The Squid's Ear Magazine
999 albums reduced in price for the holidays!



Necks, The: Chemist (Recommended Records)


 

Price: $16.95


Quantity:

Out of Stock

Quantity in Basket: None

Log In to use our Wish List
Shipping Weight: 3.00 units

Sample The Album:


Product Information:

Personnel:



Chris Abrahams-piano

Tony Buck-drums

Lloyd Swanton-doublebass

Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.



UPC: 752725022026

Label: Recommended Records
Catalog ID: RERNECKS7
Squidco Product Code: 6483

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2006
Country: Great Britain
Packaging: Digipack
Recorded at Megaphon, in St. Peters, by Tim Whitten
Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

Artist Biographies

"Chris Abrahams was born in Oamaru, New Zealand but grew up in Sydney, Australia.

He became very active in the Sydney jazz scene in the early eighties playing with modern jazz groups including Mark Simmonds' Freeboppers and The Keys Music Orchestra. With Lloyd Swanton he formed the 60's modern jazz-influenced The Benders in 1982. During its day, the band released three albums - E, False Laughter and Distance.

In 1984 Chris recorded and released his first solo piano album - Piano, followed in 1986 by Walk.

In 1985 Chris became a founding member of the Sydney indie rock band The Sparklers. As a result of this, Chris began working regularly with the singer and songwriter Melanie Oxley. Chris collaborated with Melanie, writing songs and producing albums, throughout the nineties. There are five releases with her: Resisting Calm (1990), Welcome to Violet (1992), Coal (1994), Jerusalem Bay (1998) and Blood Oranges (2003).

Chris released a third solo piano album, Glow, in 2001. This was followed in 2003 by Streaming, and then Thrown (2004), Play Scar (2010) and Memory Night (2013).

Chris has collaborated, in both recording and performance, with many contemporary improvising musicians including Burkhard Beins, Mike Cooper and Anthony Pateras. He performs regularly in the improvising music scenes both in Australia and Europe."

-The Necks Website (http://www.thenecks.com/bio)
12/17/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Born in Sydney in 1962, Tony is regarded as one of Australia's most creative and adventurous exports, with vast experience across the globe. He has been involved in a highly diverse array of projects. Apart from The Necks, he is probably best known as leader of hardcore/impro band PERIL.

Early in his musical life, after having graduated from the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, he became very involved in the jazz scene in Australia, often touring with visiting international artists such as Vincent Herring, Clifford Jordan, Mickey Tucker, Branford Marsalis and Ernie Watts, as well as Australians Mark Simmonds, Paul Grabowsky, The catholics, Sandy Evans and Dale Barlow.

Following time spent in Japan, where he formed PERIL with Otomo Yoshihide and Kato Hideki, Tony moved to Europe, and has involved himself in many projects there, including the development of new "virtual" MIDI controllers at STEIM in Amsterdam.

Tony has played, toured or recorded with, among others, Jon Rose, Nicolas Collins, Tenko, John Zorn, Tom Cora, Phil Minton, Haino, Switchbox, The Machine for Making Sense, Ne Zhdall, The EX, Peter Brotzmann, Hans Reichel, The Little Red Spiders, Subrito Roy Chowdury, Clifford Jordan, Kletka Red, Han Bennink, Shelley Hirsch, Wayne Horvitz, Palinckx, and Ground Zero."

-The Necks Website (http://www.thenecks.com/bio)
12/17/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Described by Billboard Magazine as "an outstanding and imaginative Australian bassist and composer", Lloyd Swanton was born into a large and musical family in Sydney in 1960.

His long-running group, The catholics, has released eight albums, all produced and predominantly composed by him, with three receiving ARIA Award nominations. Their album Simple was nominated for the German Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Award.

His 12-part suite Ambon, drawing from his uncle Stuart's secret diary kept whilst a prisoner of war in World War II, had its premiere in 2015, and is now released as a double CD.

Overseas exposure in nearly 40 countries with numerous groups includes countless performances throughout Europe, Canada, the USA, Mexico, India, Cuba, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan.

For fourteen years, Lloyd Swanton hosted Mixed Marriage, a very popular radio program which examined crossings of jazz with other musical styles, on Eastside Radio in Sydney.

In his spare time, Lloyd is an avid follower of Australian Football, and a keen collector of Australian Aboriginal art, ice crushers, modernist ceramics, and books on Fellini. He is also gathering historical information on his distant ancestor Theodore Deck, a leading name in 19th Century French ceramics."

-The Necks Website (http://www.thenecks.com/bio)
12/17/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:
Related Categories of Interest:

The Necks
Improvised Music
July 2006
Free Improvisation
Trio Recordings
Australian Improvisers, Composers and Experimenters

Search for other titles on the label:
Recommended Records.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Biota
Measured Not Found
(Recommended Records)
A deeply immersive and meticulously crafted work from the reclusive Biota collective, blending microtonal instruments, electroacoustic techniques, and a wide array of ancient and modern timbres into a richly layered and human sound-world of instrumental and delicate song forms, unfolding across shifting textures and suspended time-the result of more than seven years of collaborative studio experimentation.
Buck, Tony / Mark Nauseef
Mongrels
(Relative Pitch)
Using a wide assortment of guitars (electric, baritone, arch top acoustic, bass) + monochord, waterphone & zulu bells, Necks drummer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Buck joins with percussionist Mark Nauseef performing on bells and gongs for seven exotic improvisations rich in overtones, microtonal movement, ringing harmonics and hybrid motion.
Abrahams, Chris / Clare Cooper
Germ Studies For Guzheng & DX7
(Splitrec)
The Australian duo of pianist Chris Abrahams (Necks) & Berlin harpist Clare Cooper in a series of 198 short improvisations performed on Yamaha DX7 and the 14th century Guzheng harp, presented with 198 illustrations in an unusual and obsessively rewarding project.
Bosetti, Alessandro / Chris Abrahams
We Who Had Left
(Mikroton Recordings)
Necks pianist Chris Abrahams teams up with electronic artist and sound poet Alessandro Bosetti for 6 introspective and mysterious tracks that mix Necks-like playing with ambient electronics and curious monologs, plus one waltz.



Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought:
AMM (Rowe / Prevost + Tilbury)
Last Calls
(Matchless)
To celebrate drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday, Café Oto hosted four concerts once a week in June, 2022, each a differing configuration from Prévost's history; this final concert reconvened for an extended improvisation between Prévost & guitarist Keith Rowe, with a "Postscript" from pianist John Tilbury recorded at his home in January, 2023.
Thollem / Wimberly / Cline
Radical Empathy
(Relative Pitch)
A trio of collective-improvisers recording in NYC's East Village in 2015 for exceptionally sympathetic dialog, instigated by electric keyboard improvisor Thollem McDonas, with Nels Cline on guitar and Charles Gayle cohort Michael Wimberly on drums; Fred Frith liner notes!
Necks, The
Mindset
(Recommended Records)
The Necks 16th release layers polyrhythmic material to form seething blocks of sound, in two long pieces, one more stripped back to the live trio, the other featuring multiple strata of swirling Hammonds, noise-guitar and electronics.
Necks, The
Townsville
(Recommended Records)
A long, lovely and flowing improvisation from the Necks in a 54 minute live recording recorded in Townsville, Northern Queensland in February, 2007.
Fiedler, Joe Trio (Fiedler / Hebert / Sarin)
The Crab
(Clean Feed)
Multiphonic trombonist Fiedler in a trio playing nine original Fiedler compositions.
Henry Cow
Concerts [remastered][2CDs]
(Recommended Records)
Henry Cow captured in concert between their "In Praise of Learning of Learning" and "Western Culture" releases. in concerts that featured Robert Wyatt in his last public performances.
Contest of Pleasures, The (Butcher / Charles / Dorner)
Alibi Days
(Potlatch)
Recordings of improvisations from different rooms with unique resonant properties, manipulated and organized into 5 compositions mixing musique concrete and e-a improv.
Robert, Jocelyn
Pandore
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Jocelyn Robert's first release on Ambiances Magnetiques in a four-disc set that shows off his solo work and highlights the contributions from other artists who have worked with him through the years.
Kyriakides, Yannis
The Buffer Zone
(Unsounds)
Muller / Kahn / Wolfarth
Drumming
(Creative Sources)
Necks, The
Mosquito / See Through
(Recommended Records)
Henry Cow
In Praise of Learning
(Recommended Records)
Henry Cow
Unrest (Remastered)
(Recommended Records)
Cooper, Lindsay
Oh Moscow
(Les Disques Victo)
Threadgill, Henry's Zooid
Up Popped the Two Lips
(Pi Recordings)
Great record from Threadgill's Zooid ensemble, an all-acoustic group with guitar, cello, oud, tuba and drums, along with the leaders saxophone and flute. Beautiful compositions, nicely played.
Dresser, Mark / Denman Maroney
Duologues
(Les Disques Victo)
Recorded in Brooklyn in 2000, bassist Mark Dresser and hyperpianist Denman Maroney engage in a finely tuned duo of extended techniques and agile interplay, Dresser's resonant arcs meeting Maroney's prepared-keyboard timbres in inventive, exploratory conversations that balance subtle detail with adventurous improvisation.
Doneda, Michel / Erik M / Jean-Marc Montera
Not
(Les Disques Victo)
Noted for its live 1999 recording in France, this trio of Michel Doneda (soprano sax), Erik M (turntables, MiniDisc, sampling), and Jean-Marc Montera (guitar, electronics, objects) creates an electrifying mix of acoustic intensity and electroacoustic texture, with Doneda's incisive phrasing pulling guitar noise and manipulated vinyl into agile, unpredictable dialog for sharp collisions and eerie convergences in cutting-edge free improvisation.
Lepage, Robert Marcel
Tout Autour du Front
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Derome, Nathalie
Les 4 Ronds Sont Allumes / Chansons Parodisiaques
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Lepage, Robert Marcel
La Plante Humaine
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Bruire (Michel F. Cote / Jean Derome / Robert Marcel Lepage / Rene Lussier / Ikue Mori / Claude St-Jean / Jerry Snell)
Les Fleurs De Leo
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Thirteen new compositions by Michel F Cote that are tightly linked together by a poetic text, with Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Claude Lamothe, Robert Marcel Lepage, Rene Lussier, Ikue Mori, and Claude St-Jean.
Lepage, Robert Marcel
Adieu Leonardo!
(Ambiances Magnetiques)




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC