The Necks Poll

having just seen them a week ago really brought home (to me anyway) how much their aesthetic has changed, and I think Drive-By is perhaps the point at which it starts to change. That's my pick anyhow, because I'm more partial to drone and groove and melodic repetition than however you'd describe what something like Vertigo is up to (which i also love).

seeing them live really shows how much restraint goes into what they're doing now. I dont think Tony Buck gave his drumkit a good twack for the entire show. he was tinkering, brushing, and just about everything else though.

Disclosure: of the above choices, I have not heard Next, A, H, Q & R, Photosynthetic, M / S or Townsville.

My favourites from which I will have to choose are probably Sex, Aquatic, Hanging Gardens and Drive By, which I suppose provides the most consistent framing of a certain through-line vision - In A Silent Way meets Future Days, the balance tilting from the former to the latter over the course of the 4 albums. Chemist too, though that is probably slightly in Drive By's shadow a bit (the same applies to Silent Night vis a vis Sex, I think).

But I could also see a very good case for the jazz tremors of Piano Bass Drums, the Laraaji shimmers of Aether or the Talk Talk on oxycontin of Open. The Boys makes awesome late night driving music a la Bohren & Der Club of Gore. And lots of people seem to think that Silverwater (more droning and "exploratory") is best.

I also really like Vertigo too but haven't sat with it enough to decide where it sits in the above. To me it seems to be a partial return to Piano Bass Drums but filtered through the restraint of Open

In A Silent Way meets Future Days

ha, yes, this nails it.

Chemist was my first (I initially came to them from a 'post rock' perspective, rather than jazz) and until recently my favourite. I really think Silverwater is the best now, though.

They are all so good and essential that I find myself incapable of discriminating for one of them over another. If there could be only one I would probably go for Sex over all the others though because it has never waned with me. It is not often musicians can make something as remarkable on a debut lp, it has some rare-earth quality to it that I can't articulate. For something that is seemingly made of quite simple musical parts it still never feels over-familiar - if that makes any sense at all.

It's a difficult record to wear out.

I think it's often the transitions between passages that can become overly familiar, and The Necks are very good at cloaking transitions (or just stretching them out to infinity which amounts to the same thing).

to be fair, tim, i think i started that thread when i was like 23 and also an idiot.

i think have to go with aether here. sex remains a nostalgic favorite. my dad ordered an import copy after hearing an excerpt on npr in the late 80s/early 90s. at the time it sounded so otherworldly to me. now it just sounds immensely comforting, every time.

as for why i have to go with aether, my listening has just leaned more toward ambient-style music in the past few years, and i'm not sure if i've ever heard an "ambient" album (played by live humans in presumably real time) with that much beauty and poise.

Jess I just assumed you were making a rhetorical point which I kinda agreed with. Perhaps I should have said "literally misleading" rather than "specifically wrong".

oh i was just playing. also that necks thread (if it's the one i'm thinking of) is up there with the all-time worst ilx thread titles, so any ribbing is wholly deserved.

The irony of course being that Hanging Gardens and Aether (which were consecutive I think) sound like the work of two different bands really.

the necks are so great. and yeah, after hearing a few of their releases, you might be like "oh i get it" but one of the pleasures for me is uncovering the (sometimes very subtle, sometime obvious) differences in each one. Tim, I like what you said about them being "very good at cloaking transitions" -- i sort of think that their music is actually *all* transitions if that makes any sense (I'm not sure it does). I guess it just feels like the music is always in a state of becoming, hanging in some beautiful limbo.

I think they get better with every album, more or less, and voted Silverwater because I find it to be the most rewarding, most densely textured and colorful of their albums -- these being important qualities for me in music that is drone oriented and improvised. It perhaps gets farther out there than all the others :)

However, in retrospect, and in view of the question posed by the poll, asking for only one absolutely essential summing-up album, the live box Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab is definitely THE ONE. The Necks are, after all, first and foremost, a live group. Their M.O. is 100% improv, every performance a unique experience for all involved, audience and performers alike. Substitute Piano, Bass, Drums if the album being only one disc/performance is what one is looking for (I think 4 discs is better though, comparing the performances is extremely illuminating!!!)

Poise is a perfect word for Aether!!! It is my secret favorite, secret mostly because I always forget it exists -- the thing being THAT aethereal. And just plain magical. It is their most delicate, gentle, tasteful, graceful and, dare I say, Satie-esque, even, what with its light as air pretty surface shimmer undercut by very distant clouds of melancholy!

i have taken many a beautifully disorienting afternoon nap to Aether.

Neckheads should check out this recording of the Big Ears set from a few weeks ago: http://sweetblahg.tumblr.com/post/142329240893/the-necks-2016-big-ears-festival

Wow, thanks a million TylerW!

Incidentally, I have a small collection of full set live bootlegs. 5 shows, three from 2009, a 2011 and a 2013, and would be happy to share them if anyone is interested. They were all ripped from live radio sets that were only online for a few days each... which is kind of a shame as they're all excellent performances and cd quality sound!

i would be interested, yes!
the wfmu sets from a few years back (still available on the free music archive, i think) are totally great too.

ReR Megacorp is currently selling four Necks albums on sale for £5 each (must buy a minimum of four CDs from their big list - see link): Chemist, Aether, Mosquito/See Through (2 for price of 1), and Townsville. Free shipping to Europe and the Americas!
http://www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=RM&Screen=SPECIALOFFERS
I should also point out that the exchange rate (pounds to $$) is currently at its most favorable in years. So, £5 is around $7. Did I mention free shipping? Plus, the sale list has CDs from Henry Cow, This Heat, Faust, Sun Ra, News from Babel, Ground Zero, etc. etc.

That is an insane deal. I set aside a hundred bucks for RSD to buy a few things I sorta want, but now I think I'll spend it at ReR. There are quite a few good Sun Ra albums here, and Bob Drake's The Skull Mailbox is pretty wild, too. I wish I knew more about what Fred Frith albums are good (ditto Jon Rose, Chris Cutler, etc)

And yes, buying at least 3 Necks CDs I don't have

If I really like Open, which should I pick up next?

sounds like Aether might be up my alley.

what else should one who is into The Necks / minimalist droney shit pick up from that sale, if one were so inclined

faust's "ravvivando" gets a bad rep as a bad faust album, but as angular drone rock goes, it's probably better than anything circle or loop ever recorded. the selection of things on offer seems to vary but faust's 71 minutes & bbc sessions are worth a punt, my pick of the bob drake's would be "13 songs & a thing" & "little black train", cm von hasswolff's "rays of beauty" is elegant uncomplicated drones without schlocky edits. you've got sun ra's disco 3000, the i.s.o CD (OK you can DL that for free from the alcohol bandcamp page, but...), first AMM, bernard fort's "fractals" is essential. as much as i like some frith, the friths on offer aren't really my bag. teh VRILs are fun if you like proggy surf instrumentals.

Ground Zero's Consume Red is essential - one long sax drone piece that collapses into a huge noise blow out

Thanks, btw, to ernestp for alerting me to this sale - pretty easy to find four discs from that list

I've voted for Drive By, as it was my way in and still the one I've played the most - and I've played it a lot. From there I went back and bought Aether and Hanging Gardens, downloaded PBD (never got round / been able to buy a CD), and then I've bought most of the subsequent albums as they've come out. Really love Chemist and Open. Never really connected with Mindset; I thought it sounded as if the music was distressed at being squeezed into a vinyl-satisfying shape. I've literally just bought a CD of Sex 30 seconds ago because of this thread. Saw them live about 4 years ago and they were wonderful; it was probably closest to Open of the albums I've heard.

"Ground Zero's Consume Red is essential"

Well recommended WF, it's a reet stunner is that.

My god the build in the last twenty minutes of Aether is just immense.

Thanks tylerw! And yeah those live sets (three of them, anyway)'re still up on the Free Music Archive, and I'd prob vote for the Night One/Set Two one if I could, they're all good but that one's particularly lovely.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

voted for open, though i haven't heard every record on the list. open is just something i could easily listen to every day and not get bored by.

ordered all of the Necks stuff available from that sale upthread. And the Ground Zero album. cheers!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Townsville 0
Chemist 0

These surprised me a little

Chemist is great but I can't see anyone picking it ahead of Drive By or Hanging Gardens; so I think it suffered "second favourite" syndrome.

Does The Boys soundtrack much of a profile outside of Australia? I wonder if that might be their most familiar to the general public in their homeland, even if they don't recognise it by name. Seems to be eternally popular as 'menacing' incidental music in the TV industry.

"HAVE much of a profile"

The relatively low result for Hanging Gardens surprised me slightly more. I ultimately voted for Drive By but I considered voting for Hanging Gardens in recognition of the singularity of its sound and its commanding sense of focus. It's like if Laika had heard Insides' Clear Skin and decided to make their own epic instrumental drifting version of what they do.

Whereas Drive By at least feels slightly more precedented, you could imagine 'O'Rang coming up with something similar maybe.

CD of Sex arrived last night (hand-addressed by, going by the email I had, Lloyd Swanton). Don't think I ever listened to it before, even when I downloaded loads of their back catalogue back in 2004.

Hanging Gardens feels pretty precedented by In a Silent Way

Not rhythmically, I don't think: Hanging Gardens feels very post-drum & bass to me.

Yeah, I've always thought of HG as being a post-drum&bass thing too. In A Silent Way is kind of a precedent to their whole aesthetic, but not HG specifically.

Is The Boys good?

Can't find a CD of Piano Bass Drums anywhere which is making me sad.

kudos to ernestp for linking the rer sale which I've just splurged out on

love aether so much it oddly put me off getting anything else. I used to sleep to it all the time. but now I've relented

Silverwater would be good to run to.

And Townsville is underrated

Townsville is WAY underrated. The live material in general is!

I lump the live albums/sets together in my mind, I def can't tell any of them apart from just hearing them, even though they are in fact all significantly different and way familiar from years of listening. They're a group that in the final analysis does variations on a kind of infinite theme, IMO.

I never did buy The Boys it's the only one that remains a mystery to me. Kinda neat if to know it functions well as incidental music!

Not sure if this fits here but anyone heard the Still album? They're Berlin based and feature Chris Abrahams on piano and a bunch of other international improv musicians. There's a ghost of the Necks in their sound, but there isn't the same sense of build and momentum - more of a spacious, almost Bohren/desert blues feel to them. Intriguing. Not a massive amount of detail on them, but the album is out on Bronze Rat: http://bronzerat.limitedrun.com/products/568076-the-still (it's on Spotify, too).

This is gorgeous: http://spaetipalace.bandcamp.com/track/the-surely

Reminds me of an acoustic Earth circa Bees Made Honey...

I've been in love with that album by The Still since I first heard it. Spent a few night drives listening to it, and it's perfect for that. Some Bohren in there, definitely, but also some Dirty Three, to my ears. Just beautiful, slowly unfolding jams. Definitely one of my favorite albums of the year. Surprised more people aren't talking about it (actually, no I'm not!).

'the still' is great, ty guys

listened to Townsville on a sunrise commute this morning, was pretty much a religious experience

nice!! how to live :)

If I had to pick one dud in this virtually dud-free discography, it'd be the one I am currently listening to--Mindset--which I remember liking but is doing NADA for me right now. It just doesn't really develop in that seamless way many of the others do. It sort of starts, continues, and then ends, with little variation or dynamics. And the first of the two pieces sounds like some of those clattery and clangy early 90s UK 'improv / noise' CDRs I used to buy and listen to once

I also didn't love Unfold, but I need to give it another listen. I don't think the shorter form works as well for these guys

We should repoll this so I can vote Hanging Gardens.

Recently revisited a few of the more recent albums that didn't make a great impression on me at the time. Liked Unfold a little better than I remembered, liked Vertigo and Body about the same (that is to say: not much). Open is imo the last truly great front-to-back Necks album, and probably the one I've played the most at this point.

I saw them live a few weeks back and I was frustrated with Abrahams’ fiddly swirly piano style these days - he used to be more definitive and deliberate in his playing and it really focused the trio for me. Maybe it was just their choices for that evening.

Hmmm. He's always seemed to favor fiddly and swirly to me, but I guess you mean the sort of more declamatory, droney, big block sounds on Aether, for example? In any case, I'm jealous you got to see them live! I haven't had the pleasure.

I guess probably their more rhythmic stuff has the most holding power for me - Sex has that more blocky, bold playing that I connect with. Same with their soundtrack for The Boys. I'd cite more examples but I find it hard to remember which album is which (apart from Aether!).
The show was good but not great - I've seen them a couple of times and the other time was better (about 8 years ago I think!). They play with incredible focus and energy despite the laidback sound.

Body sounded great in theory when I read initial descriptions / reviews, but I've not really found time to engage with it enough, and on the few occasions I've flirted with it I've not clicked with it.

I don't think I got Unfold; was it vinyl only?

The longer of the two tracks with Underworld is very enjoyable.

If the more rhythmic stuff is your bag (it is for me) then I think Chemist (3x 20-minute tracks) is massively underappreciated.

Unfold was vinyl only, yes

I definitely agree with you about Chemist

i just discovered 'aether'. it's kinda perfect.

It is!

it's glorious. the first one i heard and still my favorite.

my favourite too

bought it at a Necks show when it the new one and thus listened for the first time v.late on a sydney summer evening

it was perfect for that stillness after a day of heat, but such is the nature of the necks' music i'm sure it is perfect in a lot of other contexts too

feel very glad to have lived at a time/place where this band has been active

mine as well

also really love Hanging Gardens

Aether is - and I always tell my daughter off for using this word because bloody hell - 'perfect'. It's the most 'absent' record I own. Absent isn't the right word. It barely exists. It's like breathing. Is it their best? It's the best record I've EVER heard at doing what it does, but I might prefer Drive By, and maybe even Chemist.

Listened to Body last night and really dug it; it's grown on my significantly.

Is Aquatic groovesome or abstract? I could do with more groovesome Necks.

Groovesome - very much in the same vein as Sex but with some hints of where they would go in the late 90s.

Thanks Tim. May need to source a CD...

did anyone talk about ‘three’, their most recent one? got a bit lost in Covid perhaps, I only recently remembered to buy a copy

their best since ‘open’ for my money - really feels like it recaptures something I love about their music (while still being forward looking) - first track is very percussive and immersive and hypnotic, middle track is like nothing I’ve heard them do before - very eerie unearthly soundscape, had me thinking of Coil or Cyclobe or something - final track features a relatively conventional swinging groove which puts me in a mind of their earlier records - albeit with plenty of other stuff going on

it’s beautifully recorded too, sounded amazing on nice speakers

also - zero votes for mosquito/see through is a travesty!

Think it was Ronan on another thread (no idea if he still frequents these environs; I barely ever do) looking for stuff in the vein of Drive By a few years ago; Same As You, the final Polar Bear album from 2015, gets close, especially on the last track, which is a bewitching 20 minute groove where not a lot happens but the world changes.

I'm thinking of doing a chronological listen over the next few mornings. Obviously Sex is great, but I don't think I've ever heard Next before - "Pele" is fantastic, but so far (I'm about half way through) the rest of the album is... not good? It feels very much like a collection of early directions that they didn't end up taking (and probably that's exactly what it is).

I'm thinking of doing a chronological listen over the next few mornings. Obviously Sex is great, but I don't think I've ever heard Next before - "Pele" is fantastic, but so far (I'm about half way through) the rest of the album is... not good? It feels very much like a collection of early directions that they didn't end up taking (and probably that's exactly what it is).

― toby, Monday, 3 January 2022 6:45 PM

I really feel very bad...

Do Necks fans know about The Still? Post-rocky band featuring Chris Abrahams that I'm surprised doesn't get more love. They released their second album last year and it's even better than the first.

I hadn't heard of The Still, thanks for the rec.
Have tickets to The Necks in Brisbane at the end of this month. I have been trying to catch them every year for the past 5 but have always had something on. I am very hype. My wife's parents gifted me this shirt for Christmas and its my new favourite https://shop.thenecks.com/product/t-shirt-swiss-choc-brown

The Necks are my most comically tragic "miss every time" band. I think I was supposed to see them 3 or 4 different times over the years, twice with actual tickets in hand, but something came up every time (most recently, the thing that "came up" was the pandemic!)

Cool shirt!!

I had forgotten how chilled Mosquito is - the most so far other than Aether. I'd also forgotten that I find the periods of silence in See Through pretty grating.

I still think Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab are underrated - Raab is a long time favourite of mine for that piano phrase, but Athenaeum is great too. I should be taking notes as I go because I definitely preferred one of Homebush/Quay to the other but I no longer remember which.

"Raab is a long time favourite of mine"

rong thread?

Gonna see them this weekend! </smug>

"Raab is a long time favourite of mine"

rong thread?

yuck!

Townsville is WAY underrated.

Agreed!

my friends I am watching The Necks right now

seriously considering springing for the $80 digital Bandcamp set of 8 albums, that seems like the best way to dive in here

https://necks.bandcamp.com/album/necks-box-8-album-collection

For $90 you can buy the ten-album discography of the band's own Bandcamp, which I would say includes more crucial releases. There's no overlap between the two sets so the whole shebang is $170. https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/
If it were me I would spend, say, $50 acquiring a bunch of the key works - e.g. Sex, Aether, Silent Night, Aquatic, maybe Athenaeum/Homebush/Quay/Raab (a lot of music for $18), Piano Bass Drums. Except the individual albums in the box don't seem to be available separately, aargh!

this band one of the best arguments out there for Continuing With CDs, imo

they were spellbinding last night by the way - dusk on a lawn outside a gallery, a summer evening but cool and grey because it’s Tasmania, the group throwing shimmering, churning static drones over a bunch of people on distanced rugs, 1/4 in rapt attention, the rest eating, nattering, wandering. I’d normally be irritated but the music was so environmental it didn’t detract from the feel, a bit like that Spacemen 3 live piece in the arts centre.

sounds so good - i have only seen the necks outdoors once (also at dusk, in the quadrangle at Sydney Uni) and it was superb - there’s something about the music interacts with the surroundings for sure

*how the music

ReR Megacorp still has their ongoing "£5 a CD" sale (need to order a minimum of 4, free shipping), which includes 6 of the 8 CDs in the Necks boxed set (the exceptions being "Chemist" and "Aether" - which happen to be two of my favorites from them) plus three more: "Vertigo", "Body" and "Three".
https://www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=RM&Screen=SPECIALOFFERS
So if you get them all, that's 9 Necks CDs for $60 (USD) - free shipping, no sales tax.

Also - don't sleep on the (Necks drummer) Tony Buck album "Unearth" - it has the trademark Necks slow-build but it snowballs into something really intense, dark, thick and complicated. Check it out here: https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/unearth

Great tip enstp thank you

I just caught them at the recital centre in Melbourne and they were great. But Hobart sounded truly magical.

I just searched the ReR site for "Necks": https://www.rermegacorp.com/
...and noticed they actually also sell the physical boxed set there for 60 pounds (8 CDs, although the product listing incorrectly says 7 CDs). And they sell "Chemist" and "Aether" individually (and "Sex", "Mosquito/See Through" double set, "Aquatic" and "Open") but those aren't on sale. 60 pounds = $80 (USD).

Damnit now the Brisbane set I went to seems positively boring! not really though, great set, don't know if they played the same material in melbs/hobart but the 10-15ish minute mark of the second set took my breath away. playing with those two simply chords on the piano but so beautiful my god.

Cor, that £20 for 4 CDs is a steal - thanks for the heads-up, ernestp.

The Necks are my most comically tragic "miss every time" band. I think I was supposed to see them 3 or 4 different times over the years, twice with actual tickets in hand, but something came up every time (most recently, the thing that "came up" was the pandemic!)

I took the deep dive and got the 8CD set, loving it

(well, a digital version, but still)

Townsville is WAY underrated.

Agreed!

― toby, Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:48 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Heard this one for the first time a few days ago and I'm obsessed. It has the mystical sunny ambient vibe of Aether with the sonic purity of the piano/bass/drums live setup. Of course the one I sleep on turns out to be one of their best

open is fucking incredible yoga music lmao. it almost has this really distilled essence of, like, rock music to it in parts, a neu! vibe.

kind of weird but cool seeing transit in rock mag eoy lists this year.