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Aug 4, 2017Dark Matter is dense, complicated stuff, though it’s also an engrossing display of pop theater.
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Aug 4, 2017Produced with his usual team of Mitchell Froom, Lenny Waronker and David Boucher, it’s a masterful collection so rich with sonic detail that you almost hope he never gets around to making “The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 4.”
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Aug 4, 2017It’s a long way from his turns as go-to Disney film composer, but on Dark Matter, Newman’s versatility, as ever, transcends pigeonholing and illuminates the smart aleck-y nature (with the emphasis on smart) of one of the world’s great songwriters once again.
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MagnetAug 15, 2017It's Newman's ability to paint such a scene [narrator's wife, on her deathbed, defending him against their concerned and/or churlish offspring] with humor, affection and honest humanity that makes his albums so thoroughly worth the wait. [No. 145, p.60]
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Aug 7, 2017Smart but never intellectual, given more to the words we use over the words we know, Newman peppers these stories with little references to the Great Migration, climate change (the swells on Willie’s beach keep getting bigger), global politics, and American myth.
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Aug 4, 2017Even the album's weakest cut, "It's a Jungle Out There," works in context, and the two numbers about the bonds of family, "Lost Without You" and "Wandering Boy," are thoughtful and genuinely moving. And the easy, endlessly reliable stride of Newman's piano remains one of popular music's most underrated pleasures.
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Aug 3, 2017He remains the master of creating ribald, flawed characters, but also the powerful, poignant weepie.
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Aug 2, 2017While there are plenty further examples on the bitterly disillusioned Dark Matter, the most effective songs here are those which pack a more personal emotional punch, echoing the solitary desolation he’s mined throughout his career.
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Aug 1, 2017He’s still doing his thing but goes deeper when he digs (It’s A Jungle Out There’s litany of modernity’s failings), he’s more wicked when he picks a target (white privilege on Brothers), and is still pushing the boundaries of his craft (all of it).
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Q MagazineAug 1, 2017[Randy Newman returns] to what he does best: write and sing songs that veer from wild sentimentality to ambiguity to deep cynicism. [Sep 2017, p.113]
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UncutAug 1, 2017Throughout the album, melodies stop and start like film scores: they change key, tempo, time signatures and even musical genres to suit the flow of the story. [Sep 2017, p.22]
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MojoAug 1, 2017It's a little fragmented, maybe two or three songs too short, but still brimming with his sweet-sour magic. [Sep 2017, p.88]
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Aug 4, 2017The 73-year-old songwriter shows no sign of being at a loss for words about the dark comedy known as the human condition. He even puts a new twist on his already unconventional approach to song form.
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Sep 25, 2017At this point in Newman’s career, fans can expect the orchestration and the indirect storytelling, the strange viewpoints and unusual characters. That’s what Newman does. And he’s still doing it well, turning his vision into music with renewed energy.
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Aug 7, 2017Newman is easily distracted and that can make Dark Matter a confusing listen at points, but when he gets it right, you’re reminded of what a singular talent he is.
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Aug 4, 2017Dark Matter greets #MAGA America with his signature brutal comic irony and heartbreaking grandeur.
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Aug 7, 2017His first album in nine years contains decent orchestral tear-jerkers, such as She Chose Me and On the Beach, a vignette of an ageing surf bum, but its lead items fall flat.
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Aug 3, 2017Lyrically, Newman continues to play games that amuse him, but the logical and narrative backflips might be too much this time.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 11 out of 14
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Mixed: 2 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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Sep 12, 2017
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Aug 4, 2017