The Necks

The Necks are an experimental jazz trio from Sydney, Australia, comprising Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. The band plays improvisational pieces of up to an hour in length that explore the development and demise of repeating musical figures. As well as jazz, their sound could be said to be reminiscent of Krautrock.

Typically a live performance will begin very quietly with one of the musicians playing something very simple. One by one, the other two will join with their own contributions, all three independent yet intertwined. As the 'piece' builds through subtle micro-changes, the interaction of their instruments creates layers of harmonics and prismatic washes of sound that lead some to appellation 'trance jazz'. Instant by instant, their music seems driven not so much by the convention of cause and effect, but by the 'insistent demand of the moment'. Consequently their live performances can be challenging for those expecting a conventional musical experience, as The Necks' music may remain in a seemingly interminable 'holding pattern' until, paradoxically, sufficient momentum has built up for a break-out into the next phase of development.

"The Necks" are also well known in Europe. Their soundtrack for "The Boys" was nominated for ARIA Best Soundtrack Album, AFI Best Musical Score and Australian Guild of Screen Composers Award. They have also recorded soundtracks for "What's The Deal?" (1997) and "In the Mind of the Architect" (three one-hour ABC-TV documentaries, 2000).

Venues played in Sydney include The Basement, the Harbourside Brasserie, and the Vanguard in Newtown. A performance at the Sydney Opera House in 2003 was interrupted by the venue management due to a minor technical problem, to the obvious dissatisfaction of band and audience. In Melbourne, they have played numerous times at The Corner Hotel in Richmond. In 2006 the Necks played at the Melbourne Town Hall with Abrahams playing the pipe organ instead of piano. Unfortunately a hard drive failure meant the recording of that performance was also interrupted, much to the dismay of the band.

Discography

* "Sex" (Spiral Scratch, 1989 - reissued on Fish of Milk) - a single hour-long track of a two-bar motif with variations. This album was notable for the instrumentation of piano, bass and drums being overdubbed in a dual take, unlike later works
* "Next" (Spiral Scratch, 1990 - reissued on Fish of Milk) - six tracks: "Garl's", "Nice Policeman Nasty Policeman", "Pele", "Next", "Jazz Cancer" and "World At War"
* "Aquatic" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 1994) - two tracks, both titled "Aquatic". Additional musician Steve Wishart on hurdy gurdy
* "Silent Night" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 1996) - a double CD featuring two disc-length tracks, "Black" and "White"
* "The Boys" (original soundtrack) (Wild Sound/MDS, 1998)
* "Piano Bass Drums" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 1998) - a single fifty-three minute track, "Unheard", recorded live at the Basement, Sydney, with instrumentation restricted to piano, bass and drums. Nominated Jazz Recording of the Year, ABC Classic FM Awards
* "Hanging Gardens" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 1999) - a single disc-length track of the same name
* "Aether" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 2001) - a single disc-length track of the same name. Notably more ambient than their other works
* "Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 2002) - four-CD box of four live performances, three in Australia and one in Austria (Athenaeum was recorded on 20 January 2001 at the Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne; Homebush was recorded on 26 January 2001 at the Southee Complex, Sydney; Quay was recorded on 31 January 1999 at the Basement, Sydney; and Raab was recorded on 30 March 2001 at Musikschule Raab, Austria)
* "Drive By" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 2003) - a single disc-length track. Winner of the Best Jazz Album award in the ARIA Music Awards of 2004
* "Photosynthetic" (Long Arms, 2003) - live in Moscow, 2002
* "Mosquito/See Through" (Fish of Milk, 2004) - double album with two tracks
* "Chemist" (Fish Of Milk/Shock, 2006) - three tracks: "Fatal", "Buoyant" and "Abillera". Winner of the Best Jazz Album award in the ARIA Music Awards of 2006
* "Townsville" (Fish Of Milk/2007) live album, Townsville was recorded on 15 February 2007 live in concert at the Riverway Arts Centre in Thuringowa City, Northern Queensland. [ [http://www.amazon.com/Townsville-Necks/dp/B000VWYEZO Amazon.com: Townsville: Music: Necks ] ] , [ [http://www.vortexjazz.co.uk/cd-reviews/townsville.html The Necks - Townsville ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.thenecks.com/ The Necks home page]
* [http://abc.net.au/tv/set/1.htm The Necks on Set] - 25 minute performance for ABC television in 2006. Includes MP3 and streams.