Nonagon Infinity were revisited in "The Lord of Lightning vs. Balrog" suite from their 2017 album, Murder of the Universe.
Reception
{{music ratings
| MC = 83/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/nonagon-infinity/king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard|title=Reviews for Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=25 March 2017}}
|rev1= AllMusic
|rev1score= {{rating|5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/nonagon-infinity-mw0002922425|title=Nonagon Infinity – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard|last=Sendra|first=Tim|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=16 November 2019}}
|rev2= Drowned in Sound
|rev2score= 9/10{{cite web|url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/19397/reviews/4150002|title=Album Review: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity|last=Gourlay|first=Dom|date=29 April 2016|work=Drowned in Sound|access-date=1 November 2018|archive-date=1 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101140153/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/19397/reviews/4150002|url-status=dead}}
|rev3= Exclaim!
|rev3score= 8/10{{cite web|url=http://exclaim.ca/music/article/king_gizzard_and_the_lizard_wizard-nonagon_infinity|title=King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity|last=Schulz|first=Cosette|date=27 April 2016|work=Exclaim!|access-date=25 May 2016}}
|rev4= The Guardian
|rev4score= {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/21/king-gizzard-and-the-lizard-wizard-nonagon-infinity-review|title=King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity review – Aussie psych-rockers return with urgency|last=Gibsone|first=Harriet|date=21 April 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=25 May 2016}}
|rev5 = Mojo
|rev5score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|title=King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity|last=Myers|first=Ben|journal=Mojo|issue=271|date=June 2016|page=96}}
|rev6= NME
|rev6score= 4/5{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard/16458|title=King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – 'Nonagon Infinity' Review|last=Bartleet|first=Larry|date=4 May 2016|work=NME|access-date=25 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507065003/http://www.nme.com/reviews/king-gizzard-the-lizard-wizard/16458|archive-date=7 May 2016}}
|rev7= Pitchfork
|rev7score= 8.0/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21853-nonagon-infinity/|title=King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity|last=Berman|first=Stuart|date=4 May 2016|work=Pitchfork|access-date=25 May 2016}}
|rev8 = Q
|rev8score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|title=King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity|last=Perry|first=Andrew|journal=Q|issue=359|date=June 2016|page=113}}
|rev9= Record Collector
|rev9score= {{rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|url=http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/nonagon-infinity|title=King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity|last=Moores|first=JR|date=June 2016|journal=Record Collector|issue=454|access-date=1 November 2018}}
|rev10 = Uncut
|rev10score = 8/10{{cite journal|title=King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity|last=Pinnock|first=Tom|journal=Uncut|issue=229|date=June 2016|page=77}}
}}
Upon its release, Nonagon Infinity received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 83, based on 14 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Writing for AllMusic, Tim Sendra claimed that the band's inventive sound made Nonagon Infinity "not only their best album yet, but maybe the best psych-metal-jazz-prog album ever". He also called the album an "amazing prog-psych epic".{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/flying-microtonal-banana-mw0003001168|title=Flying Microtonal Banana - King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|last=Sendra|first=Tim|website=AllMusic|access-date=19 May 2019|quote=and the amazing prog-psych epic Nonagon Infinity was touted as the world's first continuously looping album.}}
Director Edgar Wright has since cited the album as one of his favorite albums of all time, stating that "you could be forgiven for thinking you were hearing one long extended track, but my God does it rock."{{cite web |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/22682-edgar-wright-baker-s-dozen?page=14 |title=The Quietus – The Fabulous, Most Groovy: Director Edgar Wright's Favourite Albums |publisher=The Quietus |access-date=24 June 2017}}
Matthew Coakley of The Triangle said the album was musically a gritty, heavy, lo-fi garage rock aesthetic and created a 'never-ending loop' of an album where all the songs flow directly into one another.{{cite web|url=https://www.thetriangle.org/entertainment/king-gizzard-experiments-exotic-music-techniques/|title=King Gizzard experiments with exotic music techniques|last=Coakley|first=Matthew|date=3 March 2017|website=The Triangle|access-date=19 May 2019}}
Jamie McNamara of BeatRoute magazine called it "a rollicking, garage-rock epic".{{cite web|url=http://beatroute.ca/2017/06/28/king-gizzard-lizard-wizard-murder-universe/|title=King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe|last=McNamara|first=Jamie|date=28 June 2017|website=BeatRoute|access-date=19 May 2019|quote=Still, after a career of left-turns and over-the-top album concepts like 2016’s Nonagon Infinity, a rollicking, garage-rock epic designed as an infinite loop,}}
In 2019, Nonagon Infinity ranked 2nd on Happy Mag{{'s}} list of "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".{{Cite web|url=https://happymag.tv/the-25-best-psychedelic-rock-albums-of-the-2010s/|title=The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s|language=en-US|access-date=17 October 2019}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
|headline = Nonagon Infinity track listing
|all_writing = Stu Mackenzie.
|title1=Robot Stop
|length1=5:22
|title2=Big Fig Wasp
|length2=4:54
|title3=Gamma Knife
|length3=4:21
|title4=People-Vultures
|length4=4:45
|title5=Mr. Beat
|length5=4:56
|title6=Evil Death Roll
|length6=7:14
|title7=Invisible Face
|length7=3:01
|title8=Wah Wah
|length8=2:54
|title9=Road Train
|length9=4:18
|total_length=41:45
}}
Personnel
Credits for Nonagon Infinity adapted from liner notes.Track listing and credits as per liner notes for Nonagon Infinity album
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
- Michael Cavanagh – drum kit, conga
- Ambrose Kenny-Smith – harmonica, organ
- Stu Mackenzie – vocals, electric guitar, synthesizer, organ, zurna
- Joey Walker – electric guitar, setar, synthesizer
- Cook Craig – electric guitar, synthesizer
- Lucas Skinner – bass guitar
- Eric Moore – drum kit
Production
Charts
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|992310|Nonagon Infinity|type=album}}
{{King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard albums
Category:Flightless (record label) albums
Category:Garage rock albums by Australian artists
Category:Jazz fusion albums by Australian artists