But before I go any further, I need to address the elephant in Neil Finn's room. Are you familiar with the New Zealand TV sitcom "Flight of the Conchords?" It's very funny; I highly recommend it. Anyway, the musical duo starring in that show have a bumbling, meek manager named Murray, played by Rhys Darby. I swear, Neil Finn sounds EXACTLY like Murray! I'm only including Finn's songs and not his talking between songs, so you probably can't tell, but trust me on this. I even lived in New Zealand for a year, so I know it's not just the general Kiwi accent. Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest. Every time I listen to his home concerts and hear him talking, I have to laugh because I think it's Murray talking.
As far as this album goes, it's more of the same good stuff. Here are the cover versions he does:
Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
There Is a Light that Never Goes Out - Smiths
Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel
Will You Love Me Tomorrow - Carole King / Shirelles
Throw Your Arms Around Me - Hunters and Collectors
Changes - David Bowie
That's not including songs from Finn's earlier bands, such as "Four Seasons in One Day," a Crowded House hit.
01 As Sure as I Am (Neil Finn)
02 Time Immemorial (Neil Finn)
03 Golden Child (Neil Finn with Sharon Finn)
04 Sweet Baby James (Neil Finn)
05 Four Seasons in One Day (Neil Finn)
06 Spirit of the Stairs (Neil Finn)
07 There Is a Light that Never Goes Out (Neil Finn with Johnny Marr)
08 Whispers and Moans (Neil Finn)
09 Love Is Emotional (Neil Finn)
10 Homeward Bound (Neil Finn)
11 Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Neil Finn)
12 Throw Your Arms Around Me (Neil Finn)
13 Won’t Give In (Neil Finn)
14 Log Cabin Fever (Neil Finn)
15 Changes (Neil Finn)
16 She Goes On (Neil Finn)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15939080/NeilF_2020_HomeConcrts03LsAngelesCA__4-5-2020_to_4-7-2020_atse.zip.html
For the album cover art, I decided it would be nice to have a close-up photo of Finn's head. I couldn't find any really good recent ones, so this one is from about five years ago. But he looks pretty much exactly the same now, except for whiter hair.
Another winner. Thanks again for the work.
ReplyDeleteUnknown/John, from Wellington, New Zealand here. Youtube have some samples of Murray's contribution to the Conchords second HBO series which defintelty add to the comedy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBuqp9CjzRg Rhys Darby is his given name. There is a big accent 'rivalry' between New Zealand & Australia. Youtube has a clip that suggests 'the New Zealand accent was judged "Sexiest in the World" in 2019' and features Rhys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdNWDYZMXT0 Interestingly Conchords Bret & Jermaine met at Wellington University before forming The Conchords. New Zealand TV refused to give them a TV series so they made some shows for the BBC before their very successful HBO series which, as you say Paul, are very funny.
ReplyDeleteThanks for those links. You should find a link of Neil Finn talking, and then compare. Do you agree with me that Finn sounds a lot like Murray, and it isn't just a general Kiwi accent similarity?
DeleteI see what you mean! Neil doesn't rant as much as Rhys does. At 02:35 & 02:55 on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96W0vpFcq54 I notice the similarity. There are so many accents in NZ. Maybe it is a regional derivative with them both from Auckland or north of? What I did notice when we came to NZ was the way females deformed the vowels! I was trying to think of other NZ voices & thought of Sam Neil but realised he was born in Northern Ireland & came to Christchurch in the south island when he was seven. His typical accent is 00:55 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYiBxN_JD4 Have you heard these NZ accents? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=racFpU43tes
DeleteI'm glad you agree. I'm sure it's a regional thing. In a similar way, when I was in high school, I had a French teacher who had a French accent EXACTLY like Peter Sellers' when he played Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies. Sometimes it was hard not to laugh when he talked, especially when he said a word like "phone" or "bomb." :)
DeleteMy favorite bit of Kiwi lingo is when people use "sweet as" such as "That was sweet as." Sweet as what?! Why didn't you finish the sentence?! ;)
There have been many putting out just one or two songs that are fantastic. Elvis Costello and Cat Stevens come to mind. Mayne a Stay at Home VA album so these performances are not lost in the shuffle?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea. But I'm generally not collecting single songs. If you want to do that, by posting YouTube links here, I could collect them. Maybe others could help out as well.
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ReplyDeleteI cant figure out how to download, I just get hit with tonnes of spam
ReplyDeleteApparently, right clicking the Zippyshare link helps avoid all that.
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