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

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, Jan 21, 2019.

  1. dthomas850

    dthomas850 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, Ohio
    Arrow - one of the many highlights of the album, and once again I absolutely love the "digi-beat" and drums! What an incredible, unique tripped out song!
    5/5

    Just thought i'd mention Liam's latest facebook posts re: Liam Finn's Hyperverse! Really excited for the new album!
     
  2. KangaMom

    KangaMom Queen of the Quokkas

    Well, some Kanye is pretty good. I've discussed this with my teenagers - I totally agree with their view which is he is a talented musician, fully capable of producing really great songs with meaningful lyrics. But I can't really understand him as a person or his views (my kids can't either). This is an instance where we (meaning my kids and I) try to separate the art from the person...

    (sorry for that digression - back to the normal Finn business...where I don't have to separate the art and person)
     
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  3. StefanWq

    StefanWq Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallentuna, Sweden
    "Arrow" has a dreamy, meditative feel even though, or perhaps because, the backing track is complex and full of layers. Liam's vocals are like another instrument, which fits the track well. It doesn't particularly move me emotionally but it is a good interlude track.
    3/5
     
  4. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "Arrow"

    1-0
    2-1
    3-4
    4-2
    5-3
    Average: 3.67
     
  5. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "I", written and produced by Liam Finn; recorded by Chris Bosahda, Liam Finn and Jol Muholland.


    Liam Finn: vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer
    Elroy Finn: drums
    Andrew Keoghan: violin

    There are lyrics but I'm not sure that they are that important.
     
  6. drewrclv9

    drewrclv9 Forum Resident

    I’ll give it points for the funny, minimalist title, but as a song, "I" tends to bore me about as much as “Arrow”, while also not being quite as tolerable. I can certainly appreciate (and generally enjoy) obscure, arty sounding music, but it's got to be fun, or melodic, or something interesting. This is pretty sterile. It plods for an eternity without ever getting interesting, never sounding like more than a jam demo. It’s just too experimental for its own good or something.

    The only positive things I can say is that the backing track itself has some nice sounds at times, and I can kind of appreciate the almost "spring breeze" sound it puts on, but as a whole, the song is just too tedious and aimless for me.

    2/5
     
  7. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I like it quite a lot but like most mood/ambient pieces have little to say about it. It reminds me a little of his Susan Bartsch soundtrack work. Only I think it’s better than that. Not one of the songs I would cut.

    3.9/5
     
  8. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    I

    This is another terrific ambient track. Unlike a few of the other tracks, this one has a pleasant, calming drum sound. The swirling keyboards complement Liam’s voice well. Whatever echoey effect he’s using on his voice here really suits it. He should use that effect more! It makes his voice appealing (!) to me. This track, and the effect on his voice, are somewhat reminiscent of Panda Bear to me.

    4.25/5
     
  9. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    I

    Is that 'I' as my 'Me, myself, and I'. Or is it the Roman numeral? Enquiring minds want to know.

    Past the jokes, I like this. It's definitely my favourite track on the album so far. It could be said that it's simple and repetitive and the arrangement is rather confusing. But, the bottom line is that it works for me. I like the vocal hook that plays through most, and the semi-talking bit is a nice contrast. And, the breakdown at the end works for me too. I like the double bass parts (if that's what they are.)

    3.7/5
     
  10. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Me too.
    For information,Liam is doing some kind of pay-per-view glimpse into him recording demos at home and then he 's going to cap it off with a one-man-band performance on a new album at Roundhead -- whether that will be the new album or just the basic tracks for a new album I'm not sure.

    I probably definitely won't be paying to watch the demo sessions -- no time for that, and, well, have other music to spend my money on; but I wish him the best. It does look like we might be able to expect a new album by the end of the year and I will be getting that!
     
    Paul H, NorthNY Mark, Anne_G and 6 others like this.
  11. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    Are the Finns now releasing albums faster than we are catching up? :D
     
  12. Paul H

    Paul H The fool on the hill

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    Hopefully. I don't want this thread to end :)
     
  13. BeSteVenn

    BeSteVenn FOMO Resident

    I has some very nice bits scattered here and there, and there's nothing grating or irritating, which is often a risk with Liam's experiments/sound collages.

    3/5
     
  14. KangaMom

    KangaMom Queen of the Quokkas

    I - I quite like this as an ambient/mood piece. This is a little easier for me to listen to in the morning (as compared to Arrow). I have the sense that I should have liked Arrow more than I, but right now I is hitting the spot for me.
    I like the dreamy, soundscape and the vocal looping in the background. I agree with Lance that you wouldn't cut this from the album, in many ways it provides a contrast to some of the other songs.
    For whatever reason it kind of reminds me of the sounds on (the album) Dizzy Heights a little...I haven't listened to that album enough to pinpoint it exactly though

    3.7/5
     
  15. Anne_G

    Anne_G Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Arrow & I

    Both songs run together for me. Both get a 2/5.

    Sorry if you all have discussed already, but does anyone find Liam and enjoy his music without knowing his dad’s work? I’m not saying that he doesn’t have talent in his own right- he is an talented multi-instrumentalist and I like him even more since seeing the new CH lineup.

    but

    Does anyone just stumble across his albums and get in to them like I have with so many great indie bands?
     
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  16. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Don’t know. Obviously we are all mostly older and came across Neil first. I think that the Neil connection must be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Neil is like a gateway to Liam but a curse because Liam’s music is generally not your typical Neil fan’s cup of tea.

    I know my little brother who is Liam’s age has seen him live in Austin at SXSW back in the 00’s and I don’t think he’s a huge Finn fan though he likes Woodface. I’m not sure if he even connected Liam with CH at the time.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2021
  17. therunner

    therunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    Some have called"I" ambient music, but if it had been 5 minutes of pleasant ambient music I would have preferred it to what I hear as 5 minutes of Liam's intrusive and irritating noises that I will be happy never to have to listen to again.

    1/5
     
  18. jimbutsu

    jimbutsu WATCH YÖUR STEPPE

    This is the inoffensive background music during the scene where the couple at the center of the dramedy are at some trendy lounge and a misunderstanding erupts, then one chases after the other after they storm off, most likely into the rain.

    3/5
     
  19. StefanWq

    StefanWq Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallentuna, Sweden
    "I" has a dreamy, summer-ish feel to it. Again, Liam's vocals are more like an instrument helping to establish the mood rather than driving the song. There's not much of a melody here and it overstays it welcome by a minute or so. This track is another interlude that fits well on the album but as a stand-alone piece it doesn't move me.
    2,6/5
     
  20. NorthNY Mark

    NorthNY Mark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canton, NY, USA
    I haven't weighed in on the last two or three tracks because I just don't have much to say about them. They seem like pleasant studio explorations, usually with some cool sounds and effects, but with little that really sticks with me or distinguishes the one from the next. (That said, I just re-listened to "I" and noticed that I really enjoyed the drum sound, at least in the first half or so before distortion gets added towarard the end, and the vocal sound throughout).
     
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  21. jcr64

    jcr64 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    Argh, I missed another day. A quick thought on "Arrow": it's another one that's more soundscape than song. I don't like the bass drum sound, and there's one particular synth sound that pops up at one point that is nothing but a cliché, but the vocal harmies are effective, even if I can't tell what if anything the song is about. I would have rated it 3/5.

    "I" is another soundscape, and a fairly dull one at that. There's just little here to hold my attention. It's not unpleasant for the most part, but it needs to be more than that, and it does get a bit unpleasant toward the end. 2.5/5.
     
  22. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "I"

    1-1
    2-2
    3-4
    4-4
    5-0
    Average: 2.8773
     
  23. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "Wild Animal", writen by Lia Finn, Jol Mulholland, Elroy Finn and Eliza-Jane Barnes. Recorded by Chris Boosahda and Liam Finn.


    There's some programming at the beginning of this that I think is more of an inter-song interlude.

    Liam Finn: vocals, guitar
    Jol Mulholland: bass
    Andrew Keoghan: violin
    Elroy Finn: drums
    Eliza-Jane Barnes: vocals

    Listen to the foreign trees
    Listen to the foreign state
    Down to what the future brings
    Who cares where we were orwhere we've been
    I could do a world of good
    We could sell the world our secret
    Too bad it's got to self-destruct,
    it's got to self-destruct, the enemy

    The harder that you try
    Ruthless I become
    I'm tied to the wall
    Like a little boy
    And I'll show you I'm enough
    I'm afraid you fell in love
    With a wild animal

    I can break the foreign moves
    You can read the foreign papers
    And life is what I dreamed
    Except I wake with worry and I wake with dread
    Excuses aren't necessary
    WE both can be contrary
    Oh,, you're such a ruthless bastard,
    ON the ghetto blaster, ghetto blaster

    The harder that you try
    The ruthless I become
    I'm tied to the wall
    Like a little boy
    I'll show you I'm enough
    I'm afraid you fell in love
    with a wild animal

    (Eliza-Jane Barnes/Liam sung middle eight, I can't understand, really)

    The harder that you try
    The ruthless I become
    I'm tied to the wall
    Like a little boy
    I'll show you I'm enough
    I'm afraid you fell in love
    with a wild animal
     
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  24. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident

    Wild Animal

    This album seems to have come good for me. I don't know if it's the songs that have changed or something with me. But, I find this catc hy and interesting. Mainly, perhaps, I think due to the simple rhythm guitar track, supported by the bass and drum track.

    In context the little bit of programmed (presumably) weirdnesss at the start works as a nice little interest.

    This is the kind of song that I think would have worked well on the latest CH album. Liam's voice sounds quite like his father on this. And I think it would have made a good Betchadupa track too.

    The chorus (?) has a nice bit of contrast with the verse. Maybe there could have been a bit more contrast, but this is Liam.

    I also cannot make out pretty much anything from the middle 8.

    The guitar solo is straightfoward, but it suits the simple nature of the song.

    3.6/5
     
  25. drewrclv9

    drewrclv9 Forum Resident

    "Wild Animal" gets the album back on track after the last two songs, for my taste at least. This wouldn't be so out of place on I'll Be Lightning, or even Aiming for Your Head. Fantastic verses that outshine the chorus, but I like both. Again, great vocal harmonies and instrumentation, with wonderful energy to go along with them. As a fan of Liam's Betchadupa stuff, I really enjoy this little throwback kind of song a lot.

    4.2/5
     

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