Stranger than Fiction, Larger Than Life: the Finn Brothers song-by-song discussion thread

Noise Jam is the perfect embodiment of my earlier "Every Finn goes through an art rock phase" observation... in fact, I think I may have first thrown that out there after seeing Liam live around this time. Within the context of a live set, it's fine and lots of acts have the occasional little episode while on stage. As a standalone track there's nothing to report, as others have said. I'm going to skip rating it since I can't think of it as a song but only as an interlude between numbers.

 

I am well past the point of being a completist with any artist. Everyone loses me at some point, after which I become much more selective. Sometimes they win me back, sometimes they don’t.

 

Yeah I understand that. I'm really only 'completist-y' with Enz-related music (barring a few rare things I have no interest to purchase like The Makers' CD/Vinyl B-sides, 'The Underwater Melon Man' CD and a few other obscurities). I don't have to own everything in the discography, but I at least want to hear it. Only thing left for me to find is Nigel Griggs' Sleeper CD. What a pain it is to track that one down.

 

It circulates.

 

Liam's Live (In Spaceland - April 30, 2007) EP is fine enough. It's all solo and, while seeing him build up all of the loops and play them in a song was certainly interesting from a technological standpoint, I can't say that it did much for me musically. It didn't have any heart and soul, at least as I perceived it. It was more like watching a lab technician creating formulas. I couldn't help but feel that we in the crowd were supposed to be more impressed by his technical wizardry than the actual songs. The songs here are mostly the best ones from his first solo album, but they aren't as interesting when just performed by himself, without other instrumentation. "Noise Jam #33" is the one new cut, and it's really just the sort of thing he did every night back then. It's the very musical definition of "nothing special".

For the EP: 2.9/5

For "Noise Jam #33": 1.2/5

 

Our votes for "Noise Jam #33:

1-3
2-0
3-1
Average 1.6

Live (In Spaceland)

Average: 3.05

 

Happy new year to everybody! I give 2020 a 3/5, personally: sure, it sucked, but I've definitely had worse years. Crucially I spent yesterday up on a hill with a bunch of drunk friends waching ing the sun go down and eating home-made Christmas cookies.

Today another LIam live offering:.

Live from the Wiltern by Liam Finn and Eliza Jane Barnes, which can be streamed or downloaded at Yep Roc's bandcamp website:
Live from the Wiltern, by Liam Finn

I'm not sure when Liam began touring with Eliza Jane Barnes, who is the daughter of legendary Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes. But at some point he added her to his one-man lineup, and certainly by 2008 she was part of his show and regularly appeared with him in radio promotional shows, etc.

This is classified as an EP (though to be clear, like the last album it is longer than many classic albums, and only a few minutes shorter than Crowded House's debut.) It was recorded on the 13th of April, 2008 when Liam was touring in support of Eddie Vedder on the West Coast of the North America.

It was released on December 23rd, 2008 by YepRoc records, having been available previously as a promo. Additionally some deluxe versions o the Yep Roc I'll Be LIghtning CD were released with this as the second CD; but the CD was also sold separately, directly through Yep Rock records or at Liam's shows.

The tracklist was:

1. I'm Liam and This is Eliza Jane
2. Fire in Your Belly
3. I'll Be Lightning
4. Wide Awake on the Voyage Home
5. Better To Be
6. Second Chance
7. Lead Balloon

 

I like this much better than the LIve (in Spaceland) album from yesterday. Liam's voice is stronger and more confident, and there's also a lot more going on musically: I'm not sure how much of the instrumentation is Eliza Jane Barnes, but it sounds much fuller overall and their looped vocals alone make it much more of an engaging complex listen. There are a couple of weird momentary outbursts of electronic noise that occur in a couple of the more poppy songs which seemed designed to jolt, but for the most part this is a good document of what had become, in comparison with the yesterday's album, a well-developed show, rather than just a well-done presentation of songs.

It's still a little early in Liam's career for a live album, and this is the second one he'd done, but whatever.

4/5

 

Live from the Welters

Again I don't like to numerically rate whole albums that I have not listened to sufficiently. A single song is different.

I'm Liam and This is Eliza Jane

An interesting concept to start the concert off with, but it's not musical enough for me. That doesn't mean that it should be softer. Nirvana were masters of creating heavy thrash songs that have more musical interest and other bands have managed it as well.

Fire in Your Belly

An easy one to do in the stripped down format. I'm not hearing anything really added to the song in the live version. Eliza Jane's vocals can be heard and the addition of female vocals might have been good and new. But, somehow I'm not hearing the novelty in this version.

I'll Be Lightning

Initially fairly straightforward version of the song. It's live, and there are a few keyboards or electronic sounds I don't remember hearing from the original (no guarantee they weren't there - my memory is my memory.) The eventual build-up of the song with the guitar sound getting a bit heavier is interesting. Morphing into 'Dear Prudence' is a very nice addition to the song and Liam sings it better than he was singing his own song. The very end is a nice touch.

Wide Awake on the Voyage Home

When I first listened to I'll be Lightning one issue I had was the songs did not seem memorable to me. It's a tribute to this thread that I'm now recognising the songs.

This is, like a lot of the IBL songs a good and interesting melody that appears to be missing something. The 'procreate' line still grates on me a bit.

It's a good song, and from what I remember a different arrangement. However, I don't think it's improved or there is significantly

Better To Be

Guitar at the beginning is cruder and rougher than the original song. The later heavy guitar line takes the song further in that directions and the backing vocals work better, for me, here. I like the variation in the song and the freak out. When drums come in it is reliably taking the song further. This song has, for me, been changed in an interesting way that adds interest to hearing the new version, and I think this song shows Liam using the limitations of his live format well.

Second Chance

Again, a crude sounding start. When the artificial (?) bass starts, the line is good but the sound isn't quite enough for me. Despite IBL working for me as an album, at this point in the live EP I find myself wanting a bit more variety. I don't know why.

Lead Balloon

Finally some banter from Liam. Song starts well. When the weird out electronics happen, it reminds me that we haven't heard much of that during the E.P. The song returns, so unlike the #33 Noise Jam, it's a welcome change and interlude rather than something I have to endure. The rocky bit at the end works for me, with good riffing. The song develops well over time and I like the extended heavy riffing, but I think that the addition of a bass player would have helped as the low end is missing a bit. But, in terms of giving the concert-goes a bit more that they hadn't heard before, I think this works.

Overall, I think the lack of a bass player hurts the music. It could be that would remove some of what makes Liam's music Liam's music. But, I find myself expecting more bass. Even when there are bass-like lines, the sound is unimpressive. If this was a lost live tape by John Lennon, I'm sure people would be overdubbing more instruments onto these songs/doubling instruments and posting the results online. When the descending bass-ish line appears in 'I'll be lightning' it raises the song to a higher level to me. But, I find the sound unimpressive. When drums appear, they often come in and really lift the songs. Bass, not so much. Even though the lines are often good. It's the sound that I feel is the issue contributing to a bit of a thin and one-dimensional sound overall during the bits that could be 'full band' parts.

 

New playlist: Note. I've redone the last one as well as adding a new one so that all the Betchadupa songs from 2001-2004 that have been rated highly ( a relatively small number) can be grouped together: mainly because of the extremely high number of highly rated songs from the Everyone Is Here era. I also cut the lowest rated song from the Everyone Is Here era ("Sunset Swim")

For anyone reading this thread sometime and curious about the Finn Brothers, I've made playlists of all the songs that we've covered so far that were voted 3.75 or above, i.e. the cream of the crop. Of course, there are songs I really like that are missing from this playlist; and Im sure others will feel the same way, but that's democracy! If you're lucky enough to be in a territory where you can legally stream these songs, try it out.
.

Finn Brothers Playlist 1:1973-1977 ( 79 minutes)
Not everyone is a fan of the Finn-Judd songs and at times during the discussion of this era, only robcar and I were voting! Still, it made a nice playlist. I've color coded the songs: by songwriter: Purple=Judd-finn Red=Judd,(Blue=Tim Finn including co-writes)Orange=Neil Finn [incluing co-writes0 [ Green=Neil Finn/Tim Finn collaborations] Pink =Eddie Rayner Magenta =Liam Finn [including co-writes] Brown=other

1. For You: 3.78
2. MalmsBury Villa: 4.66
3. Spellbound: 4.66
4. Walking Down the Road [Mental Notes]: 4
5. Amy: 4
6. Maybe: 4
7. Late Last Night 4.5
8. Titus: 4.5[Second Thoughts]
9. Sweet Dreams: 4.75
10. Stranger Than Fiction [Second Thoughts]
11. Time for a Change [Second Thoughts]
12. Matinee Idyll 4.66
13. The Woman Who Loves You: 4
14. Bold AS BRass --3.75
15. My Mistake --4.35
16. Parrot Fashion Love: 4.25
17. Nice To Know 3.82
18. Without a Doubt 4.13

Finn Brothers Playlist 2 1977-1980(70 minutes)

1. So This Is Love 3.9
2. Semi-Detached: 4.38
3. I See Red: 4.6
4. Give It a Whirl: 4.85
5. Master Plan 3.9
6. Famous People: 3.925
7. Hermit McDermitt: 4.15
8. Stuff and Nonsense 4.333
9. Teh Roughest Toughest Game in the World: 3.9
10. Betty: 4.14
11. Mind Over Matter: 4.233
12. Things: 3.8571428
13. Shark Attack: 3.83
14. I Got You: 4.8333...
15. What's the Matter With You: 3.8428571
16. I Wouldn't Dream of It: 3.8625
17. I HOpe I Never: 3.94
18. Nobody Takes Me Seriously: 4.17
19. Missing Person: 4.41111
20. Poor Boy: 4.6090909

Finn Brothers Playlist 3 1981-1984(77 minutes)

1. Hard Act to Follow: 4.133333
2. One Step Ahead: 4.78888
3. Iris: 4.0125
4. History Never Repeats: 4.8571428
5. Ships: 4.34
6. Dirty Creature: 4.644444 (9)
7. Hello Sandy Allen 4.2428571
8. Small World: 4.36
9. Take a Walk: 4.22
10. Pioneer: 4.425
11. Six Months in a Leaky Boat: 4.75
12. Haul Away: 4.0857142
13. Next exit 3.86
14. Remember When 4.1
15. Through the Years: 3.82222
16. Message To My Girl: 4.625
17. Our Day: 4.0363636
18. The Devil You KNow: 4.4
19. Breakin' My Back 3.77
20. I Walk Away: 4.175
21. Years Go By: 4.2444444
22. Voices 3.776923

Finn Brothers Playlist 4 1985-1989 (78 minutes)

1. Recurring Dream 4.7222
2. No Thunder No Fire No Rain 3.8143
3. Hyacinth: 4.46
4. Big Canoe: 3.75
5. Mean to Me 4.3333
6. World Where You LIve 4.3273
7. Now We're Getting Somewhere 4.0818
8. Don't Dream It's Over 4.9143
9. Something So Strong 4.407
10. Hole In the River 4.4769
11. I Walk Away 3.96
12. Throw Your Arms Around Me 4.2
13. I Feel Possessed 4.38
14. Into Temptation 4.8222
15. When You Come: 4.1125
16. Never Be the Same 4.1941
17. Love This Life: 4.5143
18. In the Low Lands 3.9958
19. Better Be Home Soon 4.7535
20. She's Not There: 4.1667

Finn Brothers Playlist 5 1989-1991(67 minutes)

1. Young Mountain 4.2083
2. Not Even Close 4.3107
3. How'm I Gonna Sleep 4.033
4. Parihaka 4.0667
5. Suicide on Downing Street 3.775
6. Crescendo 4.1566
7. Been There Done That 3.9111
8. Parihaka single [version] 4.3545
9. I Love You Dawn 3.8636
10. Time Immemorial 3.9962
11. Prodigal Sun 3.75
12. Fall At Your Feet 4.9357
13. Whispers and Moans 4.751
14. As Sure AS I Am 4.05
15. Italian Plastic 3.9474
16. She Goes On 4.9063
17. Anyone Can Tell 3.9808
18. Not Made Of Stone 3.9929

Finn Brothers Playlist 6 1991-1993 (72 minutes)

1. It's Only Natural 4.8719
2. WEather With You 4.5033
3. Four Seasons in ONe Day 4.9
4. There Goes God 4.01
5. All I Ask 3.863
6. How Will You Go 4.9167
7. Throw Your Arms Around Me [Finn Brothers version] 3.78
8. In Love With It All 4.8786
9. Strangeness and Charm 4.57
10. Hit the Ground Running 4.06
11. Walk You Home 3.9556
12. Secret Heart 4.0875
13. Persuasion 4.4487
14. Many's the Time (In Dublin) 4.1875
15. Protected 4.1393
16. In Your Sway 4.3909
17. Persuasion [acoustic]
18. One Side Only [demo] 3.875
19. Stand Back --Wendy Matthews 3.8875

Finn Brothers Playlist 7 1993-1995 (80 minutes)

1. Kare Kare 4.7619
2. In My Command 4.4237
3. Nails In My Feet 4.7395
4. Black And White Boy 3.776
5. Fingers of Love 4.4396
6. Pineapple Head 4.4905
7. Locked Out 3.95
8. Private Universe 4.9452
9. Walking On the Spot 3.78
10. Distant Sun 4.6119
11. Catherine Wheels 4.6275
12. Together Alone 4.6562
13. I Am In Love 4.0357
14. Convent Girls 4.09
15. Dots on the Shell 4.0889
16. Private Universe [Acoustic/Zen Mix] 4.4538
17. The Refuge Tree 3.9714 ALT
18. What You've Done 3.8444 ALT
19. I Decided to Fly 4.3 ALT

Finn Brothers Playlist 8 1995-1996 (76 minutes)

1. Only Talking Sense 4.425
2. Eyes of the World 3.9458
3. Mood Swinging Man 3.925
4. Last Day of June 4.5367
5. Suffer Never 3.925
6. Angel's Heap 4.6906
7. Where Is My Soul 4.0533
8. Paradise (Wherever You Are) 3.8083
9. Mary of the South Seas 3.8714
10. Whole Thing 4.5 Andy White
11. Stuff and Nonsense 3.9 Enzso
12. Stranger Than Fiction/Time for a Change 4.27 Enzso
13. Be My Guest 3.8618
14. Help Is Coming 4
15. Spirit Of the Stairs [studio demo] 3.9778
16. Instinct 4.0269
17. Here Come the Gods 3.97 --Annie Crummer

Finn Brothers Playlist 9: 1998-1999 (78 minutes)

1. Drop Out 3.86
2. Rock & Roll Girl 3.75
3. Road Trip [Acoustic version] 4.0571
4. Glide 3.8571
5. Last One Standing 4.23
6. King Tide 4.7364
7. Try Whistling This 4.2588
8. She Will Have Her Way 4.6688
9. Sinner 4.0941
10. Truth 4.33
11. Astro 4.2538
12. Faster Than Light 4.8467
13. Addicted 3.94
14. Identical Twin: 4.1667
15. Spirit of the Stairs: 4.2667
16. Spill the Light 3.7875
17. I Can See Clearly Now
18. Can You Hear Us
19. Burning Water
20. Exquisite Stereo

Finn Brothers Playlist 10: 1999-2000 (78 minutes)

1. Underwater Mountain
2. Currents
3. Death of a Popular Song
4. Twinkle
5. Rest
6. The Climber
7. Driving Me Mad
8. Hole In the Ice
9. Wherever You Are
10. Last To Know
11. Turn And Run
12. Anytime
13. Into The Sunset
14. Drive Home
15. There Is a Light that Never Goes Out
16. Lullaby Requiem
17. Human Kindness
18. Ray Of Hope

Finn Brothers Playlist 11 (79 minutes) 2001-2004 (note: redone)

1. Subway Dreaming
2. What You've Done
3. Dead Man
4. Incognito In California
5. Too Many People
6. Something to Take My Mind Off of You
7. White Cloud Black Shadow [2002 version]
8. Won't Give In
9. Nothing Wrong with You
10. Anything Can Happen
11. Luckiest Man Alive
12. Homesick
13. Disembodied Voices
14. A Life Between Us
15. All God's children
16. Edible Flowers
17. Part of Me, Part of You
18. All The Colours
19. Way Back Down [Visconti version]
20. The Land Torments the Sea [Visconti Version]
21. Gentle Hum

Finn Brothers Playlist 12 (78 minutes) (2001-2006)

1. Move Over [2001 single version]
2. Rain
3. Other Way
4. My Army Of Birds and Gulls
5. Diversions
6. The Ocean Is the Cure
7. Weekend
8. The Bats of Darkwell Lane
9. Couldn't Be Done
10. Still the Song
11. Astounding Moon
12. Midnight Coma
13. Salt to the Sea
14. Horizon
15. Dead Flowers
16. Winter Light
17. Unsinkable
18. How Will You Go [BJB Sessions]
19. Not Even Close [BJB Sessions]
20. Angel's Heap [BJB Sessions]
21. Time for a Change [BJB Sessions]

Finn Brothers Playlist 13: 2007 (79 minutes)

1. Nobody Wants to
2. Don't Stop Now
3. She Called Up
4. Say That Again
5. Pour Le Monde
6. Even A Child
7. Heaven that I'm Making
8. A Sigh
9. Silent House
10. English Trees
11. Lost Island
12. Walked Her Way Down
13. People ARe Like Suns
14. Better to Be
15. Second Chance
16. Gather to the Chapel
17. Remember When
18. Wise Man
19. Wide Awake on the Voyage Home
20. Shadow of Your Man

 

Crowded House Live 92-94 part 2 has just been released.

 

Thanks for the alert! Already got it downloaded and ready for a listen.
Will we be covering part 2 tomorrow as well?

 

No, 12 hours is not enough for me to process. I’ll do it in February after the 7 Worlds collide thing.

 

Our votes for Live from the Wiltern:

4

 

Today two recently released live albums. Both widely availailable on streaming services as well as for purchase on iTunes, etc.

The first is Crowded House Live 92-94 Pt 1 which was released around December 1st, 2020. It collects several songs from various concerts recorded in, I'm guessing, 1992, 1993 and 1994.:

1. Kare Kare (Neil Finn, Mark Hart, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester)
2. It's Only Natural (N. Finn-Tim Finn)
3. Distant Sun (N. Finn)
4. Mean To Me (N. Finn)
5. Whipsers and Moans (N. Finn
6. Locked Out (N. Finn)
7. Don't Dream It's Over (N. Finn)
8. Pineapple Head (N. Finn)
9. Log Cabin Fever/Catherine Wheels (N. Finn/N.Finn-T.Finn
10. Sister Madly (N. Finn)
11. Love This Life (N. Finn)
12. In My Command (N. Finn)
13. Chocolate Cake (N. Finn-T.Finn)
14. Hole in the River (N. Finn-Eddie Rayner)
15. Fingers of Love (N. Finn)
16. Better Be Home Soon (N. Finn)

 

The second is Live at Tramps NYC 1995, released on November 30th, 1995. It was recorded at Tramps music club in New York City on November 30th, 1995.

The tracklist is:

1. Penelope Tree (Tim Finn-Liam O'Maonlai-Andy White)
2. Halfway Round the World (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
3. When the Winter Comes (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
4. Amazing Grace/Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Traditional melody; words by John Newton/Charles H Gabriel-Ada R. Habertson)
5. What You've Done (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
6. The Refuge Tree (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
7. Favourite Girl (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
8. Mandala (Finn-Omaonlai-White)
9. I Decided to Try (Finn-Omaonlai-White)

 

Crowded House Live 92-94 Pt 1

It took me some time to get into this, mainly because I've heard so many Crowded House albums in the last year: all of the fan club records, and a good deal of bootlegs; I've also heard about 20 or 25 of the Kufala recordings from 2007 and 2010. As a result, I have begun to tune out live Crowded House songs because of overload. The first few times I listened to this, I fell asleep just because I needed sleep and familiar music tends to put me to sleep when I'm tired.

But I finally listened to it while going for a walk last week and it clicked. These performances are really great, while I may have heard a handful before (I'm really not sure) Most of them definitely have a twist to them; it consistently amazes me that Crowded House in their glory days (93-94) truly never played a lot of their songs twice. I mean, a lot of these songs have little arrangements: guitar licks, backing vocal bits etc, drum fills, that I've never heard before. How did they manage to keep it fresh night after night? They probably didn't, but still, it amazes me that after hearing more than 100 live albums by them, that there is still juice in this orange.

Lack of banter (Crowded House's calling card) brings it down a bit, and the shimmering tremelo effect on the guitars is nice sounding but on headphones it bugs me as the sound shifts from right the left rapidly; on the other hand, the backing vocals are mixed better than I've ever heard, with Nick, rather unusually coming through loud and clear and Paul (and Mark) blending well too.

Especially good for non-fanatics: If I hadn't heard so many Crowded House records, I might rate it higher.

4.4/5

 

Live at Tramps NYC 1995

This release came as a huge surprise (well, both did, really, but this one is bigger, because who expects to hear from ALT after 25 years?). This concert is on a par with the Bootleg album that they released in 1995 -- it has a similar sense of devil-may-car, off-the-cuff fun, and a similar solo spot for the brilliant Liam O'Maonlai in the middle: his version of Amazing GRace/Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" features a hearstoppingly good vocal. He's kind of the star of both records, which is funny because his often wildly off-key falsetto vocals on the studio album are sometimes a bit of blemish: he's really on on both these records.

Novelty factor and general sense of fun, -- like the weird SMiLE esque grunting, moaning harmonies at the end of "The Refuge Tree" and the smatterings of good-natured banter elevates this: the audience is having a blast too.

Tim's voice is a bit ragged here, (well, it was 1995) but actually not as ragged as it was on the studio album or on Finn Brothers shows from this era; and for some reason I like his drumming for ALT a lot better than the booming plod of the Finn record.

I wish the album was a bit longer: apparently, they played three solo songs to open and also played "We're All Men"at the beginning, but maybe they sounded bad or something...I'm curious to know what Tim song he played, if it was just "Six months in a Leaky Boat, "Persuasion" or "not Even Close", those three being his go-tos.

4.5/5

 

Whoops! Had I known that it would only be me and you, Lance, evaluating the live EP I would have given a numerical score. Apologies.

 

It doesn't matter at all! I respect the decision not to vote on it and the reasons, and I suppose the rest of the people also did not vote for the same reason (if they heard it at all.) I am really only intentionally dragging things out in this post-Christmas period and I don't expect many votes. I don't expect terribly many from today's offerings either, but there will be more because, well, Crowded House.

 

Collated Ratings for I'll Be Lightning

1. Turn Up the Birds 2.9375
2. Better to Be 3.8722
3. Second Chance 4.0792
4. Gather to the Chapel 3.9944
5. Lead Balloon 3
6. Fire In Your Belly 3.5917
7. Music Moves My Feet 3.6773
8. This Place Is Killing Me 3.6111
9. I'd Rather Waste You than Waste Money on My Phone 2.2
10. Lullaby 2.34
11. I'll Be Lightning 3.48
12. Remember When 4.1182
13. Come Home Sam 3.7833
14. I Found Noise at ATP 1.75
15. I Will Explode 3.3571
16. Energy Spent 3.6944
17. Wise Man 4
18. Wide Awake on the Voyage Home 4.1125
19. Shadow of Your Man 4.2111

I'll Be Lightning album: 3.9889

Average by song: 3.46 (19 song versions)

3.6987 (14 song version)

• Chichichachacha 1.75
• Never Feel the Same 3.2944
• Oh, I Know 3.4

Live [At Spaceland] 3.05

 

New playlist: Redoing the latest playlist as I left off "Come Home Sam", which should have made it.

For anyone reading this thread sometime and curious about the Finn Brothers, I've made playlists of all the songs that we've covered so far that were voted 3.75 or above, i.e. the cream of the crop. Of course, there are songs I really like that are missing from this playlist; and Im sure others will feel the same way, but that's democracy! If you're lucky enough to be in a territory where you can legally stream these songs, try it out.
.

Finn Brothers Playlist 1:1973-1977 ( 79 minutes)
Not everyone is a fan of the Finn-Judd songs and at times during the discussion of this era, only robcar and I were voting! Still, it made a nice playlist. I've color coded the songs: by songwriter: Purple=Judd-finn Red=Judd,(Blue=Tim Finn including co-writes)Orange=Neil Finn [incluing co-writes0 [ Green=Neil Finn/Tim Finn collaborations] Pink =Eddie Rayner Magenta =Liam Finn [including co-writes] Brown=other

1. For You: 3.78
2. MalmsBury Villa: 4.66
3. Spellbound: 4.66
4. Walking Down the Road [Mental Notes]: 4
5. Amy: 4
6. Maybe: 4
7. Late Last Night 4.5
8. Titus: 4.5[Second Thoughts]
9. Sweet Dreams: 4.75
10. Stranger Than Fiction [Second Thoughts]
11. Time for a Change [Second Thoughts]
12. Matinee Idyll 4.66
13. The Woman Who Loves You: 4
14. Bold AS BRass --3.75
15. My Mistake --4.35
16. Parrot Fashion Love: 4.25
17. Nice To Know 3.82
18. Without a Doubt 4.13

Finn Brothers Playlist 2 1977-1980(70 minutes)

1. So This Is Love 3.9
2. Semi-Detached: 4.38
3. I See Red: 4.6
4. Give It a Whirl: 4.85
5. Master Plan 3.9
6. Famous People: 3.925
7. Hermit McDermitt: 4.15
8. Stuff and Nonsense 4.333
9. Teh Roughest Toughest Game in the World: 3.9
10. Betty: 4.14
11. Mind Over Matter: 4.233
12. Things: 3.8571428
13. Shark Attack: 3.83
14. I Got You: 4.8333...
15. What's the Matter With You: 3.8428571
16. I Wouldn't Dream of It: 3.8625
17. I HOpe I Never: 3.94
18. Nobody Takes Me Seriously: 4.17
19. Missing Person: 4.41111
20. Poor Boy: 4.6090909

Finn Brothers Playlist 3 1981-1984(77 minutes)

1. Hard Act to Follow: 4.133333
2. One Step Ahead: 4.78888
3. Iris: 4.0125
4. History Never Repeats: 4.8571428
5. Ships: 4.34
6. Dirty Creature: 4.644444 (9)
7. Hello Sandy Allen 4.2428571
8. Small World: 4.36
9. Take a Walk: 4.22
10. Pioneer: 4.425
11. Six Months in a Leaky Boat: 4.75
12. Haul Away: 4.0857142
13. Next exit 3.86
14. Remember When 4.1
15. Through the Years: 3.82222
16. Message To My Girl: 4.625
17. Our Day: 4.0363636
18. The Devil You KNow: 4.4
19. Breakin' My Back 3.77
20. I Walk Away: 4.175
21. Years Go By: 4.2444444
22. Voices 3.776923

Finn Brothers Playlist 4 1985-1989 (78 minutes)

1. Recurring Dream 4.7222
2. No Thunder No Fire No Rain 3.8143
3. Hyacinth: 4.46
4. Big Canoe: 3.75
5. Mean to Me 4.3333
6. World Where You LIve 4.3273
7. Now We're Getting Somewhere 4.0818
8. Don't Dream It's Over 4.9143
9. Something So Strong 4.407
10. Hole In the River 4.4769
11. I Walk Away 3.96
12. Throw Your Arms Around Me 4.2
13. I Feel Possessed 4.38
14. Into Temptation 4.8222
15. When You Come: 4.1125
16. Never Be the Same 4.1941
17. Love This Life: 4.5143
18. In the Low Lands 3.9958
19. Better Be Home Soon 4.7535
20. She's Not There: 4.1667

Finn Brothers Playlist 5 1989-1991(67 minutes)

1. Young Mountain 4.2083
2. Not Even Close 4.3107
3. How'm I Gonna Sleep 4.033
4. Parihaka 4.0667
5. Suicide on Downing Street 3.775
6. Crescendo 4.1566
7. Been There Done That 3.9111
8. Parihaka single [version] 4.3545
9. I Love You Dawn 3.8636
10. Time Immemorial 3.9962
11. Prodigal Sun 3.75
12. Fall At Your Feet 4.9357
13. Whispers and Moans 4.751
14. As Sure AS I Am 4.05
15. Italian Plastic 3.9474
16. She Goes On 4.9063
17. Anyone Can Tell 3.9808
18. Not Made Of Stone 3.9929

Finn Brothers Playlist 6 1991-1993 (72 minutes)

1. It's Only Natural 4.8719
2. WEather With You 4.5033
3. Four Seasons in ONe Day 4.9
4. There Goes God 4.01
5. All I Ask 3.863
6. How Will You Go 4.9167
7. Throw Your Arms Around Me [Finn Brothers version] 3.78
8. In Love With It All 4.8786
9. Strangeness and Charm 4.57
10. Hit the Ground Running 4.06
11. Walk You Home 3.9556
12. Secret Heart 4.0875
13. Persuasion 4.4487
14. Many's the Time (In Dublin) 4.1875
15. Protected 4.1393
16. In Your Sway 4.3909
17. Persuasion [acoustic]
18. One Side Only [demo] 3.875
19. Stand Back --Wendy Matthews 3.8875

Finn Brothers Playlist 7 1993-1995 (80 minutes)

1. Kare Kare 4.7619
2. In My Command 4.4237
3. Nails In My Feet 4.7395
4. Black And White Boy 3.776
5. Fingers of Love 4.4396
6. Pineapple Head 4.4905
7. Locked Out 3.95
8. Private Universe 4.9452
9. Walking On the Spot 3.78
10. Distant Sun 4.6119
11. Catherine Wheels 4.6275
12. Together Alone 4.6562
13. I Am In Love 4.0357
14. Convent Girls 4.09
15. Dots on the Shell 4.0889
16. Private Universe [Acoustic/Zen Mix] 4.4538
17. The Refuge Tree 3.9714 ALT
18. What You've Done 3.8444 ALT
19. I Decided to Fly 4.3 ALT

Finn Brothers Playlist 8 1995-1996 (76 minutes)

1. Only Talking Sense 4.425
2. Eyes of the World 3.9458
3. Mood Swinging Man 3.925
4. Last Day of June 4.5367
5. Suffer Never 3.925
6. Angel's Heap 4.6906
7. Where Is My Soul 4.0533
8. Paradise (Wherever You Are) 3.8083
9. Mary of the South Seas 3.8714
10. Whole Thing 4.5 Andy White
11. Stuff and Nonsense 3.9 Enzso
12. Stranger Than Fiction/Time for a Change 4.27 Enzso
13. Be My Guest 3.8618
14. Help Is Coming 4
15. Spirit Of the Stairs [studio demo] 3.9778
16. Instinct 4.0269
17. Here Come the Gods 3.97 --Annie Crummer

Finn Brothers Playlist 9: 1998-1999 (78 minutes)

1. Drop Out 3.86
2. Rock & Roll Girl 3.75
3. Road Trip [Acoustic version] 4.0571
4. Glide 3.8571
5. Last One Standing 4.23
6. King Tide 4.7364
7. Try Whistling This 4.2588
8. She Will Have Her Way 4.6688
9. Sinner 4.0941
10. Truth 4.33
11. Astro 4.2538
12. Faster Than Light 4.8467
13. Addicted 3.94
14. Identical Twin: 4.1667
15. Spirit of the Stairs: 4.2667
16. Spill the Light 3.7875
17. I Can See Clearly Now
18. Can You Hear Us
19. Burning Water
20. Exquisite Stereo

Finn Brothers Playlist 10: 1999-2000 (78 minutes)

1. Underwater Mountain
2. Currents
3. Death of a Popular Song
4. Twinkle
5. Rest
6. The Climber
7. Driving Me Mad
8. Hole In the Ice
9. Wherever You Are
10. Last To Know
11. Turn And Run
12. Anytime
13. Into The Sunset
14. Drive Home
15. There Is a Light that Never Goes Out
16. Lullaby Requiem
17. Human Kindness
18. Ray Of Hope

Finn Brothers Playlist 11 (79 minutes) 2001-2004 (note: redone)

1. Subway Dreaming
2. What You've Done
3. Dead Man
4. Incognito In California
5. Too Many People
6. Something to Take My Mind Off of You
7. White Cloud Black Shadow [2002 version]
8. Won't Give In
9. Nothing Wrong with You
10. Anything Can Happen
11. Luckiest Man Alive
12. Homesick
13. Disembodied Voices
14. A Life Between Us
15. All God's children
16. Edible Flowers
17. Part of Me, Part of You
18. All The Colours
19. Way Back Down [Visconti version]
20. The Land Torments the Sea [Visconti Version]
21. Gentle Hum

Finn Brothers Playlist 12 (78 minutes) (2001-2006)

1. Move Over [2001 single version]
2. Rain
3. Other Way
4. My Army Of Birds and Gulls
5. Diversions
6. The Ocean Is the Cure
7. Weekend
8. The Bats of Darkwell Lane
9. Couldn't Be Done
10. Still the Song
11. Astounding Moon
12. Midnight Coma
13. Salt to the Sea
14. Horizon
15. Dead Flowers
16. Winter Light
17. Unsinkable
18. How Will You Go [BJB Sessions]
19. Not Even Close [BJB Sessions]
20. Angel's Heap [BJB Sessions]
21. Time for a Change [BJB Sessions]

Finn Brothers Playlist 13: 2007 (82 minutes)

1. Nobody Wants to
2. Don't Stop Now
3. She Called Up
4. Say That Again
5. Pour Le Monde
6. Even A Child
7. Heaven that I'm Making
8. A Sigh
9. Silent House
10. English Trees
11. Lost Island
12. Walked Her Way Down
13. People ARe Like Suns
14. Better to Be
15. Second Chance
16. Gather to the Chapel
17. Remember When
18. Come Home Sam
19. Wise Man
20. Wide Awake on the Voyage Home
21. Shadow of Your Man

 

Tomorrow I'll start on The Conversation by Tim Finn. Here's my introduction to that!

Compared to the relatively lax nineties, Tim Finn seems to have worked non-stop throughout the '00s. The only really fallow period was due to the the lengthy birth-process of Everyone Is Here.

After Imaginary Kingdom was released, Tim Finn went on tours of Australasia, the West Coast of Europe and North America with a full band that included Mareea Paterson on Bass, Betchadupa's Matt Eccles on drums, Simon Aenurud on keyboards and Brett Adams on lead guitar. Brett Adams was an British guitarist/vocalist who had begun his career in a pop group called Point Break that had released one album in 2000 which had reached #21 on the UK pop chart. He would continue to work with Tim Finn after this for the next several years.

In early 2008, Tim toured the US again, as a two-man band with just himself and Brett Adams playing; they would return to the US many times over the year, in two or three-week stints, visiting in many cases places that Tim had never played before.
These shows by the way are when Tim starts really getting good live, as far as I'm concerned, despite his spotty, ragged voice.

In late March 2008, Split Enz reformed again for a series of concerts in New Zealand, this time with New Zealand multi-instrumentalist Michael Barker on drums (who had worked with the Finn Brothers on several previous pojects: The Magnificent Nose and Princess Tabu and Try Whistling This and the subsequent tour.)

This seems to have been a warm up for The Conversation, which was recorded in April at Neil's Roundhead Studios in Auckland.

The Conversation sprang from the ashes of an aborted Tim Finn/Phil Judd record that was to be recorded in collaboration with Miles Golding, the classical violinist who had played on Split Ends' first single; However, the public falling out (or re-falling out) between Judd and Tim in 2006-7 put an end to that and Judd released his own solo record instead.

So Tim, who seems to have had a pretty clear vision of the kind of record he wanted to make, turned to Eddie Rayner to help produce and arrange the new record with him and Miles Golding, which was meant to be a follow up of the drum-less folk-based acoustic music similar to what the very earliest incarnation of Split Ends had played back in 1972-1973. Before they went all prog and added the "z".

The album was originally called Echo Chamber, due to the fact that it was a sort of chamber pop music, and the fact that it was an "echo" of earlier work; however, Tim seems to have uncomfortable with the pretension of the title and changed the music to The Conversation, which he got from a quote by some classical composer (Brahms?) who said "Good chamber music should be like a conversation." Except he probably said it in German.

Again, though, Tim did not include the quote on the album material itself, as he felt it was too pretentious. Still, it was in the spirit of that quote that the three ex-Enzer's, joined by Brett Adams, recorded The Conversation.

The majority of the album was recorded live in the studio, with a few overdubs and vocal double-tracking, by the quartet, with some guests on a few songs.

Tim was looking for a sound like Bob Dylan's Daniel Lanois-produced records (Oh, Mercy and Time Out of Mind) and, knowing that he couldn't afford Daniel Lanois and, indeed "might not be able to even get his number, anyway", hired Ethan Allen to co-produce the record with Eddie Rayner. Ethan Allen was a guitarist and an up-and-coming producer of alternative acts and had worked as an engineer at New Orleans' Kingsway Studios, where Lanois had recorded many of his records.

In typical Tim style the album was recorded fairly quickly, in a few weeks in April; perhaps with a few weeks of overdubs later on in the southern winter. Tim continued to tour the States after the recording, and began to air the album's songs in the last third of the year.

Notably, this is the second and last album of his career on which all the songs were credited to Tim Finn alone, with no co-writers, the first being Imaginary Kingdom.

The Conversation was finally released on November 17th, 2008 in New Zealand and Australia. It was released on Capitol/EMI records; but I'm not sure if it saw physical release outside of Australasia. Does anybody know?
At any rate it has been released digitally in all places, I believe. My only copy is a copy I bought and downloaded from iTunes: I have no physical copy of the album, and nauturally there are no digital liner notes, so I'm going off of discogs for credits and what not. I thought I had bought a CD too long, long, long ago but I guess I haven't. No matter.

The tracklist was:

1. Straw To Gold
2. Out of This World
3. The Saw & the Tree
4. Slow Mystery
5. Rearview Mirror
6. Only A Dream
7. Fall From Grace
8. Invisible
9. Snowbound
10. Great Return
11. Imaginary Kingdom
12. Forever Thursday
13. More Fool Me

In addition to those songs I plan to hold up the following:

• False Hope (Australian iTunes bonus track)
• Secret Heat demo (from MySpace, early 2008) -- I suspect this is an outtake from the BJB sessions with a re-recorded vocal.
• Every Good Boy (from My Space)
• Who Owns the Song? (My Space)
• Driving Blind (My Space)
• Moment to Moment (My Space)
• Mockery (My Space)
• Lament (My Space)
• Live, Alive, Oh - Split Enz

Most of these tracks seem to have been outtakes from The Conversation or demos written prior to recording and considered for it; and all of them were released by 2009, it seems, going from discussions on frenz.com in which they were mentioned.

After that I will hold up the Split Enz album

• Live, Alive Oh(disc 2 only, as the first disc is just Anniversary repackaged.)

And then I'll move on to the 1999 Finn songs on the 25th of January (I think), starting with the Finn songs off The Sun Came Out (9 songs in total), then the Liam Finn/Eliza Jane Barnes songs from that year and finally a smattering of Tim Finn songs from North, South, East West, Anthology and a few 2010 songs from him as well.

 

OK, I'm amending this list of extra tracks as some of them seem to have not been released until 2011, on Facebook. (I suppose to kick off Tim's now defunct Facebook account.)

One is fully produced; the rest are demos that Tim said were not made for The View Is Worth the Climb, but were just old demos that he had never gotten round to recording. So I will hold them up them after The View Is Worth the Climb, with some other tracks.Another song which I overlooked, "Emptiness", also belongs to the 2011 batch of songs.

• False Hope (Australian iTunes bonus track)

• Secret Heart demo (from MySpace, early 2008)

• Every Good Boy (from My Space, 2008)

• Who Owns the Song? (My Space ,2008)

• Driving Blind (My Space)

• Moment to Moment (My Space)

• Mockery (My Space)

• Lament (My Space)

• Live, Alive, Oh - Split Enz

So the 7 Worlds Collide The Sun Came Out Finn-related songs will start on the 22nd. To be clear I'm not going over all of the songs from that project, but just the ones that are co-written by a Finn or songs have lead vocals by a Finn (like "Too Blue".)

 

Looking forward to discovering this album!