The Necks

This australian trio took a simple formula and added their own special twist to come up with a formula that is wholly their own. Using only keyboards, drums and bass (with the occasional guest musicians), the artists would then improvise over musical patterns they would repeat ad nauseum and build upon them, adding new patterns, shifting gears slightly, and then coming back. This slow evolution is often stretched out to the hour-long mark and the endless repetitions have an incredible hypnotic effect on the open-minded listener. Imagine yourselves Neu! at their most motorik with a jazz touch and stretched out to eternity and you've got The Necks! It's impossible to appreciate their work without a bit of patience. Five minutes is not enough time to blend into the track and enjoy it's subtleties, but once you let go, this is some incredibly captivating stuff. The quality of the trio's output has varied quite a bit throughout the years, but the worthwhile albums outnumber the less interesting ones by a long shot. I personally prefer the later years when they would include more bizarre and experimental sounds to their work.

I have to thank Aquarius Records once again for letting me discover this band. I vaguely remember reading some short reviews and the description really sparked my curiosity, but the site's streamed excerpts weren't sufficient to convince me of their genius, so I went ahead and downloaded a few albums. I remember really enjoying Aether, but for some reason, I didn't go ahead and buy their work right away. It would take another two years before I would feel the urge to finally order in some of their work and, true to myself, I went ahead and got everything in one go... So here you have it folks: My The Necks Collection!

Sex Label: Fish Of Milk Release: 1989 Format: CD Cat. no: FOM 0000
Song list:
Sex (56:06)

Next Label: Fish Of Milk Release: 1990 Format: CD Cat. no: FOM 0001
Song list:
Garl's (7:19) Nice Policeman Nasty Policeman (4:54) Pele (28:31) Next (9:49) Jazz Cancer (6:12) The World At War (16:35)

Aquatic Label: Carpet Bomb Release: 1994 Format: CD Cat. no: CARP005
Aquatic 1 (27:38) Aquatic 2 (25:31)

Silent Night
Label: Fish Of Milk
Release: 1996
Format: 2CD
Cat. no: FOM 0004

Song list:

CD 1:

Black (1:03:27)

CD 2:

White (53:49)

Piano Bass Drums Label: Fish Of Milk Release: 1998 Format: CD Cat. no: FOM 0005
Song list:
Unheard (53:22)

The Boys Label: Recommended Records Release: 1998 Format: CD Cat. no: RER NECKS4
Song list:
The Boys I (4:28) He Led Them Into The World (10:21) Headlights (10:11) The Boys II (3:15) The Sleep Of Champions (6:33) Fife And Drum (10:22) The Boys III (3:43)