Celebrating Neil Finn

As far as I know, yes. He sang on Neil’s Infinity Sessions webcasts just over a year ago. He’s lost a bit of range but still sounds pretty good I reckon. Not sure why he doesn’t sing on the album; there’s a female vocalist handling the leads. Perhaps she is from the cast of the musical?

 

Love a lot of Split Enz and Crowded House material, but have never really followed Neil as a solo act.
Fleetwood Mac being my all-time favorite band, I had no desire to see this latest tour, especially once they started dropping the more off the wall song choices.
That said, I would love to see this line-up hit the studio.....the thought of Christine and Neil writing together ~ two of rock's most melodic composers! ~ gives me chills!

 

NF seems like one of those guys who isn’t satisfied unless he has several irons in the fire at once. I could easily see him contributing to a Fleetwood Mac album while also doing an album with Tim (which has been something they’ve talked about for a couple of years now). I also think a new Crowded House album is not too far off - just a gut feeling on that, however.

 

A bit of late-night sensitivity on my part I guess.

Part of the problem with including all of these albums, (beyond lengthening my own involvement) is simply that I don't have them and many of them aren't available in Europe without paying exhorbitant prices for imported used goods (which often involves a customs tax on top of the ebay price or whatever.) And where do we draw the line?

Tell, you what: I don't want to be dictatorial.

I will include the live albums: Anniversary, Recurring dream bonus, and the final concert in '96.

I had the double album Split Enz live album but the sound was so ridiculously bad that I got rid of it. But I could include that too, since it was in wide release in Australia.

I don't have a lot of the LIam Finn/Betchadupa stuff. A lot of it just isn't in print in Europe. But by the time we get to there, I probably will have a lot of it in my possession via Ebay, 'cause I am a completist and I'll include them, but when it comes to obscurities there is little hope that I will get my hands on them. Maybe when the time comes someone can help me out. I do like Liam Finn's work quite a lot.

My hesitancy with the live albums was only this: they are also rare in the Northern Hemisphere.

I also assumed that on a song-by-song thread, live versions are naturally going to be referenced. I mean, it's nearly impossible to talk about "Hole in the River" without talking about live versions which are 50 times better, IMHO.

But I'll include live albums. Hopefully some others can help me fill in any blanks.

 

OK the thread is live.

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

 

Don’t compare Neil Finn to Sting...

 

Honestly what difference does it make???

 

If you haven't yet subscribed to Neil's email newsletters, they're recommended. Today's features videos of new performances of rare songs "Drive Home" from the Rain soundtrack and "Anyone Can Tell", a Woodface B-side.

 

Hi All - am new to the forum, so this is a "hello" post, but also glad to see so many Finn related posts on the wider forum,when I searched!

I plan to use the rest of lockdown to explore - especially the Finn Brothers song by song thread - but I may steer clear of the thoughts on Neil and FM - I had a pretty bad experience over on twitter when that all kicked off ..

Also great to see couple of familiar user names, so I'm confident I will enjoy the discussions here

Of note, I have also noticed there are a few autograph collectors amongst the forum contributors - I'm always on the look out for trades / purchases for Enz, CH or Finn related stuff, so please feel free to reach out - especially if there is anyone out there with a signed copy of Neil's One All Cd !

Anyway, nice to virtually meet you and stay safe, "wherever you are"!

Cheers
J

 

Neil sent this email to his subscribers today

To the Island... Hoki ki Aotearoa

To the Island... Hoki ki Aotearoa
Kia ora,
It has been a long time since I was in touch but I know, like good old friends, we are able to weather long absences and be free of any feelings of obligation. I just received a collection of kind thoughts and messages of appreciation from several of my Fangradio listeners. I’m very grateful for the affirmations and personal reflections about those shows. They were special and inspiring for me through the weird early months of lockdown, a meaningful way of feeling connected every day with the world, especially intimate through the absence of gatekeepers or commerce.

I have been pondering a return to the airwaves, it's bound to happen, perhaps in my 2 weeks of quarantine as we head back to NZ very soon. In the meantime, we are packing up, dressing up our new music with pictures, making some plans for how to deliver Crowded House to you in good style. In spite of the pandemic, we feel a vitality in this new lineup and the new songs that is genuinely thrilling and can’t wait to share it with you. Stand by for word, good people!

As I get ready to leave the U.S. I am feeling mixed emotions. On the one hand, the pull of home is strong. NZ appears in my dreams as the sweet scented garden it is, the bright summer colors, the coastline never far away. I miss the ocean on gentle evenings and on the wildest days. In a few weeks, I’ll be walking towards the waves across the black sand dunes and the whispering grass, and all around the shades and echoes of childhood. My home country is an open society, both politically and socially. I’m grateful and excited to be going home.

On the other hand, I have always felt welcome in the U.S. and inspired by our experience living and working here. It's such a dynamic country, creative, diverse, aspirational but right now, once again, staring down the deep and painful history of struggle and inequity, much of its wealth and hierarchy built and sustained by slavery and injustice. In the midst of that ferment, there have emerged huge cultural and philosophical revelations and watershed moments for the world. I’m fascinated by this place and love America. With so much division and anxiety in the air, I want to thank the thousands of good, kind-hearted Americans I have met. It's because of them I believe America will transcend and heal its wounds.

Life is in transition. Thank you one and all, music is magic, let yourself be carried away towards kindness.

Nga mihi

Neil​

 

I guess this means the album is finished. And they are just trying to figute out when to release It. I wish i shared his optimism about the US!

 

I've just seen this post and feel compelled to answer, even though you probably already know this information; as I did some heavy listening to this last autumn working out the lyrics with a non-native speaker in exchange for, ahem, Finn goodies, this engendered a pretty big enthusiasm for this album.

In fact, the songs on that album form a cycle and the "narrator" of the cycle is definitely a woman and, in fact, a lesbian. It's really meant for a woman to sing; and it's more powerful in sum than in its parts, I must say. One of my favorite Finn albums of the 10's, mainly due to the powerful lyrics (by Dorothy Porter.)

There really wasn't a "musical", in the conventional sense: I'd call it more of a theatrical song cycle, with a plot. There were no actors or spoken word parts, the songs themselves tell the story. It was just Tim on guitar/piano/drums/backing vocals, the singer and a guitarist -- the album is simply a recording of their very first run-through of the entire show, recorded live in a room with just a director, lightning designer and technician in attendance.

I have to say that I don't think that 2016 Tim could have pulled those songs off very well in any case -- the singer, whose name I don't recall at the moment -- is a powerhouse with a range as wide as Tim's in his heyday. He definitely sings some of the backing vocals, but it feels like he's just getting into it and singing along, though there aren't really any harmonies or anything

 

I really enjoyed Crowded House and Neil solo.... Split Enz are another band from south of the equator that just never got the rewards they deserved north of the equator.

Split Enz Give it a Whirl

 

He's in for a shock when he returns to N.Z.

 

Neil was somewhat in Tim's shadow during the Split Enz days, yet slowly hit surely, after Tim's excellent debut solo album Escapade, Neil's light started to shine, and Tim slowly wandered away to follow the solo road....

Around this time the Enz were left in Neil's able hands, and the seeds of Crowded House were being sown in Neil's less Enz-centric writing.
This song is a pearla

Split Enz - Message To My Girl

 

Why?

 

Neil has released a new live album on digital media Solo from the Seymour 2010.

Press release here: NEIl FINN LIVE Solo at the Seymour Centre 2010

This is his first real live solo album, actually, that wasn't released through the fan club. (Of course he has several fan club albums.)