Silent Night by The Necks

Silent Night was released in 1996 and was the band's first studio double album.

Black, the first disc, uses a repetiitive, doom-laden riff shared between Swanton's bass, the low end of Abrahams' piano and Buck's pulsing and menacing drumming. Further instrumental additions are gradually introduced alongside ambiguous field recordings and half-heard snippets of dialogue - the latter two elements adding a "concrete" dimensionality that gives rise to a brooding, film noir-like experience for the listener. This is perhaps the starkest recording released by the group.

White is closer to a live performance - recorded, with extra production, in the studio. Here, The Necks' music follows its own path through changing timbral and rhythmic textures - always compelling, always slowly morphing.

The Necks are one of the great cult bands of Australia. Not entirely avant-garde, nor minimalist, nor ambient, nor jazz