Hello, Vettel scored his first pole in 17 races Ferrari rejoice ! Hamilton was out driven-not really Ferrari was faster, Leclerc came third but 7tenth slower as his teammate, Ricciardo had a blinder and starts fourth, Bottas almost hit the wall and was still shaking hence he only came in 6th. So where is Verstappen you may ask , well he'll start from 11th after a red flag ended his qualifying lap for the third round, bad luck he could have been on third, now he must overtake, but a podium is far away.
Today's artists are often compared to German krautrock legends Faust and Can, labelled as post, trance, hypno or ambient jazz, they have released more than twenty albums and their sound is an enduring hammer that smashes jazz lethargy. The Australian export trio is an example of three decades lasting virtuosity without limits, whose poetics captivates a wide audience. Tony Buck (drums), Lloyd Swanton (double bass) and Chris Abrahams (piano) – they all belong to the cream of international improvisers. Their impromptu compositions draw on the minimal music tradition and their concerts are often structured around a simple, recurrent melody, gradually reworked in a complex and hypnotic monumentality. They transform ambient chamber sound into a wall of a 'supernatural' intensity A word of warning is called for here "people who "get it" usually become devoted fans"... ......N-Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Necks are a virtually unclassifiable piano trio from Sydney Australia. Neither jazz nor rock, this deceptive unit has kept to a single line of conduct -- whether recording or performing -- throughout its career. Pianist (and sometimes organist) Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck usually commence their shows and recording sessions by playing a single, basic, melodic, and rhythmic vamp or figure, that over an extended period of time -- usually an hour or so -- gradually transforms its shape without ever completely discarding it, amid microscopic tonal, dynamic, electronic, and textural changes, as well as similarly minimal harmonic variations are gradually introduced into the music. By the time any particular piece reaches its nadir, the listener will have been transported to very different head and heart spaces as the music evolves into something else entirely -- though all of its root layers are ever present. Some critics have compared them to Krautrock groups like Can and Faust. Others find similarities in the works of minimalist composers like LaMonte Young, Tony Conrad, even Philip Glass. No matter, the Necks exist on a terrain uniquely their own. Whether it is in the gentle, trance-like grooves of 1995's Sex, (issued in the U.S. on the now-defunct, new age-leaning Private Music label, before the group used electronics), the undulating exchange of synth and piano passages in 2003's Drive By, the quaking space rock of the following year's Hanging Gardens, or the dark, brooding, elegantly fractured -- and occasionally explosive -- interludes on 2015's Vertigo, the Necks never remain (quite) static as they shapeshift all through and around the piano trio format. Over the past three decades, their reputation has spread across the globe as a band that only fits comfortably in its own category.
The Necks were formed in 1987 in Sydney by founding mainstays Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. In 1983 Abrahams (ex-Laughing Clowns) on keyboards and Swanton on bass guitar were founders of the Benders, a jazz group, with Dale Barlow and Jason Morphett on saxophones, and Louis Burdett on drums; which disbanded in 1985. Abrahams had formed the Sparklers in 1985, a dance pop band, with Bill Bilson on drums (ex-Sunnyboys), Gerard Corben on guitar (ex-Lime Spiders), Ernie Finckh on guitar, Melanie Oxley on lead vocals (ex-Sweet Nothing), and her older brother Peter Oxley on bass guitar (ex-Sunnyboys). Abrahams left in 1987 before that group's first album, Persuasion (October 1988). Buck had been a member of a number of groups: Great White Noise (1983), Women and Children First, Tango Bravo and Pardon Me Boys; prior to forming the Necks. In 1986 Swanton had been a member of Dynamic Hepnotics.
The original lineup of pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck has remained stable, even though they all lead busy and highly divergent careers. Abrahams is an acclaimed session keyboardist who has released a couple of solo piano albums, written music for film and television, and toured the world in 1993 with the rock group Midnight Oil. Swanton is a much in-demand session jazz bassist and a regular on the jazz festival circuit. He has played in the Benders and the Catholics, and accompanied Stephen Cummings and Sting. Buck spends most of his time in avant-garde circles, with multiple collaborations and projects. His best-known engagements have included the trio PERIL and the klezmer-punk group Kletka Red.
The group issued their debut album, Sex on the Spiral Scratch label in 1989. It consists of a single track of the same name, which is just under an hour long. Couture noticed that "The difference between Sex and the many other CDs they would record afterwards is the purity: The trio's hypnotic repetitive piece relies only on piano, bass, and drums; no electronics, extra keyboards, samples, or lengthy introduction. The reviews were enthusiastic, most people praising the group's ability to blend simplicity and experimentation. They would play whenever the three musicians were in Australia at the same time. The next three albums experimented with the format, integrating occasional guests (Stevie Wishart on Aquatic), electronics, and more. But, by the 1998 Piano Bass Drums, the recipe had become fixed and would not change anymore.
In 1996, the Private Music label released Sex in the United States. It was the Necks' first exposure on the North American continent and it did not get them far. But Europe was catching on and the group began a series of annual tours there. Piano Bass Drums and the soundtrack for Rowan Woods' film The Boys both received Australian award nominations in 1998. The more energetic, almost space-rocking Hanging Gardens, released in 1999, opened more doors, including a first American tour in late 2001. The album was picked up for distribution by the British avant-garde label ReR Megacorp the same year. Another North American tour in 2002 followed the release of Aether, the group's studio masterpiece. Drive By followed in 2003, and took home the ARIA Music Awards Best Jazz Album prize in 2004.
Subsequent albums Mosquito/See Through (2004), Chemist (2006), Silverwater (2009), and Mindset (2011) continued to bring in the accolades, delivering consistently fresh takes on the trio's signature riffing. In 2013 they released Open which, like its 2015 single-track follow-up Vertigo, saw a return to the long-form improvisation of their earlier works. Arriving in 2017, the ambitious Unfold, a double album on Stephen O'Malley's Ideologic Organ label, it featured four non-sequential tracks (they could be heard in any order) -- each is its own suite. During the summer of the following year, the trio issued BODY, their 20th album on Family Vineyard, showcasing a return to the single, long-form improvised work.
Geoff Winston of London Jazz News described how "Each performance by [the Necks] begins with a blank page which one of the trio will start to fill in to commence the journey, an uninterrupted set of around forty to sixty minutes. There are no rules, no agreements about who will take that lead and about how the discourse will evolve. The only criteria that apply are those of their own impeccably high standards." Typically a live performance will begin very quietly with one of the musicians playing a simple figure. One by one, the other two will join with their own contributions–all three players 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 apply the genre label 'trance jazz'. Their live performances can be challenging for those expecting a conventional musical experience.
Their soundtrack for The Boys (1998) 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). The band won two ARIA awards for the albums Drive By (2003) and Chemist (2006).
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The latest effort by Australia's super trio the Necks is a darkly swirling journey into sound that encompasses jazz, rock, and hypnotic grooves, all organically played without loops or samples, to brilliant effect. Like a mirror image of Manuel Gottsching's classic E2-E4, Drive By is one long track -- over 60 minutes. It unfolds gradually. Chris Abrahams keyboards create the pulse that is gradually taken over by Lloyd Swanton's bassline. It's less than a handful of notes that creates the effect, but the layering of Tony Buck's drumming, and Abrahams multi-textured keyboards over the framework, is positively mind-bending, this is only ten minutes into the piece! The dynamic is controlled and channeled through the middle, keeping the vibe of the piece moody, dark, and full of a controlled menace that gives way to a dreamy, shimmering gloss of ether and darkness. Great washes of synth sound come undulating through the backdrop intermittently, organ riffs course in contrapuntal rhythmic lines against Buck's ever prominent bassline, and a piano slithers through almost imperceptibly, as its seemingly random placement is off-kilter and ever surprising. The sense of relaxed ambivalence grows exponentially in the listener, though very gradually. By the time it ends, there is nothing but a mantra of excess for the pulse itself, and a warped sense of time and space echoing in the listening room, pervading every surface inner, outer, and secret. Sleep isn't recommended, though an overwhelming sense of dream prevails. This is a remarkable, resoundingly brilliant album: that from such restraint so much flows. There are literally nuanced sonic universes contained here, all of them subtle, all of them uncoiling with elegance and steamy tension; they give way to a release that is unmentionably beautiful and seductively sinister.
The Necks - Drive By ( 365mbmb)
01 Drive By 60:17
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Necks: inspiring or monotonous? This is the most commonly asked question with regard to their music. Unlike traditional jazz bands, this Australian trio opts for single songs that span the entire radius of their discs. The question, though, of whether they're inspirational or not is insignificant, because they've been regarded as the most sought-after jazz musicians in all of Australia. Between the three of them, which includes Chris Abrahams (keyboard/piano); Tony Buck (drums); and Lloyd Swanton (bass), they have contributed to over 150 albums. That's quite an impressive number considering how reasonably unknown they are; or perhaps that's only here in the United States. They're latest offering, which is a double-disc set called Mosquito / See Through, should fit in nicely with the rest of their catalog and continue to gather new supporters. They will simultaneously keep those existing fans happy since their basic concept has not been too heavily deviated upon. In the same fashion as the rest of their work, these two songs are slightly over an hour long in duration. And like a Robert Ryman painting, The Necks present them in very minimal fashion.
First in line, "Mosquito" is a hypnotic song that moves along at a leisurely pace until slight variations are allowed to flourish from within. Reflective piano is the highlight of this song, but there are gentle pulses of bass, a sometimes non-existent ride cymbal, and hanging wood chimes to accompany it. The inexorable subtlety of Abraham's piano is enough to lull you into a mindless state of sedation. Only during Talk Talk's best moments have I heard the piano sound so warm and charming. "See Through" is the next long piece. Unlike its predecessor, it has oddly been broken up into several segments. During certain moments there is at least a one-minute gap of complete silence before we are reintroduced to the song again. That aside, it's unquestionably the more interesting of the two songs. Where "Mosquito" focuses on lighter situations, "See Through" is a much darker and complex affair. The sound of jazz is almost completely concealed, and in its place we are left with stimulating atmosphere. The piano is still the focus here, and the drums, once again, fill in the empty space.
Heaven only knows where this album will take you if you allow it to do so. My only suggestion is that it not be behind the wheel of a car, for fear that you'll fall asleep and hit a road sign. I imagine that if you ever have the chance to take a train ride where you can view the countryside, Mosquito / See Through would be the ideal soundtrack. It has a way of blending in with its surroundings while never becoming overwhelming.
The Necks - Mosquito (flac 280mb)
Mosquito 61:42
xxxxx
The Necks - See Through (flac 319 mb)
See Through 61:46
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Chemist significantly alters the composition of the Necks' bewitching recipe, yet the chemistry still happens. Granted, the group's music being so minimal and repetitive (please don't interpret those words as grievances!), a small change can have a big impact. But the changes on Chemist are not small by the Necks' standards. The most flagrant side step from the rule book is the fact that the album consists of three 20-minute tracks, instead of the obligatory hour-long piece. The back cover tells you that much. What it does not say is that drummer Tony Buck is also playing electric guitar throughout the album! The instrument is particularly featured in "Fatal," a ferocious ominous but still beautiful piece which sounds so Twin Peaks you can almost see the Dream Man dancing in front of those deep red curtains while Laura Palmer blankly looks on. It has all the typical Necks bells and whistles: the slow start, the hypnotic pulse, the gorgeous "swelling" toward the end and the short catharsis. The guitar adds a grittier edge and a new level of excitement. "Buoyant" is a lot more low-key: quiet electronics precede the appearance of Lloyd Swanton's anchoring bassline; Chris Abrahams alternates between piano and electric piano, while a guitar drone provides an non-intrusive texture. The drums will kick in only at the thirteenth minute for a quick build-up. Finally, in "Abillera," the trio breaks the mold, progressing in leaps and bounds from a very quiet introductory vignette, to a moody middle section, and then a post-rock-ish second half propelled by Buck's creative four/four drumming and Abrahams' chord rolls at the piano. Throughout the album, despite all the different approaches and new elements, the music remains resolutely, unmistakably the Necks. Chemist is the trio's best album since Aether (or, if you don't like their softer side, since Hanging Gardens), an essential for the fan, and a must-have for the casual listener.
The Necks - Chemist ( 316mb)
01 Fatal 21:09
02 Buoyant 19:48
03 Abillera 19:51
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
A bit of a change of pace for Australian free jazz trio the Necks, Townsville is a live album recorded in the fairly remote Australian town of the same name. A single improvised piece (as nearly all of the Necks' live performances are) in the 53-minute range, Townsville is the trio in full-on Erik Satie-meets-Brian Eno mode, with drummer Tony Buck sticking almost exclusively to cymbals and hand percussion, and bassist Lloyd Swanton at times playing so quietly as to be almost inaudible, and at others repeatedly returning to one simple recurring figure. This leaves pianist Chris Abrahams to take the organizational lead, playing wave-like clusters of Cecil Taylor-like chords that tinkle off into near silence before roaring back like surf on an Australian beach. That's pretty much it for the duration of the piece, an extended exploration of a placid mood that meanders pleasantly for most of an hour before quietly petering away. For a trio best known for playing hard-edged jazz with rock intensity, Townsville is an intriguing but inconclusive side trip.
The Necks - Townsville ( flac 352mb)
Townsville 53:41
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Today's artists are often compared to German krautrock legends Faust and Can, labelled as post, trance, hypno or ambient jazz, they have released more than twenty albums and their sound is an enduring hammer that smashes jazz lethargy. The Australian export trio is an example of three decades lasting virtuosity without limits, whose poetics captivates a wide audience. Tony Buck (drums), Lloyd Swanton (double bass) and Chris Abrahams (piano) – they all belong to the cream of international improvisers. Their impromptu compositions draw on the minimal music tradition and their concerts are often structured around a simple, recurrent melody, gradually reworked in a complex and hypnotic monumentality. They transform ambient chamber sound into a wall of a 'supernatural' intensity A word of warning is called for here "people who "get it" usually become devoted fans"... ......N-Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Necks are a virtually unclassifiable piano trio from Sydney Australia. Neither jazz nor rock, this deceptive unit has kept to a single line of conduct -- whether recording or performing -- throughout its career. Pianist (and sometimes organist) Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck usually commence their shows and recording sessions by playing a single, basic, melodic, and rhythmic vamp or figure, that over an extended period of time -- usually an hour or so -- gradually transforms its shape without ever completely discarding it, amid microscopic tonal, dynamic, electronic, and textural changes, as well as similarly minimal harmonic variations are gradually introduced into the music. By the time any particular piece reaches its nadir, the listener will have been transported to very different head and heart spaces as the music evolves into something else entirely -- though all of its root layers are ever present. Some critics have compared them to Krautrock groups like Can and Faust. Others find similarities in the works of minimalist composers like LaMonte Young, Tony Conrad, even Philip Glass. No matter, the Necks exist on a terrain uniquely their own. Whether it is in the gentle, trance-like grooves of 1995's Sex, (issued in the U.S. on the now-defunct, new age-leaning Private Music label, before the group used electronics), the undulating exchange of synth and piano passages in 2003's Drive By, the quaking space rock of the following year's Hanging Gardens, or the dark, brooding, elegantly fractured -- and occasionally explosive -- interludes on 2015's Vertigo, the Necks never remain (quite) static as they shapeshift all through and around the piano trio format. Over the past three decades, their reputation has spread across the globe as a band that only fits comfortably in its own category.
The Necks were formed in 1987 in Sydney by founding mainstays Chris Abrahams on piano and Hammond organ, Tony Buck on drums, percussion and electric guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass guitar and double bass. In 1983 Abrahams (ex-Laughing Clowns) on keyboards and Swanton on bass guitar were founders of the Benders, a jazz group, with Dale Barlow and Jason Morphett on saxophones, and Louis Burdett on drums; which disbanded in 1985. Abrahams had formed the Sparklers in 1985, a dance pop band, with Bill Bilson on drums (ex-Sunnyboys), Gerard Corben on guitar (ex-Lime Spiders), Ernie Finckh on guitar, Melanie Oxley on lead vocals (ex-Sweet Nothing), and her older brother Peter Oxley on bass guitar (ex-Sunnyboys). Abrahams left in 1987 before that group's first album, Persuasion (October 1988). Buck had been a member of a number of groups: Great White Noise (1983), Women and Children First, Tango Bravo and Pardon Me Boys; prior to forming the Necks. In 1986 Swanton had been a member of Dynamic Hepnotics.
The original lineup of pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck has remained stable, even though they all lead busy and highly divergent careers. Abrahams is an acclaimed session keyboardist who has released a couple of solo piano albums, written music for film and television, and toured the world in 1993 with the rock group Midnight Oil. Swanton is a much in-demand session jazz bassist and a regular on the jazz festival circuit. He has played in the Benders and the Catholics, and accompanied Stephen Cummings and Sting. Buck spends most of his time in avant-garde circles, with multiple collaborations and projects. His best-known engagements have included the trio PERIL and the klezmer-punk group Kletka Red.
The group issued their debut album, Sex on the Spiral Scratch label in 1989. It consists of a single track of the same name, which is just under an hour long. Couture noticed that "The difference between Sex and the many other CDs they would record afterwards is the purity: The trio's hypnotic repetitive piece relies only on piano, bass, and drums; no electronics, extra keyboards, samples, or lengthy introduction. The reviews were enthusiastic, most people praising the group's ability to blend simplicity and experimentation. They would play whenever the three musicians were in Australia at the same time. The next three albums experimented with the format, integrating occasional guests (Stevie Wishart on Aquatic), electronics, and more. But, by the 1998 Piano Bass Drums, the recipe had become fixed and would not change anymore.
In 1996, the Private Music label released Sex in the United States. It was the Necks' first exposure on the North American continent and it did not get them far. But Europe was catching on and the group began a series of annual tours there. Piano Bass Drums and the soundtrack for Rowan Woods' film The Boys both received Australian award nominations in 1998. The more energetic, almost space-rocking Hanging Gardens, released in 1999, opened more doors, including a first American tour in late 2001. The album was picked up for distribution by the British avant-garde label ReR Megacorp the same year. Another North American tour in 2002 followed the release of Aether, the group's studio masterpiece. Drive By followed in 2003, and took home the ARIA Music Awards Best Jazz Album prize in 2004.
Subsequent albums Mosquito/See Through (2004), Chemist (2006), Silverwater (2009), and Mindset (2011) continued to bring in the accolades, delivering consistently fresh takes on the trio's signature riffing. In 2013 they released Open which, like its 2015 single-track follow-up Vertigo, saw a return to the long-form improvisation of their earlier works. Arriving in 2017, the ambitious Unfold, a double album on Stephen O'Malley's Ideologic Organ label, it featured four non-sequential tracks (they could be heard in any order) -- each is its own suite. During the summer of the following year, the trio issued BODY, their 20th album on Family Vineyard, showcasing a return to the single, long-form improvised work.
Geoff Winston of London Jazz News described how "Each performance by [the Necks] begins with a blank page which one of the trio will start to fill in to commence the journey, an uninterrupted set of around forty to sixty minutes. There are no rules, no agreements about who will take that lead and about how the discourse will evolve. The only criteria that apply are those of their own impeccably high standards." Typically a live performance will begin very quietly with one of the musicians playing a simple figure. One by one, the other two will join with their own contributions–all three players 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 apply the genre label 'trance jazz'. Their live performances can be challenging for those expecting a conventional musical experience.
Their soundtrack for The Boys (1998) 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). The band won two ARIA awards for the albums Drive By (2003) and Chemist (2006).
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The latest effort by Australia's super trio the Necks is a darkly swirling journey into sound that encompasses jazz, rock, and hypnotic grooves, all organically played without loops or samples, to brilliant effect. Like a mirror image of Manuel Gottsching's classic E2-E4, Drive By is one long track -- over 60 minutes. It unfolds gradually. Chris Abrahams keyboards create the pulse that is gradually taken over by Lloyd Swanton's bassline. It's less than a handful of notes that creates the effect, but the layering of Tony Buck's drumming, and Abrahams multi-textured keyboards over the framework, is positively mind-bending, this is only ten minutes into the piece! The dynamic is controlled and channeled through the middle, keeping the vibe of the piece moody, dark, and full of a controlled menace that gives way to a dreamy, shimmering gloss of ether and darkness. Great washes of synth sound come undulating through the backdrop intermittently, organ riffs course in contrapuntal rhythmic lines against Buck's ever prominent bassline, and a piano slithers through almost imperceptibly, as its seemingly random placement is off-kilter and ever surprising. The sense of relaxed ambivalence grows exponentially in the listener, though very gradually. By the time it ends, there is nothing but a mantra of excess for the pulse itself, and a warped sense of time and space echoing in the listening room, pervading every surface inner, outer, and secret. Sleep isn't recommended, though an overwhelming sense of dream prevails. This is a remarkable, resoundingly brilliant album: that from such restraint so much flows. There are literally nuanced sonic universes contained here, all of them subtle, all of them uncoiling with elegance and steamy tension; they give way to a release that is unmentionably beautiful and seductively sinister.
The Necks - Drive By ( 365mbmb)
01 Drive By 60:17
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Necks: inspiring or monotonous? This is the most commonly asked question with regard to their music. Unlike traditional jazz bands, this Australian trio opts for single songs that span the entire radius of their discs. The question, though, of whether they're inspirational or not is insignificant, because they've been regarded as the most sought-after jazz musicians in all of Australia. Between the three of them, which includes Chris Abrahams (keyboard/piano); Tony Buck (drums); and Lloyd Swanton (bass), they have contributed to over 150 albums. That's quite an impressive number considering how reasonably unknown they are; or perhaps that's only here in the United States. They're latest offering, which is a double-disc set called Mosquito / See Through, should fit in nicely with the rest of their catalog and continue to gather new supporters. They will simultaneously keep those existing fans happy since their basic concept has not been too heavily deviated upon. In the same fashion as the rest of their work, these two songs are slightly over an hour long in duration. And like a Robert Ryman painting, The Necks present them in very minimal fashion.
First in line, "Mosquito" is a hypnotic song that moves along at a leisurely pace until slight variations are allowed to flourish from within. Reflective piano is the highlight of this song, but there are gentle pulses of bass, a sometimes non-existent ride cymbal, and hanging wood chimes to accompany it. The inexorable subtlety of Abraham's piano is enough to lull you into a mindless state of sedation. Only during Talk Talk's best moments have I heard the piano sound so warm and charming. "See Through" is the next long piece. Unlike its predecessor, it has oddly been broken up into several segments. During certain moments there is at least a one-minute gap of complete silence before we are reintroduced to the song again. That aside, it's unquestionably the more interesting of the two songs. Where "Mosquito" focuses on lighter situations, "See Through" is a much darker and complex affair. The sound of jazz is almost completely concealed, and in its place we are left with stimulating atmosphere. The piano is still the focus here, and the drums, once again, fill in the empty space.
Heaven only knows where this album will take you if you allow it to do so. My only suggestion is that it not be behind the wheel of a car, for fear that you'll fall asleep and hit a road sign. I imagine that if you ever have the chance to take a train ride where you can view the countryside, Mosquito / See Through would be the ideal soundtrack. It has a way of blending in with its surroundings while never becoming overwhelming.
The Necks - Mosquito (flac 280mb)
Mosquito 61:42
xxxxx
The Necks - See Through (flac 319 mb)
See Through 61:46
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Chemist significantly alters the composition of the Necks' bewitching recipe, yet the chemistry still happens. Granted, the group's music being so minimal and repetitive (please don't interpret those words as grievances!), a small change can have a big impact. But the changes on Chemist are not small by the Necks' standards. The most flagrant side step from the rule book is the fact that the album consists of three 20-minute tracks, instead of the obligatory hour-long piece. The back cover tells you that much. What it does not say is that drummer Tony Buck is also playing electric guitar throughout the album! The instrument is particularly featured in "Fatal," a ferocious ominous but still beautiful piece which sounds so Twin Peaks you can almost see the Dream Man dancing in front of those deep red curtains while Laura Palmer blankly looks on. It has all the typical Necks bells and whistles: the slow start, the hypnotic pulse, the gorgeous "swelling" toward the end and the short catharsis. The guitar adds a grittier edge and a new level of excitement. "Buoyant" is a lot more low-key: quiet electronics precede the appearance of Lloyd Swanton's anchoring bassline; Chris Abrahams alternates between piano and electric piano, while a guitar drone provides an non-intrusive texture. The drums will kick in only at the thirteenth minute for a quick build-up. Finally, in "Abillera," the trio breaks the mold, progressing in leaps and bounds from a very quiet introductory vignette, to a moody middle section, and then a post-rock-ish second half propelled by Buck's creative four/four drumming and Abrahams' chord rolls at the piano. Throughout the album, despite all the different approaches and new elements, the music remains resolutely, unmistakably the Necks. Chemist is the trio's best album since Aether (or, if you don't like their softer side, since Hanging Gardens), an essential for the fan, and a must-have for the casual listener.
The Necks - Chemist ( 316mb)
01 Fatal 21:09
02 Buoyant 19:48
03 Abillera 19:51
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
A bit of a change of pace for Australian free jazz trio the Necks, Townsville is a live album recorded in the fairly remote Australian town of the same name. A single improvised piece (as nearly all of the Necks' live performances are) in the 53-minute range, Townsville is the trio in full-on Erik Satie-meets-Brian Eno mode, with drummer Tony Buck sticking almost exclusively to cymbals and hand percussion, and bassist Lloyd Swanton at times playing so quietly as to be almost inaudible, and at others repeatedly returning to one simple recurring figure. This leaves pianist Chris Abrahams to take the organizational lead, playing wave-like clusters of Cecil Taylor-like chords that tinkle off into near silence before roaring back like surf on an Australian beach. That's pretty much it for the duration of the piece, an extended exploration of a placid mood that meanders pleasantly for most of an hour before quietly petering away. For a trio best known for playing hard-edged jazz with rock intensity, Townsville is an intriguing but inconclusive side trip.
The Necks - Townsville ( flac 352mb)
Townsville 53:41
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
2 comments:
Thank for the deluge of Necks releases over the last few weeks!
Yes Rho, thank you so much for all of The Necks. I have a ton of this stuff, but was missing a couple, and it's great to think others get to enjoy this deep dive into one of the most interesting groups out there.
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