Neil Finn follows up his 2001 live album 7 Worlds Collide in similar form in the studio by convening with part of Radiohead, all of Wilco, Johnny Marr, son Liam, and others. They'll gather in New Zealand over the holidays to record.
The amount of talent in that one studio will be jaw-dropping. As a bonus, all proceeds go to charity. Stunning.
Oh the drama! Back in 1996, Crowded House played their final concert at the Sydney Opera House to a near record crowd of over 100,000. To commemorate the show, they have released the performance on CD and DVD in stores today (although released last November everywhere else). Farewell to the World includes many of my favorite Crowded House tunes like Four Seasons in One Day, Fall at Your Feet, Sister Madly, Weather With You, and of course, Don't Dream It's Over. I'm not a huge fan of live CDs, but c'mon, it's their farewell!
Now, don't cry. Crowded House mastermind Neil Finn and his brother Tim are still making music as The Finn Brothers and they still got it. Everyone Is Here was released a few years ago and it's their best output since their Crowded House days (Tim was an occasional House member). In fact, Anything Can Happen is one of my favorite tunes from the past few years. I've heard murmurs of a potential new release sometime, but I haven't seen anything firm on that.
Finally, Tim Finn recently released a new solo album everywhere but here called Imaginary Kingdom. And never forget about where they both got started: Split Enz. Considering their output over the past few decades, the Finns easily rise to the top as two of the best too popsters of our generation.
