THE NECKS

Post Rock/Math rock • Australia

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The Necks biography
The Necks are a musical trio from Sydney, Australia, who play a difficult-to-categorise jazz/post-rock hybrid. The lineup, stable since the group's formation in 1987, consists of Chris Abrahams (piano), Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Tony Buck (percussion/guitar). Each are seasoned performers from Sydney's jazz and free improv scenes, and each stay busy with numerous other ensembles (with solo discographies to their names as well). The project began as a series of private jams at the University of Sydney's rehearsal space before Buck, Swanton and Abrahams were invited to play at an afternoon concert program, a process which kick-started a decades-long career of hundreds of international live shows, and a reputation for spellbinding synergy which earned them fans like Sonic Youth's Jim O'Rourke, Swans' Michael Gira and ambient legend Brian Eno.

Beginning with 1989's Sex, the trio has released nearly thirty studio and live albums of their long, slowly-unfurling experimental instrumentals (most issued via their Fish of Milk label), each piece intended to be unique and different. The three players, who live scattered around the world, operate as a leaderless democracy, never rehearsing before convening and following their improvisational whims on stage or in the studio. The Necks' recognisable sound is heavily informed by minimalism and krautrock, with additional inspiration from drum and bass, dub, reggae and Indian classical music - their sophomore record, Next, is perhaps the most "traditionally" jazz-fusion of their discography, and one of the few to include outside collaborators. A more pronounced post-rock influence entered their sonic vocabulary over the 2010s, with Michael Gira inviting them as openers for Swans' 2011 Australian tour and later recruiting them as session musicians for the 2019 LP Leaving Meaning.

The Necks will appeal to fans of krautrockers like Can, Faust and Oren Ambarchi, the jazz-rock of Talk Talk, Miles Davis and Medeski Martin & Wood, and minimalist composers such as Tony Conrad, Terry Riley and Steve Reich.

- Gordy