Randy Newman is back! His new album Harp’s and Angels is due to hit stores August 5th and the musician has been drumming up some publicity for the album–most notably on Wednesday night, when he played the album in its entirety for a VIP crowd in L.A.  The show took place at Largo, and the venue was filled to capacity with stars from Mandy Moore to Jason Schwartzman to ex- “The Dog” frontwoman Anna Waronker. 

Newman started the set off with what he deemed a “religious tune”, the title track, about a non-believer taking a memorable trip to heaven.  The album is chock full of Newman’s staple social satire including tracks such as “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country” and “A PIece Of Pie”.  The former satirizes Bush’s tenure comparing it to the reigns of Stalin and Hitler (honestly, i’m not sure how “funny” that is…).  The latter track pokes fun at John Mellancamp, which Newman stated he hoped wouldn’t offend the musician (eh, isn’t that the point Randy?). 

I for one am not big into Newman’s music, but I will always remember the Family Guy episode where the world is hit by a Nuclear Holocaust and the only things remaining are a Twinky Factory in Natick, MA and Randy Newman, “singin about what he sees”.  Much like that show, it does seem as if Newman will never die…musically that is…