“The Necks are less a band than they are some gateway to another universe. I’ve seen them probably half a dozen times and each time they leave me feeling slightly exhausted and disorientated. Maybe a bit like Yuri Gagarin felt on touchdown. I’ve tried writing about them before and failed miserably, so I won’t attempt it again, other than to say they were f**king wonderful.”…
Tag Archive for: UK
“On this night, one of the first in the new Roulette, ghost sounds engaged in a call and response, channelled by the band through the three innocent instruments (piano, bass, and drums) that acted as their mediums.”
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“Critics either have a field day, or a hard time categorising their music….Perhaps the ultimate accolade is that no other band has attempted to emulate their sound – where would they even know to begin?”…
“Anyone of a mind to study the mysterious methods of the cult Australian all-improv trio The Necks would need to adopt a football manager’s approach – poring over hours of video to work out how pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck keep on unpredictably passing the ball and finding each other in space. Their unpremeditated art has a remarkably inclusive appeal.”…
“After more than 20 years of playing together, the Necks have honed their art to the point where their concerts are like collective meditations, executed with a Zen-like discipline that paradoxically engenders an extraordinary amount of freedom.”…
“The way that The Necks build a piece – bit by bit – and then deconstruct it in a live setting, is something I urge everyone to experience if they get the chance. It’s unexplainable, it’s unclassifiable and it’s unattainable unless you’re them. Tony, Lloyd and Chris; there are no words.…
“Like a vast sound-mass suspended in vibrating, seething stillness, its colour and luminosity changing slowly.”…
“As ever The Necks have been a remarkable sound-bathing experience, a contemporary jazz band from a Tibetan monastery that’s not jazz, really, and not from Tibet either. It is what it is and, I suspect, mostly what you are yourself. Spooky.”…
“The Necks slow the world down… A unique musical experience.”…