Harps and Angels, Randy Newman's first album of new music in nearly a decade, is due out on Nonesuch August 5, and already, CBS Sunday Morning's Bill Flanagan is calling it one of the summer's best.

The work of Cincinnati, Ohio-based photographer Michael Wilson has graced the covers of countless Nonesuch albums over the years, including the iconic imagery featured on Nonesuch albums by David Byrne, Bill Frisell, Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, the Brad Mehldau Trio, and Nicholas Payton. His photography will be on display in an exhibit at the Boone County Public Library in Cincinnati beginning this Wednesday. Michael will be on hand to discuss his work in an opening reception that night.

Nonesuch wishes Randy Newman a very happy birthday. He turns 64 today.

TheReporter.com reviews the new documentary The Pixar Story, an "informative, inspiring, and wildly entertaining" film about the animation giant that opens the San Francisco International Film Festival tomorrow night. Featured in the documentary is Randy Newman, whose music laid the foundation for some of the studio's greatest successes: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and the Oscar-winning Monsters, Inc. (Randy won for Best Original Song, "If I Didn't Have You").

In this week's Onion, the A.V. Club asks actor Jason Schwartzman to set his iPod to shuffle and comment on what comes up. When he hits Randy Newman's "Living Without You," Schwartzman says: "This might be one of the most beautiful songs ever written."

With the song "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," Randy Newman puts the current state of the union into context, as only he can do. He published the lyrics from the song in a New York Times op-ed piece earlier this year in response to the George Bush's own State of the Union address. Watch Randy perform "A Few Words" here.

In recapping Boston's 7-1 win over Cleveland in last night's game five of the American League Championship Series, bostonist.com sportswriter Michael Fernia offers a suggestion of music opener for tonight's game in Boston: Randy Newman's "Burn On," about the fire that set Cleveland's Cuyahoga River ablaze in 1969. This follows rumors that the woman the Indians brought out to sing before last night's game in Cleveland was an ex-girlfriend of Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett. A spokesman for the Indians denies having known of the connection.

Read along to the full lyrics of Randy Newman's "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" while watching Randy performing the song live on video. An abridged version of the lyrics appeared in today's New York Times. A recording of the song is now available exclusively at iTunes.