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Another embraced release in 08 and again, can't pass on that title - he's writing the soundtrack as he does so well. Great tune for the new year
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Randy Newman
Harps and Angels
Play Harps and Angels
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AMG Review of Harps and Angels
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music GuideRandy Newman always came across as an old crank even when he was an angry young man, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's flourishing as an old curmudgeon. Flourishing might seem to be an odd word to apply to an artist whose output slowed to a trickle after the release of 1988's Land of Dreams, but 1999's Bad Love found him reconnecting to his core strengths and its 2008 sequel, Harps and Angels, is its equal -- a lean, uncluttered, viciously funny collection of rolling New Orleans shuffles, movie musical moments, and the occasional tender love song. In many ways, Harps and Angels is a continuation of Bad Love, as it has a similar stripped-down production and many of the same lyrical themes, as Newman still is singing about America and aging, just as he was almost a decade earlier. This isn't stasis, this is consistency, as Newman has always relied on his misanthropic wit just as he's always relied on his love for Fats Domino and old Hollywood scores, and this familiar musical bed helps the new wrinkles stand out, whether it's the symphonic stabs that punctuate the near-death experience on the title track or using Jackson Browne as a punch line on "A Piece of the Pie." While its unadorned sound could be seen as a throwback to the early '70s -- especially with rollicking numbers like "Only a Girl" and "Potholes" recalling how 12 Songs could skip lightly -- Harps and Angels is quite explicitly an album of its time, as Newman confronts the age of George W. Bush directly with the merciless "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" and "A Piece of the Pie," where he points out if you're "living in the richest country in the world/Wouldn't you think you'd have a better life?" In this context, Newman's heavy reliance on loping New Orleans rhythms almost seems like a defiant expression of solidarity with the Crescent City in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but that's probably reading a little bit too much into it, as these bluesy shuffles are Newman's greatest comfort zone, the place where his slurred singing sounds just right and where his sardonic jokes richly resonate. It's his signature sound and Harps and Angels captures it sublimely, as the production -- a co-credit to Newman's longtime associate Lenny Waronker and his latter-day producer Mitchell Froom -- has no fancy accoutrements and he's written another set of quietly wonderful songs, ranging from the brutal satire of "Korean Parents" to the gentle, lovely "Feels Like Home." These days he may take his time writing songs, but when he delivers two albums as excellent as Bad Love and Harps and Angels back to back, it's hard to call it anything besides flourishing.
Potholes come next
Randy Newman talks to MOG about Harps & Angels, Dick Cheney and Roman Polanski
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A giant of a man in anyone's definition of popular music, the great RANDY NEWMAN speaks candidly to Mogger TERRY STAUNTON, in an interview which first appeared in the UK music magazine Record Collector:http://www.recordcollectormag.com/ When Randy Newman finally picked up an Oscar in 2002, after 15 previously unsuccessful nominations, the biggest cheers were not from the A-list audience in s...
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a new randy newman song
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This Randy Newman song was released online last week, and the lyrics ran as an op-ed piece in The New York Times.In case you haven't heard it, or didn't see it in the paper, here are the lyrics:I'd like to say a few words In defense of our country Whose people aren't bad nor are they mean Now the leaders we have While they're the worst that we've had Are hardly the worst this poor world has see...
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Randy Newman delivers (yet again)
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A Few Words In Defense Of Our CountryI'd like to say a few words In defense of our country Whose people aren't bad nor are they mean Now the leaders we have While they're the worst that we've had Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen Let's turn history's pages, shall we? Take the Caesars for example Why within the first few of them They were sleeping with their sister Stashing little bo...
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Randy Newman - the most controversial Disney employee
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This was an itunes exclusive and all I can say is wow. Maybe if Disney didn't keep giving him paychecks he would put out more topical gems like this. Unfortunately it won't let me upload the song so here's the next best thing, a video performance of it:And here's one I'm sure a lot of people thought of when the whole Katrina catastrophe happened:
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 "Harps and Angels")
