STACK NZ November 2016 Issue 79

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46 NOVEMBER 2016
MUSIC
By Graham Reid
Various Artists
Stir It Up: Aotearoa's Tribute
to Bob Marley
Bob Marley's messages of love and assertion
(“Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights”)
came at the perfect time in Aotearoa New
Zealand. Issues of Maori land rights and
honouring the Treaty of Waitangi were fuel for debate in the 70s. And
Marley's birthday on February 6 – coincidentally Waitangi Day – saw
gatherings and celebrations of harmony at a time when the nation was
becoming visibly divided. This terrific collection allows local voices to
acknowledge Marley, but the versions are pleasingly diverse. Here are
Tiki Taane's electronica-infused Get Up Stand Up (with samples from
Marley's interview in Auckland with the late Dylan Taite), Aaradhna's
dub-flavoured R'n'B Could You Be Loved, Unity Pacific's groove-riding
Exodus , Vince Harder's joyous One Love/People Get Ready, the soulful
yearn of Thomas Oliver's Is This Love, Anika Moa's delightfully exotic
Three Little Birds … Excellent packaging too.
Various Artists
Black America Sings
Lennon, McCartney and
Harrison
Given just how much black music
– Motown, girl groups, Chuck
Berry etc – influenced the early
Beatles it's no surprise black
Americans would find Beatle
songs to adopt and adapt. This
22-song collection in a Let It
Be-like cover – a sequel to Come
Together, black artists on Lennon-
McCartney songs in a Revolver-
styled cover – has Aretha (Eleanor
Rigby), the Four Tops (Fool on the
Hill), Screamin' Jay Hawkins (A
Hard Day's Night), the Temptations
(Hey Jude )… and the oddity is
Ella Fitzgerald with Harrison's ode
to Eric Clapton's sweet tooth on
Savoy Truffle. Beatles got soul.
Yoko Ono
Plastic Ono Band
Released as a companion to
Lennon's soul-baring album
of the same title in 1971,
this remains Ono's most
defining aural assault. While
her screaming, orgasms and
discordant singing were hard
to take then, the decades
since produced Pere Ubu,
John Lydon, Axl Rose, Bjork
and other singers to challenge
us and make this easier. It's
still demanding but the spare,
fist-tight backing (Lennon on
furious and brittle guitar) makes
for definitive post-punk before
punk happened. And there's her
free-form rehearsal piece with
Ornette Coleman and his band
in 1968. An astonishing album
then and now. On vinyl and CD.
Crowded House (1986)
The impressive debut which included the signature song
Don't Dream It's Over and other hits Something So
Strong, Mean to Me, World Where You Live and Now
We're Getting Somewhere alongside the highly personal
Hole In The River and their re-recording of Split Enz's I
Walk Away. Among the 17 extra tracks are the studio
demo of Hole In The River and the home demo of Don't Dream It's Over.
Temple Of Low Men (1988)
In a rudely suggestive title, this second album confirmed
Neil Finn as one of the greatest pop songwriters since
the Lennon-McCartney team. He spun out memorable
singles with Better Be Home Soon, Into Temptation, When
You Come, Sister Madly and I Feel Possessed. Half the 10
songs were released as singles, and among the 21 extra
tracks are live versions of the Byrds' Eight Miles High and So You Wanna
Be A Rock'n'Roll Star, plus Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man (all with former
Byrd Roger McGuinn).
Together Alone (1993)
Although its predecessor Woodface (1991) found Neil
reunited with brother Tim and included Four Seasons
In One Day, It's Only Natural, Fall At Your Feet and the
American-baiting Chocolate Cake (perversely the first
single), Together Alone is a more interesting album. It
didn't spring hits but does contain Private Universe,
Distant Sun, the rocking Locked Out and has a Maori choir and log drums
on the title track. The band was stretching.
Time On Earth (2007)
Recorded after the death of drummer Paul Hester and their
first studio album in almost 15 years, this was a return to
form… but with a twist. Among the many guests were
former Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr, Finn's children Elroy
and Liam, and producer/arranger Ethan Jones. Musically
ambitious, lyrically fascinating and again full of memorable
songs. The extra 13 songs are mostly home and studio demos.
CROWDED HOUSE
And also...
Check out the combined star power on 7 Worlds Collide CD/DVD set
(2001), the Finn-helmed project with Marr, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Tim
and others, and Finn's more recent dream-pop Dizzy Heights (2014).
For more interviews, reviews and overviews from Graham Reid visit
When Crowded House play their reunion concert
in Sydney this month it will be 30 years since
their self-titled debut album and 20 since their
famous farewell on the steps of the Sydney
Opera celebrate all this, six studio
albums and the rarities collection Afterglow are
being given the expanded reissue treatment.
But for the generations that missed the beloved
band in their heyday, where to start?