It has been said that Randy Newman (right) is one of the great middle American songwriters, an uncompromising, occasionally scabrous aural mixture of William Faulkner, Garrison Keillor and Edward Hopper. While he can be as sentimental as a Walt Disney movie, as his material in Toy Story 2 attests, it is through his knack of observation - both scornful and passionate - that his real accomplishments lie.
Although known these days by a certain audience for his soundtrack work (Ragtime, The Natural, Awakenings, Parenthood, The Paper and Maverick, James And the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life), Newman remains a perceptive songwriter, with last year's Bad Love a bravura return to song-writing form following a lengthy studio album gap. He plays Dublin's Vicar Street on March 1st/2nd, and yes, it's unmissable.