Jun 2, 2019

Sundaze 1922

Hello, a boring Cupfinal tonight, it got ruined by a first minute penalty that Liverpool scored, and as is usual in these cases a team that had been in high concentration control mode drops a level, this is why so regularly that team loses the match in the end. Liverpool played poorly after Salah's goal, but they were still superior to Tottenham and when Origi after having had faulty passes all the time even after his great goal that decided the match in the 87th min, it was all over. This meant the public didn't even get Tottenham desperately trying to find a goal that they couldn't get the 87 minutes before, no chaos and mayhem in the final minutes and extra time. Such a pity that Ajax got beat by Tottenham in the dying seconds, they'd been a much more entertaining opponent , even if they'd probably loose to Liverpool too. In the end Liverpool should have had a glorious win, alas it was one of the poorest matches they played all season, that said the cup goes to Liverpool for the 6th time and that's what the books will show.....




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

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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).



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The Boys was originally issued in 1998 on Australia's Wild Sound label. It contains the soundtrack for the blockbuster Australian film of the same name directed by Rowan Woods. But it is more than a soundtrack as well. The disc contains more music than was used in the motion picture and stands as a true Necks album in its own right. The Necks -- Chris Abrahams (piano/keyboards), Tony Buck (drums), and Lloyd Swanton (bass) -- who have become synonymous with long, gradually unfolding opuses of harmonically adventurous and intoxicatingly accessible jazz, are at their tightest here. The space inside this music is vast, unhurried; it is repetitive and hypnotic. The title theme and its two variations offer shimmering, moody chords, attenuated with various effects that draw the listener further and further into the progression. As cues come and go, improvisation slips in and the listener is carried so far into the mix that all notions of time have drifted away. There is simple and intricate melody here, there is unintrusive use of dissonance, and the inventive rhythmic subtlety makes this seem as if it were all a single piece with many movements. This is a welcome addition to the American side of the Necks catalog, and may be the perfect place to start for the curious.



The Necks - The Boys (OST) ( 277mbmb)

01 The Boys I 4:27
02 He Led Them Into The World 10:20
03 Headlights 10:10
04 The Boys II 3:15
05 The Sleep Of Champions 6:32
06 Fife And Drum 10:19
07 The Boys III 3:42

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If the Necks settled on their music recipe in Silent Night, they got the sauce right in Piano Bass Drums. One of the reasons to explain it, apart from the fact that the group keeps on growing in terms of synergy, is the fact that this album was recorded live and each member focused on their primary instrument (instead of adding organ, samples, and effects). As a result, the structure of the music gets even more minimal than before, but it gains in interplay, artistry, and purity. The trio started on a waltz-like 3/4 riff, repeating the two-chord motif for an extended period of time with very little changes. Then, they gradually sped things up. As Chris Abrahams starts to add more and more ornaments, listeners lose the initial chords, opening the piece to free improvisation. Abrahams is a fantastic pianist and this CD is the first where he gets to truly shine. Lloyd Swanton keeps time with his double bass, but he also strips off the waltz feel and the tonality with reinforced subtlety. Tony Buck's cymbal playing is brilliant. Started as a jazz waltz of sorts, very lush and comfy, the piece ends up 50 minutes later as an atonal piano improvisation sustained by a steady pulse of undetermined time signature. Yet, the listener barely senses the movement -- simply stunning. Piano Bass Drums doesn't have the beauty of Aether or the hypnotic drive of Hanging Gardens, but it nonetheless stands among the group's best efforts and makes an excellent place to start exploring their discography.



The Necks - Piano Bass Drums (flac  351mb)

01 Unheard 53:24

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Hanging Gardens, the Necks' seventh album, was first released in 1999 on their own label, Fish of Milk, and reissued by ReR Megacorp two years later for the European and American markets. There is a reason why the British avant-rock label chose this particular title: it is a lot more energy-driven. As usual, the CD is comprised of a single hour-long piece performed nonstop. Drummer Tony Buck lays down a fast-paced, highly danceable groove backed by Lloyd Swanton's insistent acoustic bassline. Both musicians add ornaments to the basic motif, but all in all nothing really changes over the course of 60 minutes. Chris Abrahams follows a 16-bar piano motif, typically simple and augmented by stabs of electric piano (through an echo box) and occasional organ sweeps early in the piece. Unlike Aether or even Piano Bass Drums, Hanging Gardens starts almost abruptly, with every element put into place quickly, reaches its cruising speed after seven minutes, and doesn't let go until five minutes before the end when things simmer down, leaving only a few notes on the Fender Rhodes. The music is as hypnotic as usual with the Necks, but it takes the form of an acoustic space/trance drive, something like Medeski, Martin & Wood meeting the Ozric Tentacles. It doesn't have the spellbinding power of Aether, but it makes a better introduction to the band.



The Necks - Hanging Gardens ( 375mb)

01 Hanging Gardens 60:30

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The Necks have rarely flirted this close to new age music. Aether is simply their best release, a wonderful album that breathes at its own pace. The trick is the same as usual: start on something and play for an hour applying only gradual changes. What is different this time is the tempo -- very, very slow -- and the attitude. Although the group's music has never been easy to categorize, there was a consensus to consider it jazz, mainly on the strength of the piano/bass/drums instrumentation and a vague sense of swing. This time it moves completely out of that field into, well..."Aether." The piece begins with a four-chord motif, laid down softly, each chord separated by complete silence and placed 21 seconds apart. As time goes by the space gets filled so very gently by Tony Buck's washes of cymbals, Lloyd Swanton's bass, and Chris Abrahams' delicate piano playing, sometimes augmented by some soft organ and a few notes on an electric piano. At midpoint, Buck begins to roll on two cymbals, strikingly evoking breathing. Calm and peace arise from this idea anchored by the heartbeat-like bassline. When you thought they could not surprise you anymore, the Necks delivered their most mature, captivating album. Strongly recommended.



The Necks - Aether ( flac   260mb)

01 Aether 63:49


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