Academy Award multinominated (but never the winner), the cousin of Thomas and David Newman (and, consequently, nephew of the great Alfred Newman) has dedicated most of his career more to the creation of songs than to the pure music on itself, being quite less fruitful in the cinema that their two cousins, but usually gives span works and quality when he is devoted to these tools. First knowed in Ragtime (1981) -his first double nomination- and, especially, in The Natural (1984), Randy Newman shows a healthy lyrical tone and a great melodic easiness, something unavoidable in an expert composer of songs, and his incursions in the orchestral themes are usually surprising. For the curious Pleasantville has been allowed to take for a nostalgic and reminiscent air, in line with the plot of the film, elaborating some touching cues (Real Rain, Mural) with a good use of piano, strings and metals. The exquisite balance has not passed unaware, even in front of the fact of the existence of a second disk that picks up the songs of the movie. The result: a new nomination to the Oscar, and a brick more to his stupendous work. A.L.

/ VARESE SARABANDE VSD-5988 / 31'

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