New Music Monday: 5 August

Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst

The summer is the most fruitous period for music of the year, but then there’s that mid-season interval between smashing LPs where things get a bit slow and we get a chance to cool off a bit. Consider this week one of these summer breaks, with more modest releases, but interesting enough to keep your blood flowing so to speak.

Anyway, leading the platoon of new releases this week is, in my opinion at least, Randy Newman, the highly prolific singer/songwriter and film actor. I’m really fond of his work, both in music and film, and his latest release, “Harps And Angles,” will certainly brighthen my day for weeks to come.

We’ve also got a pretty cool combo of new albums, with a new LP from The Faint (“Fasciinatiion”) and former The Faint member, current Bright Eyes guitarist, emancipated poet and all round nice chap, Conor Oberst (“Conor Oberst” – the record’s been getting a lot of critical acclaim, so I’d recommend you take a good at it if you find it in your local record store). Other cool stuff worth mentioning includs new material from Mike Mangione, Heidi Newfield and Ernie Halter.

Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst

Randy Newman: Harps and Angels