Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and Mark Hart have joined up with drummer Matt Sherrod to reform Crowded House, almost two years after the death of former drummer Paul Hester, and over ten years since the band last played in concert. The new lineup is working on a new studio album is planning a world tour.
Talking about the decision Neil said “After spending most of last year making music and hanging out with my friend Nick Seymour we are now announcing our intention to reform Crowded House with a new record entitled Time On Earth. It feels right to us that the band should re-emerge at this time and together with Mark Hart we look forward to reconnecting with the audience that we established and for whom we still hold a deep respect. We aim to make the upcoming shows and the new music every bit as vital and spirited as what has come before. We are conscious that Paul Hester was above all a great drummer and we are currently auditioning to find someone special to take that role.”
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on the new album for release later in the year. Tour plans are yet to be announced but the band have confirmed they will play the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California USA along with Bjork, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Rage Against the Machine.
This Saturday 17th March, the band will be performing new tracks and old favorites for a special live interactive webcast at 10pm GMT (3.00pm Los Angeles, 9.00am Sunday Sydney, 10.00am Sunday NZ), through www.crowdedhouseofficial.com. The band will take time during the performance to read out comments and answer questions from you.
Crowded House is making it possible for a few people to attend the webcast, live in Bath, England. You must be able to make your own way there and back. No accommodation will be provided.
My favourite album came in first: Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. I first heard the album at high school in 1975. The music teacher was into jazz rock fusion and progressive rock. I was part of a team integrating classical, jazz and rock music with synthesized sounds and light shows. It wasn’t long before I knew every song from “Dark Side to the Moon” back to front. At the age of 16 I decided to ditch the album - I was becoming prone to depression and Pink Floyd’s cynical take on life wasn’t helping. I made up for that choice a few years later, when I was more emotionally stable, by purchasing the album in vinyl and again on CD. “Wish You Were Here” came in at number 11, “The Wall” at 14.
The second from the top in Australia was Jeff Buckley’s “Grace” album, which my kids bought me for Christmas last year. Buckley certainly has an amazing vocal range which makes his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” a masterpiece. Dicko, (Ian Dickson) as a member of ABC commentary panel, suggested that it was only Buckley’s covers that were attractive. His own music was fairly ordinary, Dicko said. Perhaps it was Buckley’s concert appearances in Australia (which I missed) that made him so popular here. Having listened to the album a few times I think I agree.
Radiohead’s “OK Computer” album was third from the top. Obviously the competition was pushed on Triple J Radio, leading to a high percentage of alternative music listeners in the poll. The album is a divisive force in this household. One member of the family is right into it. I enjoy the music in occasional doses. Others are becoming irritated by whining tone of the music. We won’t mention anything about Poms. “The Bends” came in at 15, “Kid A” at 35.
The Beatles two albums, “Abbey Road” and “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” made it to number four and five. I have to admit I’ve never owned “Abbey Road”, despite being in a Beatles cover band as a teenager. Listening to the album for the first time last week was a great experience. “White Album” came in at 12, “Revolver” at 13, “Rubber Soul” at 36.
U2’s “The Joshua Tree” came in at number 10. I bought the album on vinyl in 1987 while living in Katikati. It’s the album that introduced “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, a song used by critics as evidence that U2 had left Christianity behind. At a conference in the early 1990s I used the song with a Biblical passage, Romans 8:22, in which it is clear that we live in anticipation of our potential as God’s world. We haven’t made it yet. We don’t have the full picture, even if some Christians think they’ve got truth cornered. U2 also came in with “Achtung Baby” at 33, “Rattle and Hum” at 79. I was surprised that “War” didn’t make it in the top 100.
I’ve just had a Skype call from Carlos Mora, the guy who raps in Spanish in the Pepsi Samba TV ad with the dancing legs. I’d had an email from Eden, the Song Zu composer responsible for the music, alerting me to the release of the music ‘Asereko’ as a single this week. So I wrote it up at Duncan’s TV Adland.
Carlos grew up in Glebe, Sydney, gaining experience as a choir boy and a punk drummer before going to Cuba to learn the congas. He gave me the lyrics to the new single, some background on his musical influences (Afro Cuban rap and Latin jazz), and a link to his band’s web site.
It’s good being part of the ’spicy tossed leaf salad’ multicultural Australia as opposed to the ‘melting pot’ assimilation version.
I’ve just had a Skype call from Carlos Mora, the guy who raps in Spanish in the Pepsi Samba TV ad with the dancing legs. I’d had an email from Eden, the Song Zu composer responsible for the music, alerting me to the release of the music ‘Asereko’ as a single this week. So I wrote it up at 
