Musical Elective of the Month: September-October 2010

The Musical Elective of the Month is Crowded House.

Those of you who know me well, you know that Crowded House is my all-time favorite band, going on almost 25 years dating back to my high school years. So you're probably asking, "What took you so long to feature them as a Musical Elective?" Well, patience isn't one of my virtues, but I do try to demonstrate it every once in a while. That said, I have featured founding member/lead singer/ songwriter Neil Finn as a solo Musical Elective as well as his son, Liam Finn, and Neil's 7 Worlds Collide collaboration with members of Wilco, Radiohead, Johnny Marr, KT Tunstall and other musical luminaries. So patience is overstated....

The Crowdies, as the band is affectionately known in Australia, just completed a tour of North America and are on their way to South Africa and Down Under. (Yours truly saw them in concert in Milwaukee on September 7.) Their new album, Intriguer, was released in July 2010. PopMatters offers a nice review, saying "Finn’s stability and contentment has informed the sound of Intriguer, a mature, thoughtful, and mostly mellow album.... It’s a great album in the classic mold, one that rewards you. It is fun to listen to, and though that fun is of the grown-up sort, it makes for one of the year’s best pop albums all the same."

As a bit of history, Neil Finn is one of the great, under-appreciated songsmiths of the last 30 years. A New Zealand native, as a teenager, he almost single-handedly lifted his older brother Tim's one-of-a-kind, art rock band Split Enz into New Wave prominence. Neil penned and sang the band's biggest #1 hit (in Canada, Australia and New Zealand), 1980's "I Got You."

Neil went on to form Crowded House in 1985 with drummer Paul Hester and bassist Nick Seymour, fashioning it into an internationally renowned band. The current line-up of Crowded House also includes Mark Hart, who joined the band prior to its 1994 album, and Matt Sherrod who replaced Hester as the band's drummer and had previously supported Beck. Crowded House reformed in 2006, coming together following the suicide of Paul Hester the year prior. The original group of tenants iteration broke their lease in 1996 in a Farewell To The World concert before a quarter million fans at the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

Crowded House's eponymous debut album was released in 1986 and produced two top 10 U.S. hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong." They never reached such heights again in the states, lost amidst the grunge and rap of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Crowded House's second album, Temple of Low Men, was a critical success in 1988 but a commercial disappointment, but includes such stellar tracks as "Into Temptation," "When You Come," and "Better Be Home Soon." Woodface, the third album, was released in 1991 and made the band certifiable stars in Europe. For this album, Tim Finn--Neil's older brother--joined the band as an official member and co-penned a number of the tracks. It includes the singles, "Fall At Your Feet," "Weather With You," "Four Seasons In One Day," and "It's Only Natural." Crowded House's fourth album, Together Alone, was released in 1994. It includes "Locked Out" (featured in the film Reality Bites) and the international hits "Distant Sun" and "Private Universe."

If you don't know Crowded House, by all means check them out. If you know them from years ago, give them fresh listen. YouTube (for links to live and TV appearances) and the official Crowded House web site are good starting places.

But you know what it means to me, babe
In the course of a history, hey
It all makes sense to me somehow
It’s a course in philosophy, yeah
What is life is it just a dream, no
The perfect mystery but somehow I know

You will love this one
You will love this one
And if we create something magical, honey
There are times come
These are times that come
Only once if your life
Or twice if you’re lucky

-- "Twice If You're Lucky," Intriguer (2010)

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Musical Elective of the Month

The Musical Elective of the Month is 7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out.

Neil Finn is one of the great, under-appreciated singer/songwriters of the last 30 years. A New Zealand native, Neil came of age and then into the musical forefront through the one-of-a-kind New Wave band Split Enz, founded and fronted by his older brother Tim. He penned and sang the band's biggest #1 hit (in Canada, Australia and New Zealand), 1980's "I Got You." He went on to form Crowded House (1985-1996), fashioning it into an internationally renowned band (re-formed in 2006) and a frequent visitor to critic's 'best of' lists, with hits including "Don't Dream It's Over," "Something So Strong," "Weather With You," and "Distant Sun." And Neil has recorded solo albums in 1998 and 2002 and two albums, in 1995 and 2004, with his brother under the moniker The Finn Brothers.

It has been eight years since Neil's first 7 Worlds Collide project which gathered a stellar group of musicians (including Eddie Vedder, Johnny Marr, and members of Radiohead) to play a series of live shows in Auckland, New Zealand. All proceeds from the resulting live album and DVD went to Medecins Sans Frontieres. Around Christmas 2008, Neil assembled an even larger group of musicians -- with international development organization Oxfam chosen as the beneficiary this time -- to collaborate and record a studio album of original songs. All of the songs were written and recorded over the course of three short weeks. Pretty amazing.

To be released on September 29, 2009 in the United States, the two-disc 7 Worlds Collide: The Sun Came Out features: the Finn clan (Neil, Tim, sons Liam (solo artist) and Elroy (drummer for The Tricks), and wife Sharon); Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse): Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (of Radiohead): Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone and John Stirratt (of Wilco); KT Tunstall; Lisa Germano; Don McGlashan; Glenn Richards (of Augie March); Bic Runga; Sebastian Steinberg (of Soul Coughing), Johnny's son Nile Marr (AKA Kid 4077), and Jeff's son Spencer Tweedy.

There are some real gems on here and fans of good music and any of the artists represented should check this out. The album features tracks such as "True Blue" co-written by Johnny Marr and Jeff Tweedy, "Hazel Black" co-written by KT Tunstall and Neil Finn, and "The Ties That Bind Us" written (and sung) by Radiohead drummer Phil Selway.

Order through amazon.com here and support Oxfam. Music samples are available now on the album's web site and you can check out some of the limited live performances from January 2009 on YouTube.

When your seven worlds collide
Whenever I am by your side
And dust from a distant sun
Will shower over everyone
--Distant Sun," Crowded House, Together Alone (1993)

Visit here for past Musical Electives, including Guster, Gomez, and Travis.

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Musical Elective of the Week

The Musical Elective of the Week is Neil Finn.

My family and friends are, of course, saying "What took you so long?" (and Sara is probably rolling her eyes). They know that Neil Finn is my favorite artist. And he is completely and utterly underappreciated -- especially in America. Finn is one of those rare talents who combines songwriting mastery and musicianship. He's a master pop craftsman, penning intelligent, personal, and provocative lyrics and pleasing your ear with fantastic melodic hooks. And he's been doing it successfully for three decades.

Neil Finn (who turned 50 today) is best known as the co-founder and lead singer/songwriter of the band Crowded House. The Crowdies, as they affectionately are known in Australia, formed in 1985 and wound down in 1996, but re-formed last year.

In Australia and New Zealand, Crowded House is a multi-platinum band, selling out stadium dates, and headlining last summer's Live Earth concert in Australia. In Europe, they are also mega-stars; for example, in 1994, Crowded House was named the BRIT Awards International Group of the Year--ahead of U2, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

What made the Crowdies special was not only Finn's songwriting and musical prowess but also the stage presence and musical skills of the lads, including co-founder and drummer Paul Hester (whose life ended far too soon in 2005) and bassist Nick Seymour. The current line-up of Crowded House also includes Mark Hart, who joined the band prior to their 1994 album, and Matt Sherrod who replaced Hester as the band's drummer.

Crowded House's eponymous debut album was released in 1986 and offered up two top 10 U.S. hits, "Don't Dream It's Over" and the radio friendly "Something So Strong." They never reached such heights again in the states, lost amidst the grunge and rap of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Crowded House's second album, Temple of Low Men, was a critical success but a commercial disappointment, but includes such fantastic tracks as "Into Temptation," "When You Come," and "Better Be Home Soon."

Woodface, the third album, was released in 1991 and made the band certifiable stars in Europe. For this album, Tim Finn--Neil's older brother--joined the band as an official member and co-penned a number of the tracks. It includes the stellar singles, "Fall At Your Feet," "Weather With You," "Four Seasons In One Day," and "It's Only Natural." Crowded House's fourth album, Together Alone, was released in 1994. It includes the track "Locked Out" (featured in the film Reality Bites) and the international hits "Distant Sun" and "Private Universe." After closing the first chapter of the band in 1994 with a "Farewell To The World" concert before nearly a quarter million fans on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 1996, Crowded House released Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House.

Crowded House reformed in early 2007 and released its fifth album, Time On Earth, later that year. The band's first studio album in fourteen years, it features the singles "Don't Stop Now" and "She Called Up."

Finn is a Kiwi, a native and current resident of New Zealand. He got his start at the ripe old age of 18 in his big brother Tim's new wave band Split Enz. In 1980, Neil actually helped launch the group into the pop stratosphere with its hit "I Got You" off the album True Colours.

In addition to being a band leader, Finn is also a solo artist. He has released two solo albums--Try Whistling This (1995) and One All (2002)--as well as a live album, Seven Worlds Collide, featuring a band including Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam), Johnny Marr (of The Smiths and currently of Modest Mouse), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (of Radiohead), Sebastian Steinberg (of Soul Coughing) and Lisa Germano.

Finn also has also released two albums--Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004)--with brother Tim under the moniker of the Finn Brothers. Stand-outs from the first album include "Suffer Never" and "Angel's Heap", and not to be missed from the brothers' second album are "Won't Give In" and "Part Of Me, Part Of You." The albums fully capture the vocal harmonies between the two brothers that made such Woodface-era Crowded House tracks as "Weather With You" and "It's Only Natural" so special.

And talent apparently runs in the family. Neil's son, Liam Finn, was named as one of 10 artists to watch for 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine. (Hmmm ... that could be a whole other Musical Elective!)

Happy listening....

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Extra Credit -- Past Musical Electives of the Week:
Ray LaMontagne
Stuart Stotts
Dan Wilson
Kathleen Edwards

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