The Necks Poll

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.