Collection: The Necks

Formed in Sydney in 1987, The Necks stand as one of Australia's most extraordinary and influential musical exports. Pianist Chris Abrahams, bassist Lloyd Swanton, and drummer Tony Buck have spent nearly four decades crafting long-form improvisations that defy easy categorisation, blending minimalism, krautrock, ambient, and jazz into hour-long explorations of gradual transformation. Their 1989 debut Sex introduced their signature approach: a single improvised piece, never rehearsed, never repeated, built on the slow evolution of simple melodic and rhythmic figures inspired by La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and the free jazz of Cecil Taylor.

Across 20 studio albums including landmark works like Hanging Gardens (1999), Drive By (2003), and the Rolling Stone-acclaimed double LP Unfold (2017), The Necks operate as a leaderless democracy, each performance beginning with a blank page and unfolding over 40 to 60 minutes of uninterrupted improvisation. Ranked number 49 in Rolling Stone Australia's "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time", they've built a worldwide cult following through music critics describe as "not entirely avant-garde, nor minimalist, nor ambient, nor jazz" but utterly unique. Recent releases Travel (2023) and the triple album Disquiet (2025) showcase their continuing evolution.