New Necks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/mixingitljf.shtml

i think part 2 of this is at least as good as anything they have released commercially.

Guardian article for anyone who is interested (almost no one).

It's spacious, but focussed. Reminds me of Talk Talk a lot. What should I get next?

as for the Necks, get "Drive-by"...their finest hour (literally speaking)...

I didn't know about this one before the Wire's end of year list:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/4b4h/

Has anyone heard it?

it's good...totally different from their other stuff, but still unmistakably the Necks...back to the one-long-song format...a little less hypnotic than, say, Drive-By, but it's very twinkly/chiming/glassy...stellar as usual...

so is anyone going to see them at the vortex in london?

i'm going to see them at the city halls in glasgow.

i'm off live music but i have waited a long time to see them.

here's the current tour, starts in glasgow.

May
UK
Sun 11 GLASGOW,
City Halls, Recital Room
www.glasgowconcerthalls.com

Box office (+44) 0141 353-8000

Mon 12 NEWCASTLE/GATESHEAD,
The Sage Gateshead
www.thesagegateshead.org

Box Office (+44) 0191 443 4661

Tues 13 NORWICH,
Arts Centre
www.norwichartscentre.co.uk

Box Office: (+44) 01603 660352

Thurs 15 BRIGHTON FESTIVAL,
Manic Organic at Brighton Dome
www.brightonfestival.org

Sat 17 BRISTOL,
The Cube
cubecinema.com

Sun 18 COLCHESTER,
Arts Centre
www.colchesterartscentre.com

Box Office: (+44) 01206 500 900

Mon &
Tues

19/ 20 LONDON,
Vortex Jazz Club

EARLY SHOW - SOLD OUT

FEW TICKETS LEFT - standing only

Monday 19th
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL - one set only
Tickets: £9.00
Doors from 10.30 pm

Cafe/bar downstairs serving pre-gig espresso and black sambuca shots: or come earlier for dinner.
Showing films by Tony Buck

www.vortexjazz.co.uk

Tickets:

Box Office: (+44) 020 7254 4097

Or - www.wegottickets.com
and search on "The Necks"

Wed 21 LIVERPOOL,
Philharmonic Hall
www.liverpoolphil.com

Box Office: (+44) 0151 709 3789

sigh...they never seem to play in the States...

New Necks is one of my secret band/album names!

hanging gardens is still one of the dopest records ever

speaking of (Tony Buck), anyone heard the new Heaven And rec out on Staubgold? from what I ca tell on myspace it's pretty good. not really Necks-y but still interesting.

anyone going to see them in bath? tempted to make the trip...bargain for a tenner too.

I'd love to see them but the location and timing isn't great. This mention here isn't on the website and looks better for me; http://www.allgigs.co.uk/search/tourdates/55463/The_Necks-1.html

yeah that is better...would prob have to stay in bath by time gig is over.

anyone seen them live before? seems like it'd be good to have some chemical aid beforehand

I've seen them a few times, sober or on a couple of drinks, and you absolutely don't need anything to be swept away in delight or wonderment, or stop thinking at all and enjoy detached brain dancing at drones or rhythms. but if the surrounds are comfortable, seems like it'd be good is probably an entirely accurate estimation.

Saw them last year at Big Ears 2 -- the trio, and also the three of them plus Ned Rothenberg. There was another concert involving an ad hoc group of players doing a Necks-like set, Tony Buck on drums. Highly recommended. I'd skip the chemicals, but that's just me.

xpost: and the "two sets with an intermission" duration of their shows would suit that, if you did try.

check the venue though. last time I saw them, this year, was in a jazz club where 80% of the couple of hundred capacity stand behind a railing by the bar, while a few dozen sit at dinner tables in 80% of the floorspace = prob not conducive. a few years back at ATP, they played in the afternoon sun, a meter from the harbour, where the entire audience bar 8 people* lay down on the trimmed lawn and let the piano roll through the ground = potential zomg.

*halfway through, one of these 8 hugging the stage turned around and saw the rest of us, tugged his mate's sleeve, and promptly sat cross-legged.

yeah i mostly wouldn't bother with chems either these days, once a year maybe, but seems like you could have a bit of a transcendental experience with this band!

Played Drive By at our record club last night; went down very well. Just bought Mosquito / See Through too; every time I play a Necks album for the first time in a while, I end up buying another one.

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/the-necks-–-drive-by-–-round-10-nick’s-choice/

anyone going to the gig next month at THE BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE, whatever that is

I opted for the date in Oxford at "The oldest custom-built concert hall in Europe" http://bit.ly/qH8mcm

Anybody fancy Leeds on November 25th?

yeah I'm going to both the London dates.

Harold Budd and Werner Dafeldecker should be great at those non-London shows, wish i could catch this tour.

Probably will go to the Bishopsgate Institute one, just making sure I am in town for the date.

How is Mindset? Been on a serious kick but I think I prefer the more 'live' sounding, less overdubbed stuff, like Sex and Piano Bass Drum, though I've yet to hear an album by this group I dislike. Still, wondering if the new one is worth a plunge, given that I find Drive By a little too maximalist and Aether a little too sleepy. Their records are expensive in the States.

these dudes are nothing if not consistent -- the new one is totally gorgeous.

yes! they might be my favorite band going.

has anyone heard any of these side projects? http://www.thenecks.com/shop/other

Don't know any of those but I can highly recommend Buck's project with Martin Siewert and Steve Heather, Heaven And (not listed there).

Can't wait to hear the new one.

Yeah thanks for the heads-up

What is the name of the new album?

Open

The Wire seemed to really like it. I'm just glad it's on a US label so I don't have to pay like $28 for this one.

Open is out today and let me repeat myself: it is totally gorgeous.

Yeah I listened to that a bunch of times when it was streaming. It is a cool journey for sure, gotta track down more by this band. My kinda thing.

yeah it's really good. I think it's important to listen loud. playing softly in the background you might thing it just passed on by and nothing happened.

Loud, this thing is amazing. On headphones, another experience entirely.

Album streaming today; enjoying it immensely so far!

New album is great and their prettiest album in years and years, albeit hardly groundbreaking - as hinted by the Underworld collaborations they’ve returned to a “classic” Necks sound: the ringing piano chords and circular bass of “Bloom” reminds me of Drive By; “Lovelock” is all whispery ambience and rustle somewhere between Silent Night and Aether, and is closest to the live style; “Further” is a return to the Sex / Aquatic sound by way of Journey in Satchidananda.

oh that sounds good. have had some reliably great live experiences with them in the last couple of years but I think 'open' was their last essential recording,

Yeah if Open was the last album you really liked then you will definitely enjoy this.

i really like this

I enjoyed Body quite a lot, actually, it felt like something genuinely different for them. That said, I've not listened to it anywhere near as intensely as my favourites by them over a similar length of time, perhaps because it lent itself far less to ambient / atmospheric 'use'.

Got Three yesterday, and gave it a half listen last night. Chemist is probably my second favourite thing they've done, so I'm looking forward to exploring what they do with a similar format again.

I liked Vertigo quite a bit, but never ended up connecting with Unfold or Body. I think they are back on track with this one, though. Glad they've ditched the guitar

'Unfold' seems to get a bit ignored, but I thought was the some of best music they've recorded in years, esp 'Blue Mountain'. New one is great, though, isn't it!

It really is. This and Alabaster DePlume have been the soundtrack to my quarantine!

God this last track sounds like an unreleased late Talk Talk jam.

Enjoying this a lot. First track is really clattery - almost gamelan; second is eerie as hell - piano led and pure atmosphere, like the desert at night.

Wrote a review of this that will go up on Tuesday. Second track sounds like a cross between Miles Davis's "He Loved Him Madly" and Tangerine Dream's Zeit. I like it a lot.

it's weird. you always make me listen again and again to this band. talk talk and tangerine dream's zeit, some of my favourite music. but though i understand the comparisons, there is a feel of late talk talk in the last piece and there is a hint to zeit in the second i don't think the necks have anything to do with those bands and their music. they take little snippets and repeat them for 20 minutes and more, they turn around and around, their music negates progression, it just circles around itself. it does not point anywhere. there is no horizon in it, just self-centeredness. like minimal music which was so hip in the second half of the seventies. but in the end it was just what the name says, it was music with very little creative input which was then inflated by repetition. not my cup of tea at all. though this has been the time i was the closest ever to like the necks.

disagree but very good post

They were supposed to play in town this weekend :(

Last time I saw them I was surprised to see so many people I never see out at shows. They have a solid fan base!

'Bloom' is a stunner

Yeah, "Bloom" and "Further" are outstanding. I've had a hard time connecting with "Lovelock," however. It's nice and I like it when it's playing, but it's the only one where when it's on I feel like I can safely leave the room for a minute to check the mail or grab a snack and not really miss much.

I've been taking a walk everyday, and each day I listen to a different bootleg of a live Necks show (mostly from Soulseek, and some ripped from videos on youtube). It's a really great way to zone out.

Oohhhhh, did not expect 'Further' to be Alice Coltrane/Pharoah Sanders-esque spiritual hat jazz in 5/4. This album owns.

The clattery percussion is mind bending, I wonder if it's just free or even recorded without listening to the main track

Never before have I looked at the track time and thought 'thank god there are still seven minutes left in this track'

If you want to read my review, here it is.

Very, very sweet new record. (Also, great review, Phil.)

"Further" definitely the standout of the three for me

also looool i just looked to see where i was in the song and it was just about 7 min left -- the 13-something minute point must be really good!!

haha

New Necks! Travel, out February 24th.

https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/album/travel

Really wish they'd re-release Unfold, even if just on CD.

'imprinting' sounds like a caravan through purgatory i'm feeling it

Listening to the album now. Each track is surprising and yet utterly The Necks.

loving this new one

Not done yet, but so far I like the first two soooooo much better than "Imprinting" (but maybe it will be better in context).

Oh this is where people talked about Three! Thought that one was their strongest since Open.

So I'm basically listening to Travel every day now, especially in the morning. I like this so much better than the last two, but I've been meaning to revisit Three, which I don't think I gave a fair chance after being so utterly disappointed by Body. I'm nuts about this new one, though.

Weird to read people don't like "Imprinting." That might be my favorite!

Love this album. It feels like it touches on a lot of different great aspects of their previous work. First two tracks very Drive By, then “Imprinting” kind of reminds me of Silverwater, and then “Bloodstream” is like Aether if they had decided to cut straight to the noisy ending. It’s all very pretty.

feel like "Signal" is a hard act to follow

magical track

like their previous release

whoops

like their previous release that came out on vinyl, it's one track per side with no given order. So feel free to play the CD's first track last.

It's a good one for sure, bless The Necks <3

i've been going back to aether and open lately. so beautiful. hmm maybe today is the day i get the new one.

i need to remember about this band the next time i reach for something new too

i got the new one! it's great. travel if you're traveling through purgatory? very evocative.

Turns out this new album is incredible (who would have thought otherwise?)
Tossing up making the 3hr return trip to see them tonight but honestly what a small price to pay.

is Travel the new one or is there a newer one? I can't actually remember if I have it / have heard it - but I absolutely loved Three

was thinking it was time to see them again but didn't get around to their Sydney shows

(you should go!)

Travel! I'm just late to the party.

I'm on my way there now. Brissy's putting on a good show these three weeks. Necks, boris, Tim hecker back to back!

I think Necks heads would dig Activator by Gerycz Powers Rolin, which appeared last month.

I saw them in Melbourne a few weeks back - brilliant as ever.

It truly is something how many layers they produce from three people playing live

never sure seeing this thread title if this thread is about The Necks or if there's some band I haven't heard of called New Necks

They will always be nummy num krautjazz goodness