Phil Selway

7 Worlds Collide is a musical project by New Zealand singer/songwriter, Neil Finn. The project brings together Finn and other musicians in support of... charity. Finn has released two recordings associated with the project. The initial project release was a 2001 live album, credited to "Neil Finn and Friends", and titled 7 Worlds Collide. A second recording titled The Sun Came Out was released in August 2009. The title of the project is derived from the line "Seven worlds will collide / whenever I am by your side" from Crowded House's 1993 single "Distant Sun". The first 7 Worlds Collide album was released in 2001 and is a live recording culled from a series of five shows recorded at the St James theatre in Auckland, New Zealand from April 2, 2001 to April 6, 2001. The album was released under the credit "Neil Finn & Friends"; Notable guests in Finn's band included Eddie Vedder, Johnny Marr, Ed O'Brien, Tim Finn, Sebastian Steinberg, Phil Selway, Lisa Germano and Betchadupa . In December 2008 the 7 Worlds Collide lineup reconvened in Auckland, New Zealand to record a studio charity album for Oxfam.
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XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records. Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire... Weekend, The xx, Gil Scott-Heron, Jai Paul, Tyler, the Creator, and Adele. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a range of genres. The label was launched in 1989 to release rave and dance music. It was originally an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records' more commercial dance label called Citybeat which was known for records by acts such as Freeez, Starlight, Dream Frequency and the Ultramagnetic MCs. However with the success of acts such as The Prodigy and SL2, XL superseded Citybeat in the company's line up. During the early nineties, XL Recordings releases were dance orientated ranging from Belgium techno to Breakbeat hardcore to Drum and Bass . This period of XL's history has been recorded on the XL Recordings Chapters compilation series.
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Bella Union is an independent record label that was started up by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie in 1997. After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins decided to take a step towards independence and started up the Bella Union record label, through which they... could release their own work as well as any collaborative efforts. The band split up not long after, but instead of letting the newly formed label go under, Robin Guthrie, Cocteau Twins' founder and lead guitarist and Simon Raymonde, the band's bassist since 1984, decided to take charge of it. One of the earliest bands to sign on was the Australian trio Dirty Three, who continue to release under Bella Union to this day. Other early signees include Françoiz Breut and The Czars. The label fosters bands from a variety of musical genres and is notable for the amount of freedom given to its artists. Since 2000, when Guthrie moved to France to concentrate on his own music and Raymonde took the reins at Bella Union, the label has signed more artists like Laura Veirs, Lift To Experience, Explosions In The Sky etc.
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