I saw Randy Newman perform a few years ago at a free festival in San Fransisco's Golden Gate Park. It was just him on stage, unaccompanied save for his piano, his voice, and his banter between songs. In case you didn't know, Randy Newman is funny. He's goofy, clever, and his ease-of-manner has you smiling before he even says anything. He's like your favorite uncle. His wry humor is a key part of his songs, and he is one of my all-time favorite musical artists. The show was great.
Randy Newman kicks off this mix, full of oddball songwriters like him, liberated composers free to skip from style to style as they please, unified by vision, talent, and an apparent affinity for sunny, peaked harmonies. In our musical culture, this kind of vocal work is often associated with The Beach Boys, and they're represented here with a song of their own as well as a Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks track, the tightly polished "Orange Crate Art". In addition to that little number, we have Van Dyke with "Vine Street", written but never released by Randy Newman, an eccentric composition with a false start bluegrass lead-in. The other man who recorded that song is Harry Nilsson, who also makes an appearance on this mix. Are you seeing the connections? All these guys were contemporaries in the same 60s/70s L.A. "scene", a very different time than now when major labels would not only sign but spend money on rare birds like these.
I've peppered this mix with more modern tastes as well, from the Brian Wilson indebted Olivia Tremor Control and early Of Montreal to the pretty unrelated but equally bizarre Megafaun and Dan Deacon. If Randy Newman is your favorite uncle, Dan Deacon is your cousin that the family is just not so sure about. On one last note, might I say that while much of the music is rather different, this mix transitions quite nicely into last months mix - you could listen to this as side A and that as side B, if you were so inclined. Enjoy.
Randy Newman - Love Story (You and Me)
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks - Orange Crate Art
The Everly Brothers - Shady Grove
Van Dyke Parks - Vine Street
Tom Waits - Innocent When You Dream
The Beach Boys - Can't Wait Too Long
Harry Nilsson - Poli High
Of Montreal -Penelope
Os Mutantes - Panis et Circensis
Olivia Tremor Control - Marking Time
Megafaun - Columns
Dan Deacon - Snookered
July '12 Mix.zip
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