“(The Necks) draw your attention to the music instead of the means: you never get the idea that they’re playing for an hour to prove that they can do it, or to showcase a glut of ideas, but simply to give you the pleasure of focusing on music in extreme detail.”…
“One of the greatest bands in the world.”…
(Pure Scenius) “This was selfless art, with the participants always servants of the musical thread… Australia’s inventors of acoustic, jazz-inflected minimalism, The Necks. Beforehand there seemed a danger of the Necks’ unique and complete conception being ravaged by any interlopers. But Eno was astute enough to suggest musical contexts in which The Necks could do what they do – and arguably be the music’s linchpin – while being embellished with flawless empathy.”…
“…Entirely new and entirely now… They produce a post-jazz, post-rock, post-everything sonic experience that has few parallels or rivals. They may teach us to listen in a new way, but they communicate a fierce energy and warmth at the same time. Their music is a thrilling, emotional journey into the unknown. Like seeing a world in a grain of sand, The Necks permit us to hear a whole new world of music in a sliver of sound.”…
“I think the new music I would find it hardest to do without, fifty years after Kind of Blue, is that produced by The Necks… A piano trio, but not like any other piano trio you have heard… There is a great deal of joy in The Necks’ music, and it is the more rewarding for being hard-won… Kind of Blue’s legacy is apparent in the ease with which The Necks exploit the spaces that were opened up for them all those years ago: spaces in harmony, rhythm and melody, but also spaces in the mind.”…
“At around the 100-year point in jazz’s evolution, conjuring new spirits out of old spells is a difficult mojo to work. But people are doing it – a case in point is The Necks.”…
“Absolutely riveting…how three musicians can sound like eighteen is a mystery… extraordinary magical sounds emerged from the ensemble…the way The Necks do this with acoustic instruments is nothing short of miraculous.”…