Linda Herrick: Musos living in their own mad world

If there was ever proof that musos live in a funny little world of their own, it was in Seven Worlds Collide, the documentary that screened late on TV One on Sunday night. Centred around a group of top alt-rock players who came to Auckland last Christmas to record with Neil Finn, it was a follow-through from his 2001 concerts with the likes of Johnny Marr, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway, some guys from Wilco and more.

The shows, at the St James, were outstanding.

This time, the aim was to record an album in three weeks, perform for three nights at the Powerstation, and when the album comes out later in the year, the proceeds will go to Oxfam.

All very admirable but when Finn spoke of things like "build some intensity into the G", that's a code only musicians understand. Not fumble-fingers like me.

But the laid-back vibe of the gathering - wives, children, dogs - spoke to us all. Those coming from the cold Northern Hemisphere looked delighted to be basking in the Piha sun - and in the reflected glory of each other's multi-tasking talents.

In what may have been a world first, Marr was filmed running along the beach in shorts and skinny white legs, a garb forbidden by his boss during The Smiths days, I'll bet. But some footage seemed a little contrived, like Marr "stealing" Jeff Tweedy's 12-string Telecaster, leading to prolonged footage of him fleeing the studios, guitar in hand, and ongoing banter about the theft. We never found out if he gave it back.

The logistics of the exercise - feeding all those people, keeping the kids amused - were kept rolling by an assistant in charge of a whiteboard.

Presumably there was a cook slaving away somewhere. Marr didn't like cucumber in his salads. He is from Manchester, after all.

With the recordings complete (how nice to see Sharon Finn singing), and the concerts over, it was time for the extended whanau to leave, mission accomplished. Seven Worlds Collide offered glimpses into how musicians work together to build songs, of which we only heard some tantalising snippets. It was also an envy-inducing peep into the good life led by the Finn family. Studios, a big house, a place at the beach, a boat, lots of mates, tons of chandeliers.

A terrific doco called The Clash: Westway to the World screened on the Documentary Channel over the weekend. In it, bass player Paul Simenon explained how he couldn't play when he first joined the band and didn't understand guitarist Mick Jones when he told him to play in - here it comes again - the G chord.

So he wrote the chords on pieces of paper and taped them to his guitar neck. Problem solved, and Simenon eventually became a superb bass player.

An ad break during SWC included an incongruous promo for Stars in Their Eyes. The Moves! The Music! The Magic! "It's what we do, ladies and gentlemen, it's what we do," raved Simon Barnett, meaninglessly. It's muzak that strikes the wrong chord.