There wasn’t going to be any typical Necks hypnotic groove of such on this first of two evenings at the Bishopsgate Institute. Instead, the Australian trio went for much more intricate and fluid formations.

It all started with Chris Abrahams weaving a delicate melody upon which Tony Buck added shimmering bells and steel drum, with only sprinkles of bass from Lloyd Swanton, and for a while, this constituted the core of the performance, but the tone got darker with bowed double bass, and what was initially an airy solo motif on the piano turned into a more monolithic sequence as Abrahams switched to a hypnotic theme, with contrasting clusters of notes in the higher and lower registers, his finger repeatedly rippling on the same parts of the keyboard. Meanwhile, Buck was layering a pretty complex sonic mesh from his vast panoply of percussions. Continue Reading »

THE NECKS
Mindset
RERNECKS10
ReR Megacorp 2011
02 Tracks. 43mins24secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP

For well over twenty years, Australian trio The Necks have carved a truly individual groove for themselves, refining it year after year on record, this is their sixteenth, and through their live performances. Formed in Sydney by Chris Abrahams (piano, Hammond organ), Lloyd Swanton (bass guitar, double bass) and Tony Buck (drums, percussions, electric guitar) toward the end of the eighties, the trio are renowned for their lengthy exploratory improvisations on stage, which can last for up to an hour at a time, and have used improvisation extensively on record too, often applying a similar dynamic to their studio work as they do to their live shows. Their first album, Sex, released in 1989, established the template for pretty much every single Necks album since; comprising just one improvised track clocking at just under an hour, it showcased the work of a then already very tight unit where all three members contributed equally to the performance. This has been the strength of the band ever since, and has guaranteed that, like their music, their audience has grown slowly but steadily over the years. Continue Reading »