It's Randy Time...

I'm just getting intimate with the new Randy Newman album, but already it's proving to be a racy companion. The tunes are a delight and the lyrics are playfully intense. He says things in jest that are rather shocking. He smoothes it all down with those rolling piano lines that are redolent of Mississippi steamboats, Stephen Foster, Basin Street bordellos and Mark Twain.

His own albums appear infrequently and sell modestly, but the soundtrack stuff is familiar to millions. I'm particularly keen on the Toy Story work. And if you want to read something chewy and pertinent, then try the Randy chapter in Mystery Train by Greil Marcus.

Therefore I'll be playing a few Randy songs on the show tonight (BBC Radio Ulster, 10pm), plus new music from Broken Social Scene, Seasick Steve, Jenny Lewis and Irish act The Infomatics. For some inexplicable reason, I'd also like to play 'Red Army Blues' by The Waterboys. Let's make it a date.