The Necks - Drive By; Classic or Dud?

Have listened to barely anything else but Hanging Gardens & Chemist over the last few days. Fucking awesome, awesome, awesome music. If anything Chemist is a little unsatisfying because, as three 20 minute pieces, I almost feel like I want a full hour from each track!

i'd love to see these guys live

on record i keep finding myself finding functional uses for them: videogames, running, etc - anything where i have to perform a series of repetitive actions and that's the point

i mean i don't really listen to it in itself so much

I guess that's true; however, that functional aspect to the way I consume their music means I end up listening to it an awful lot - like today, I'm working from home editing some web copy and arranging meetings & projects via email, and I've had them on pretty solidly since this morning. Every so often I airdrum along for a moment, but yeah, they're not gonna make me dance or sing along.

yeah

i mean, that's precisely why i want to see them live: to get forced into a kind of zone of attention that doesn't work like that

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anyone heard any other stuff with these three playing on it, but not as the necks? they're meant to have played on 43,000 albums between them or whatever after all

One of their shows at the Big Ears festival was the three of them plus Ned Rothenberg, but specifically billed as Rothenberg/Buck/Abrahams/Swanton, I guess to emphasize equal footing between the four of them, rather than "Rothenberg + backing band" or "Necks + guest". Not sure if that was what you're thinking of.

are they involved w/ pivot?

A heads-up that the Necks are performing in collaboration with Brian Eno, Karl Hyde and a couple of other dudes at the Brighton Festival in May. It's something called 'Pure Scenius' that they premiered in Sydney last year - anyone here go and see that or know much about it?

are they involved w/ pivot?

read this as: 'are they involved with pot'

Classic. All time.

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/20/the-necks-drive-by-2004/

Finally picked up Drive By after seeing you gush over that record for a while - Quite like it after two listens but did not expect it to be so, err, "tasteful". Seemed like would well as sort of bland trendy background music

Necks fans, do check out the live album Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab (2002). As someone who discovered and listened to the Necks obsessively in September and October, I think the Quay and Raab sets may be the best things they ever recorded.

xp
You should also try Sex, Piano Bass Drums and Hanging Gardens, heck just all of their shit. I could understand someone expecting them to sound like Big Fun era Miles and coming away disappointed but fuck "bland trendy background music"!

I loved their last album Open as well, Sanpaku. They are one of them evergreen bands for me, Sex is from '89 and still it sounds oddly timeless, it could have been released 20 years later and would still sound like a singularly amazing band doing what they do.

Classic classic classic

but fuck "bland trendy background music"

Yeah don't get me wrong - I meant more that it could pass for "bland trendy background music" if not paying attention
Anyway, this has grown on me dramatically once i started playing it on a real hi-fi instead of my car's shitty stereo

Been on a big Aether tip lately.

Listening to this band on anything but a good hi-fi is a complete waste.

Yeah, the live box, Aether, Silverwater, and Mindset are the masterpieces and most essential IMO. The latter three studio albums are the least typical, most colorful and successfully experimental works. The live box sees the band in peak form, doing their thing at the highest level. Great, great band.

Is anyone else doing anything like The Necks? I sorta felt like the last Bohren & der Club of Gore album had a similar 'glacially unfolding' thing going on, albeit with a much different end result, and someone recently told me that if I liked The Necks, I'd like Dawn of Midi, who I haven't heard.

Someone told me the same thing about dawn of midi. Need to dig in to them more but it might not be too far off.

I found Dawn of Midi to sound a lot more clinical/dry and less exciting (though that is certainly not the right word ....), but I only dug in for a couple of songs. The approach did seem similar in intent though. I should probably spend more time with it.

i remember my parents comparing this record to water torture once

I get that, it's very "nice" music but you gotta listen to it. otherwise (much like other "bold italic OUT music I think my parents would like") it can be irritating

I love that Dawn Of Midi album; it is similar but only similar; they're trying to sound like machines much more than The Necks do.

The Nisennenmondai album from last year, N, is also kidn of similar, but perhaps more drone-based; 3 tracks, 45-minutes, essentially the same thing repeatrepeatrepeating.

Mindset is the one I've enjoyed least. Chemist is a favourite of mine, but Drive By, Open, and Aether are my favourites. Not heard Sex or Piano Bass Drums in years; not heard the live box.

Did not dig that Nisennenmondai album at all, so if Dawn of Midi is anything like that, I probably won't enjoy it. I'll report back.

The Dawn Of Midi is nowt like the Nisennenmondai.

DoM is dots and N is lines.

Thought I'd share a Polish group whose new album reminds me of the mantric appeal of the Necks. Guitar/bass/drums, but its like a Necks soundtrack to a post apocalyptic Western.

Lotto - Elite Feline (bandcamp):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErG7vJ-L5-M