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

Now up and streaming? It's been there since 2012

 

Songs like this are hard to rate because they're not really intended for adult listening. I give them a 3/5 each because they're good for what they are.

 

Our votes for "Neville the Enchanted Rug"

1-0
2-1
3-2
4-5
5-0
Average: 3.4

Our votes for "The Girl from Godknowswhere"

1-0
2-0
3-4
4-4
5-0
Average: 3.575

 

Today will be aother double-header, unfortunately neither song streams so I want to get them out of the way; tomorrow we'll begin on Say It Is So.

The first is "The Perfect Stranger", written by Peter Dasent and Fane Flaws; lead vocal by Tim Finn.
Backing vocals ("Angels") are by Jenny Morris. The track features synthesizer, piano and some weird psychedelic backward guitar sounding thing, but, oddly, there are no credits on Discogs.

You find her on an empty beach
Or down some lonely lane
She seems somehow familiar
Yet you can't recall her name
You can't remember meeting
Or having seen her face
But the moment you're together
Not a breath is out of place

So enjoy this perfect moment
When you look into your eyes
And you find your inner heaven
And it comes as no surprise
But don't try to understand it
Or she'll fade herself away
To another perfect stranger
On another perfect day

The second song is "Dream Girl" written by Peter Dasent and Fane Flaws; lead vocal by Neil Finn.

Guitar: Fane Flaws
Lap Steel: Stephen Jessup
Bass; George Barris
Drums: Jim Lawrie
Performer ("Dream Girl") Lucy Lawless

Dream Girl
Dream Girl
Dream girl
She's a dream girl

Travels in a dream world
From a four poster bed
She's friendly with an angel there
It was her Uncle Fred

She keeps a little diary
Of everything that's said
She's got one thing upon her mind
And three eyes in her head

Dream Girl
Dream Girl
Dream girl
She's a dream girl

Sweet dreams, dream girl
Everybody's dreaming
Sweet dreams dream girl
Sweet dreams, dream girl

I was in a beautiful dream when I found myself weightless
hovering above a field of purple flowers
The warm sun bathing everything in wings of golden light
It was so real that when I awoke I found myself wondering was that me dreaming I was a butterfly
Or is this the dream and really I'm a butterfly dreaming I"m a human
Oh dear, how perplexing.
I think I'll just sleep on it and see what I am in the morning.
Sweet dReams

 

"The Perfect Stranger" almost feels like an adult song, and I like its drum-free floating arty arrangement. 4.5/5
The words scan very similar to the Melon-Cauli Baby song -- more syllables suits Tim's singing style, generally, I suppose.

"Dream Girl" is more of what we heard yesterday: vaguely psychelic 67 era Beatles influenced with lyric that seems obviously intended for children. I don't like it quite as much as "Nevile" or "Girl from Godknowswhere", but it's pretty and the arrangment is really cool.
3.8/4

I think these guys who did these songs (Peter Dasent and Fane Flaws) were pretty good and most of the songs on this album are really very listeing: the best of them being the vaguely psychelic pop ones -- Dukes of Stratosphear being a good reference.

I listened to the whole album yesterday and really enjoyed most of it. Some of it is more cartoonish than other parts and there are a host of NZ singers...plus Renee Geyer. Is she NZ? I thought she was Australian.

 

Make up your own mind as to what I mean by this. I'll leave it a mystery.

 

Word. This is my problem too.

The songs are nice, but in a context.

Perfect Stranger: 3/5

If this were on one of Tim's albums, then it wouldn't score so highly. It's a nice melody, bit show-tuney, bit loungey. The backing is very simple and a very simple chord progression. It would make a nice link between other tracks if Tim had recorded a full-on prog classic like if Tim did 'The Moa Lies Down on Broadway'. But, as a standalone track not so much. However, as Paul H points out, it's not meant to be a track on an album. So, my vote here is partially due to context.

Dream Girl: 3.5/5

Again, this sounds like a CH b-side. If it was, then I'd probably listen to it when I bought the single, but not much afterwards. But, it is a solid if incomplete sounding (see Paul H's comment) song. This is the kind of thing that I could imagine Neil putting together with other bits so that 'Dream Girl' becomes a bridge or something. Not as much a fan of Lucy Lawless as the Topp Twins, so less novelty there.

 

Did you know there's a museum tucked away at the back of a shop in Omarama, NZ that has a section dedicated to Lucy Lawless/Xena? It was a very random and bizarre discovery

As for the final two Melon songs: I quite like Dream Girl but in an "it's just inoffensive" sort of way. There's nothing to actively dislike. On the basis that Dream Girl can score no more than 3/5 and it's better than Perfect Stranger, I give the latter 2/5.

 

Tomorrow we'll start on the songs from Say It Is So. Here's my little introductory essay for that:

After the Steel City project, the newly-wed Tim Finn, whose son, Harper had been born in late February, was looking for inspiration and rejuvenation. On the advice of his old friend and collaborator Mark Moffat, moved his young family to Nashville, Tennessee, in order to record his next album.

Tim was without a record contract and had long since parted ways with Grant Thomas, his manager. So the album he recorded, Say It Is So, was self-financed. Most of the recording seems to have been finished by the end of 1998, when he released an EP of early mixes called Far Out through the Frenz of the Enz fan club in order to help pay for the mixing of the album.

While in Nashville Tim soaked in the indie rock scene which at that time was blossoming in the old capitol of country music. Records he's spoken fondly of that he discovered there that time include Wilco's Being There, Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road and the band Lambchop's output (Thriller and What Another Man Spills being contemporaneous)

Having said that I don't really hear a strong influence of any of those albums on the next album. Rather Tim's songs seem to have continuing within a similar indie folk idiom that he'd been working in since the Altitude and Teenage albums in 1995 and also the indie DIY sensibilities of Finn; here the 90s alternative rock trappings that had begun to creep into his music in the vocal songs on Steel City were more pronounced; perhaps the drift of his music was a result to his marriage with the rock lover Marie Azcona.

However, the realization that there was an "indie market" that was quite separate from the pop market he'd been chasing with increasingly less successful results since the early 80s may have indeed rejuvenated his career: I certainly think that this and the next five albums would be by far the strongest albums of his solo career. I simply think think that in being freed the possibility of charting hits, Tim produced better work.

The album was recorded mainly with one core band and it was largely a musical collaboration with producer Jay Joyce who is credited with ""guitar/keyboards/sounds."AS on Try Whistling This, some of the songs on the album were constructed with tape loops and samples the like -- no doubt the "sounds" Jay Joyce contributed.

But most of the album was apparently recorded live in the studio with a core band, according to interviews. This stylistic choice was made mainly due to the high cost of the studio and the fact that the album was self-financed. It was recorded, if my memory serves over just a couple of weeks. For the most part, gone were the days days of recording an album in multiple studios with multiple producers all over the world, as Woodface and Before and After had been; well, at least gone until the Everyone Is Here album.


The basic line up for the album was:

• Tim Finn - vocals, piano, acoustic guitar
• Jay Joyce - guitars, keyboards, sounds
• Chris Feinstein - bass
• Ken Coomer - drums

The album was first released in late 1999 on Tim's self-owned Periscope label in Australia and New Zealand; while in America it was released in 2000 as a joint venture between Periscope and the Boulder Colorado based What Are Records? an indie label run by a former EMI executive named Rob Gordon who, according to a brief biography on Discogs was "an innovator in creating alternative business concepts in the record industry, turning the classic "Variable Profit" model on it's head, providing that prize to the artists while the label receives a fixed percentage." In Germany/Europe it was released on Hypertension records.

Tim also found management through Sonny's Pop Records, another indie label who also released a printing of the album. It's unclear if there was a UK release; I assume that by 2000 the Hypertension label would have covered all of the EU.

Sales numbers of course are unavailable, but given the the new business model and with Tim's relative clout in the minor leagues, I'd venture to say that the album may have been Tim's first financially successful album since Escapade.

Listening to it recently, I think a few of the "sounds" on the album have dated a little but at the time the album was a real revelation: the first Tim Finn album that I pretty much liked from start to finish. It was also one of the only Finn related albums that I was ever able to play for my indie-rock friends that they liked, the others being Try Whistling This and Finn. For that reason it has a special place in my heart, though I still think his best work was ahead of him.


The tracklist:

1. Underwater Mountain (T. Finn)
2. Shiver (Marie Azcona (Finn- Marie Azcona)
3. Good Together (Finn-Azcona)
4. Roadtrip (Finn-Azcona)
5. Currents (Finn)
6. Need to Be Right (Finn)
7. Twinkle (Finn-Azcona)
8. Big Wave Rider (Finn)
9. Death of a Popular Song (Finn)
10. Some Dumb Reason (Finn)
11. Rest (Finn, George Upu, traditional)

I don't really know of any other extra-album Tim songs from the 1998-1999 era (other than the Fiery Maze -- I have a demo from that, but have decided NOT to hold it up separately for discussion) that we haven't talked about so for extra songs I'm planning to resurrect a few archival songs which have not been discussed.

• Remote Control (Ian McCormick) Phil Manzanera featuring Tim Finn 1978
• Cuban Crisis (Phil Manzanera-William McCormick) Phil Manzanera featuring Tim Finn 1978
• Hot Spot (Manzanera, I. McCormick-W. McCormick) Phil Manzanera featuring Tim Finn 1978
• Slow Motion TV (Manzanera, W. McCormick, Simon Ainly) Phil Manzanera featuring Tim Finn 1978
• Holiday of Planet EArth (Mimori Yusa) Mimori Yusa featuring Tim Finn 1990
• Mantra Mix (Yvonne Gold/Tim Finn/Tony "Taxi" Ranking) Sacred Sound System 1996

I'll also take a day to discuss both the Say It Is So album as a whole and the Together In Concert album by Tim Finn, Dave Dobbyn and Bic Runga.

After that I will move on to the Betchadupa EP entitled The Third EP, when that's over there will be the Rain Soundtrack, One Nil/One All and a host of Neil Finn songs -- I believe over 45 days straight of Neil songs!

 

I was introduced to "Girl From Godknowswhere" via the simply amazing Fan collection called "So Pacific Gothic Radio" - a collection of Neils "B" sides and lesser known solo work such as the aforementioned song mixed / molded together - in this setting this song is quite spectacular & with this whole collection on heavy rotation in my house, I hear this quite often and it is deffo a "grower" as they say - No idea who compiled the whole thing, but it was very clever and has stood the test of time!

 

I believe it was Painoporo on Frenz.com who compiled that mix: he’s big on those comps.

its apparently a Try Listening This double set with the kitchen sink thrown in and some editing to make it all flow smoothly. I’ve never heard it.

 

Thanks Lance - I have a CD copy with a nice fan made cover too - I don't know PP - so it must have been another Frenz who sent it to me - It really is great - not just Neils work but the whole vibe / atmosphere created that showcases it so well - the Rain tracks fit here better that the Rain CD itself - some achievement

 

I love that Together In Concert album. That is probably my most listened-to release from all three of those artists. (As far as Tim is concerned, I’m referring to his solo work...actually, Before and After is by far my favorite Tim Finn release, but I was still in lurker mode at that time. But Together in Concert is definitely next in line after Before and After)

I am not going to comment on the two songs for today. Neither one is anything I would devote any time to.

 

Why isn’t he here??? He would be an awesome contributor to this thread.

 

He showed up during Big Canoe, threw out a couple of ratings and disappeared again. Guess it’s not his thing.

 

Getting ahead but I love it too. Especially “Whaling.”That song blows me away.

I have a boot of those guys, it’s a double and it’s even better —a lot more songs—but sound quality is not that good.

 

"listeing" - Olde English spelling of "listing", as in something one might do if he or she consumes too much alcohol in a short period of time.

 

"The Perfect Stranger" - cool sound here with a solid vocal from Tim. Not a favorite, but overall, pretty good. 3.1/5
"Dream Girl" - this one doesn't do a lot for me, but I do like the guitar. 2.8/5

 

I basically agree with Lance's feelings about Say It Is So. I remember being intrigued by reading somewhere at the time that Tim's new album was recorded in Nashville with members of Wilco.

Well, Ken Coomer was Wilco's original drummer but that's about where the truth of this statement ends. It took me a while to appreciate the album because I had been expecting something more alt-country sounding. Of course, that's not really Tim's thing and it would have probably sounded fairly ridiculous. I think it's a strong "comeback" album but that Tim would do better work on his next few albums.

 

From here on in, I have to confess that, as much as I agree that the writing (and, perhaps, the performances/arrangements) are stronger than anything that preceded, I find it very hard indeed to sit through an entire Tim album. That's partly due to his voice, but mainly due to the insanely loud mastering/mixing. There are middling songs that I'm quite happy to sit through on earlier albums simply because the listening experience is a pleasant one. But from here on in, the songs really have to earn the right to be listened to, and the weaker material just gets passed by. Which is a shame, because, as I say, I think these are probably stronger albums.

 

I like both "The Perfect Stranger" and "Dream Girl". Interesting that both have titles that would be just cliches if they were songs intended for adults but that they have more creative and original lyrics here.
I agree with the opinion that "Dream Girl" could have been a Crowded House B side and a rather good one at that. It's very catchy but perhaps also slightly generic. Good vocals by Neil.
"The Perfect Stranger" is quite arty and theatrical and Tim sounds like he enjoyed singing this one. It's a bit underdeveloped but very enjoyable.
The Perfect Stranger: 4/5
Dream Girl: 3/5

 

"The Perfect Stranger" is so Tim: wistful and melancholy. A Paris cafe accordion would have been great on it. 4/5

"Dream Girl" is less substantial. 3/5

 

Oh yes! This is my favourite period for Tim Fin releases. Say It Is So is my favourite album of his.

 

Our votes for "Perfect Stranger"

1-0
2-1
3-2
4-2
5-1
Average: 3.4333

Our votes for "Dream Girl"
1-0
2-0
3-4
4-2
Average: 3.1833

 

Today's song is "Underwater Mountain", written by Tim Finn and produced by Jay Joyce; engineered by Rick Will.

Spotify: Underwater Mountain

Lyrics (and more streaming should the above not work) HERE

Line up:
Tim Finn: vocals, acoustic guitar
Jay Joyce guitars, keyboards, sounds
Bruce Bouton: pedal steel guitar
Chris Feinstein: bass
Jackie Orsaczky: second bass guitar and string arrangement
Giles Reaves: Drums

This song was also included on Tim Finn's two-disc compilation, Anthology: North South East West. And often played during the 2000 world tour that followed the album, with Tim on acoustic guitar and "foot drums" and Greg Hitchcock on 12-string guitar. Only bootlegs from that tour, I'm afraid.

Note, the video posted above is fan made. While the official animated video is super-interesting and a work of art in itself, it's also a bit disturbing and in my opinion does not support the song at all but detracts from it. It's worth watching, so I'll link to it below.