THE NECKS (1 Viewer)

whelanslive

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Whelanslive.com presents

THE NECKS
Chris Abrahams (piano) Lloyd Swanton (bass) Tony Buck (drums)

VENUE - WHELANS
DATE - 11th Nov

one of the most extraordinary groups on the planet…not so much a trio as a revolutionary consortium redefining music… “ The Guardian

Together for 25 years the Australian cult trio, The Necks, have enthralled audiences worldwide with their compelling style of improvisation. Defying orthodox description, not entirely avant-garde, nor minimalist, nor ambient, nor jazz, their music is regularly described internationally as, simply, unique.

Featuring lengthy pieces of slow-form development which build in mesmerising, epic fashion frequently underpinned by an insistent deep groove, their performances are never less than phenomenal.

In recent years, along with their regular international touring, The Necks have been invited by Nick Cave to appear at All Tomorrows Parties and collaborated with Brian Eno in PURE SCENIUS at Sydney Opera House and Brighton Festival. They release their 17th album “Open” to coincide with their 2013 tour.

“One of the greatest bands in the world”New York Times

Other press:

“the Necks are the masters”. Guardian 2011 ***** London – live review

“”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” Financial Times

” The Necks are singular… Yielding things no one else does” The Wire

“One of the best live performance artists I’ve ever experienced. Transcendent. Beautiful!!!”Michael Gira, Swans
 
not certain the necks will play dublin/ireland as part of their 30th anniversary tour in november (though there is a window between 10th-14th), so i've just booked a ticket to the amsterdam date on 20th which looks pretty special:
THE NECKS 30TH ANNIVERSARY | Bimhuis Jazz Amsterdam
30 years of The Necks will be celebrated in style: one eight hour-long, continuous relay of performances by likeminded musicians, wholly in the spirit of the Australian cult band.

For 30 years the Australian trio The Necks has been a cult phenomenon, renowned for their endlessly fascinating, hypnotic improvisations on piano, double bass and percussion. For this 30th anniversary at the Bimhuis, several kindred bands have been invited for an overlapping relay of performances. Free improvisation is the common factor.

The anniversary features nearly eight hours of continuous music in overlapping sets of solos, duos, trios and guerrilla actions. The members of The Necks will occasionally join in. The temporary line-up: The Necks - Contest of Pleasures - Vatcher/Moore/Swanton - The International Nothing - Dans Les Arbres - Axel Dörner - Vellum - The Dogmatics - The Necks and Clarinets...
 
Fingers crossed they swing by here. Have they left us off a tour at all in recent years?
from memory, 2002, '04, '07, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15. hoping @Improvised Music Company can make it happen again.

thinking i might make a weekend of it with rotterdam on 19th too, but would definitely be at the dublin show if it happens.
 
haven't been to the 'dam since '02 but old staalplaat was one of my favourite record shop locations, especially on a sunny day.
I was never in the original shop, think it has moved 3-4 times in Berlin since I was first there. Have you seen Frans De Waard's memoirs of his time working in the shop and running the label? It's good.
 
first time i went looking for the amsterdam shop, it had recently moved and i found myself descending unsurely into a private, unlit basement below an unrelated shop, with people shouting at me in dutch! they put me right and sent me to the new location - a dead-end, canal-front shop. not sure if fdw was there but i bought a beequeen c.d. anyway (music for the head ballet), the ultrasound*loom l.p. on korm plastics, along with a few other bits.

are his memoirs in book-form? great label too.
 
bray jazz festival, sunday 30th, in a church.

whole festival programme is really strong this year, town hall shows especially. seen some great gigs there over the years - eva quartet, debashish bhattacharya...

brayjazz.com
I ordered tickets when they went on sale. I've never been to a gig in Bray before.
 
bray jazz festival, sunday 30th, in a church.

whole festival programme is really strong this year, town hall shows especially. seen some great gigs there over the years - eva quartet, debashish bhattacharya...

brayjazz.com
Ah balls. I'm away that weekend and already missing the Percolator launch.
 
don't know much about these lads myself, but I recall there being a lot of love for The Necks on thumped before.

The Quietus | Features | Strange World Of... | Perpetuating The Mystery: The Strange World of… The Necks
moving this out of the 'acts touring that don't come here' thread because they're hardly strangers to ireland. they tour europe twice a year on average and will visit here on one of those. was tempted to go to berlin this time for the 4-hour set with lebanon's 'a trio', or amsterdam again to see them in the concert gebouw, but didn't get it together in time.

anyway, thanks @scutter for the link - one of the best necks articles i've read. really great insights from the band of the motivations and influences behind a few of their albums.

it's up there with both geoff dyer's recent n.y. times piece and richard williams' blue moment blog:

My Obsession With the Necks, the Greatest Trio on Earth

The Necks | thebluemoment.com

one thing to be aware of, if you are thinking of dipping your toe in their back catalogue, is that there are essentially two versions of the group (same personnel though) - live necks which is invariably piano, double bass, and percussion, and studio necks which can be anything from electric piano/hammond/rhodes/dx7 to electric bass/electric guitar, incorporating samples, field recordings, etc. the latter takes the studio-as-instrument aesthetic of e.g. in a silent way as a starting point for works that could never be replicated live.

for what it's worth, the 'athenauem, homebush, quay & raab' set is a great introduction to the former, as it's 4 different live pieces (one chosen by each band member and one they all liked), while 'open' is my favourite studio album.
 

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