The Necks
Opera House
Sydney, Australia
February 9, 2022
This has been in the making for the longest time, as I have been an avid The Necks aficionado ever since I was first introduced them in the 1990s. Unfortunately, so far I have never had a chance to see them channel their alchemy in the third dimension, which – spoiler alert - turned out to be exactly the unique and mesmerising experience I had hoped for.
For the uninitiated, The Necks is a trio of accomplished musicians that has released over twenty long players, with each constituent adding an idiosyncratic facet, resulting in a effortlessly improvised whole that is so much more than what the mere sum of its individual parts would suggest – both in the sonic realm but also in terms of how they approach music making, i.e. moody, unorthodox and innovative takes on how they use their instruments, not merely for novelty sake but evoking unrivalled atmospheric sound landscapes, melodic yet with deliberately amplified atonality, the seamless interplay and dazzling array of which should not but does make perfect sense.
Sweet melodies create a melange with waves of noise as they ebb and flow in spontaneous implosions emitted from percussive weaponry, thereby creating an evening that feels transcendental, psychedelic and far beyond of what one might think freely improvised classical ambient-jazz music can conjure.
What I love about The Necks that despite what could be perceived as a strained high-brow approach, it never feels elitist over overintellectualized as there is a tangible, radical immediacy, a vibe not unlike of what I appreciate about the emissions of Teutonic krautrock outfits, that uses the acoustics and context of the environment they operate in as an integral component that makes each performance one-of-a-kind. This is further amplified by the band interacting, which sometimes resembles a Mexican standoff daring each other to make the transition on to the next bit, only to then follow suit to up the ante.
I have yet to come across purely instrumental music that creates such upheaval as far as my internal weather is concerned in the best possible way, ranging from anger, sadness and an appreciation of all that is beautiful on this earthround.
---
photo provided by Sydney Opera House
