Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Angel's Heap



Hailing from the remote coastal New Zealand hamlet of Te Awamutu, Neil and Tim Finn have well and truly made their impact on the modern rock era, through the course of more than three decades and membership in two of the most respected and revered bands of their generation: skewed new-wave geniuses Split Enz and renowned pop-rock combo Crowded House. While the Finns have periodically worked together in each other’s bands (Neil joined the Tim-led Split Enz in the late 1970s, while Tim moved into Neil’s Crowded House briefly for 1991’s brilliant 'Woodface' album), there has never been an official, full-length Finn Brothers collaboration, until 1995’s compelling eponymous record. 'Finn' was a virtuosic collection of stylish, if somewhat low-key, melodic compositions and the Finns’ inspired harmony vocals; in theory, it was as close to a perfect duo-collaboration album as possible. Check out one of the bona fide highlights from 'Finn', the blissful singalong 'Angel's Heap', presented here by the siblings in a typically virtuosic performance at Auckland's St James Theatre in April 2001.