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Aether
Studio album by The Necks
Released	2001
Recorded	2000
Genre	Improvised music
Length	63:49
Label	Fish of Milk
The Necks chronology
Hanging Gardens (1999) Aether (2001) Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab (2002)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Aether is the sixth album by Australian improvised music trio The Necks first released on the Fish of Milk label in 2001 and later on the ReR label internationally. The album features a single hour-long track, titled "Aether", performed by Chris Abrahams, Lloyd Swanton and Tony Buck.

Reception

Allmusic reviewer François Couture stated "Aether is simply their best release, a wonderful album that breathes at its own pace. The trick is the same as usual: start on something and play for an hour applying only gradual changes. What is different this time is the tempo -- very, very slow -- and the attitude" calling it "their most mature, captivating album. Strongly recommended.".

BBC Music's Peter Marsh said "Aether is a totally immersive experience. Though they're playing with just a single chord, subtle nuances, additions and subtractions tease out new beauties within it throughout the piece. By the end, it's possible to believe that it's the only chord that ever existed, and any other music sounds hopelessly verbose. Aether's 64 minutes pass by with the ease of seconds but each are as elemental as the phases of the moon. Brilliant".

On The Quietus Nick Southall called it "their ruminative, ambient masterpiece, as minimal and repetitive as Basinski's Disintegration Loops but somehow more alive, unburdened by the weight of association. It starts with tremulous reverberation, which gives way to chiming percussion and meandering, somnolent piano".

In 2012, the album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry, becoming the first recording from the 21st century to be listed.

Track listing

All compositions by The Necks.

1. "Aether" – 63:49

Personnel

• Chris Abrahams – piano
• Lloyd Swanton – bass
• Tony Buck – drums

References

1. Allmusic Review
2. Couture, F. Aether review Allmusic accessed 13 January 2009.
3. Marsh, P. BBC Music Review, accessed January 13, 2019
4. Southall, N. The Necks: Open Review, The Quietus, accessed January 13, 2020
5. Sounds of Australia 2012 | NFSA. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

• 2001 albums
• APRA Award winners
• The Necks albums