Put me on top (Aimee Mann) (LP 3049 - 3055)

Aimee Mann  Whatever (CD, Geffen Records, 1993) **** 

Aimee Mann  I'm With Stupid (CD, Geffen Records, 1995) *** 

Aimee Mann  Magnolia (Soundtrack) (CD, Reprise Records, 1999) *** 

Aimee Mann  Bachelor No. 2 or: The Last Remains Of the Dodo (CD, V2 Records, 2000) ***** 

Aimee Mann  Lost In Space (CD, V2 Records, 2002) **** 

Aimee Mann  The Forgotten Arm (CD, SuperEgo Records, 2005) **** 

Aimee Mann  @#%&*! Smilers (CD, SuperEgo Records, 2008) **** 

Aimee Mann  Charmer (Vinyl, SuperEgo Records, 2012) **** 

Genre: Alt-pop, Indie-rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, JB Hi Fi, Fopp, HMV 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Red Vines

Gear costume: I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Red Vines was my first clue that I was on to a winner with Aimee Mann. So, I bought Bachelor No. 2, then Lost In Space, and then...I was gone burger.

There were a lot of traumas in her family background (long story short: an affair by her mother led to a divorce when Aimee was 3, then a kidnapping by her mother, and a second kidnapping/ rescuing by her father) which have surely influenced her view of life and relationships. Naturally, that kind of PTSD was going to eventually emerge in her artistic life. It's amazing that she's as well adjusted as she appears to be.

Her first solo album, Whatever, came after she left the band 'Til Tuesday. What a hilarious title - this is not music that is tossed off with a shrug of the shoulders. It's on Geffen, has both Roger McGuinn and Jim Keltner guesting and is a clear statement of intent: erudite songs, sung well, catchy melodies and with a sting in the tail/tale. 

She is amazing, is Aimee Mann. 

Follow up, I'm With Stupid, breaks out the electric guitars and boosts the bass, thus creating a tougher sound - more alt-rock than indie-pop. The three minute song length remains intact and as a second album it successfully shows a different side to Aimee's skills.

The Magnolia soundtrack came next (the film starred Tom Cruise so it generated wide exposure). Aimee features heavily (there are tracks by Supertramp and Gabrielle as well which jar a tad). A few of the songs were from earlier in her career and a few would turn up on her next studio album.

Her cover version of Nilsson's One is fantastic - she makes the song her own.

As I said above, it was Bachelor No 2 (etc) that gave me the chills when I first heard it. I couldn't stop playing it! I think it's her most commercial album, ironic given Geffen wouldn't release it because they didn't hear any singles. Yet Red Vines made for a superb single. 

The album was released by Mann independently on her own label - SuperEgo, and was a triumph!

Artistically, I think it's her first classic album. It sounds terrific and every song hits home. It sounds effortless too, which means it's assured and the result of Aimee's confidence.

The momentum was maintained for Lost In Space. By now the Aimee Mann style for textured, complex, wryly sardonic songs was embedded. She delivers again on this album.

The Forgotten Arm is a concept album (about two characters who try to escape their problems but end up worse off) but still contains 'coolly elegant pop arrangements and displays of tart wordplay' according to one reviewer.

I can hardly ever follow the story line on concept albums so I just enjoy the songs and the performances. This one returns to a more alt-rock sensibility for the most part. I have to applaud her ambition with this album - and trying for something new.

@#%&*! Smilers has Aimee returning to a simpler, song-based process after The Forgotten Arm. It's reminiscent of Bachelor No. 2 and therefore it's hardly surprising it's one of my favourites. The piano and horn arrangement on Medicine Wheel are brilliant.

I think that's the thing with Aimee's songs. The brilliance factor is high, and consistent throughout these albums and therefore it's hard not to get complacent. 

The final album in my list is Charmer from 2012. It's the only one of hers I have on vinyl which is a shame. The packaging on her CDs and Charmer is usually superb. definitely value for money after she left Geffen.

Charmer is not a lot different to her previous work - melodies, sparky lyrics, hooks aplenty. Her standards remain high. I've yet to hear a bad or uninspired album from her.

Where do they all belong? I have a few gaps to plug post Charmer but I'm not sure if I'll chase her Christmas album from 2006.

Everyone loves you, why should they not? (Aimee Mann) #495

Aimee Mann Red Vines/ Save Me/ Build That Wall/ Momentum (V2 Records, 2001)

Red Vines is my favourite all time Aimee Mann song.

Often the first album you hear of an artist sticks out as a special one in your memory. 

Weirdly, Neil Young's Tonight's The Night album was the first of his that I ever bought, and I love it to bits and pieces. The Beatles Hey Jude compilation was my first purchase of theirs back in 1970 and it's a glorious hodge podge that has a special place in my heart.

Red Vines is like that.

Even though the song has the word 'cigarettes' in the chorus. Now I have a thing about using that word in a lyric. It happens A LOT (especially when you notice it like I do). 

I just don't like it. Smoking is a disgusting habit and it's poison. I love the Star Wars death sticks section when a boy selling them is told via a Jedi mind trick to give them up. Of course, Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded. Bless you George Lucas!!

But I digress - Red Vines is a super fine catchy song. It shows off Aimee's considerable vocal and song writing talents superbly.

I also have no idea what she's on about. Sometimes I read it as a piece of nostalgia (those holes in the jar could be literal), it could be about an ex (a lot of her stuff could be), it's also about her (a lot of her stuff is) - there are a lot of first and second person pronouns here.

I do know something though - I never get sick of hearing this song!

Hidden gems: Save Me is great (like Red Vines, it's off parent album Bachelor #2) . Build That Wall has a light touch and Momentum is a rare rocker, both good'uns as well.

Disneyland is about to close

26 Aimee Mann, 'Red Vines'

Shakespeare time everyone. Of course, Aimee is not Shakespeare. She's better than that - she's Aimee, and she's of our time.

The comparison to the great dramatist is a stoopid, fatuous one I know. Will people in 2409 (4 hundred years time) be listening to Aimee Mann? Der - no (sorry Aimee, but really, truthfully, you'll be lucky if you last until 2359). I don't mean that she should be compared to William. What I mean is, compared to 98% of rock lyrics - her work is vastly superior and of a depth that, without reaching too far, I can compare her to something that has lasted four hundred years.

Red Vine is a great song because it can be interpreted in a variety of ways. At first glance/hearing the poetry appears impenetrable (so far so Shakespeare, right?). Here is the whole lyric:

They're all still on their honeymoon
just read the dialogue balloon
everyone loves you--why should they not?
And I'm the only one who knows
that Disneyland's about to close
I don't suppose you'd give it a shot
knowing all that you've got

are cigarettes and Red Vines
just close your eyes, cause, baby--
you never do know
and I'll be on the sidelines,
with my hands tied,
watching the show

Well, it's always fun and games until
it's clear you haven't got the skill
in keeping the gag from going too far
So you're running 'round the parking lot
til every lightning bug is caught
punching some pinholes in the lid of a jar
while we wait in the car

With cigarettes and Red Vines
just close your eyes, cause, baby--
you never do know
and I'll be on the sidelines,
with my hands tied,
watching the show

And tell me, would it kill you
would it really spoil everything
if you didn't blame yourself
do you know what I mean?

Cigarettes and Red Vines
just close your eyes, cause, baby--
you never do know
and I'll be on the sidelines,
with my hands tied,
watching the show
watching the show

Just as analysing Shakespeare leads us up/down some interesting garden paths, so
analysing Aimee repays with some fragmenting discoveries. Where do we start? Characters.

Literally there are three people in this marriage (where have I heard that before?). If we take 'honeymoon' figuratively things aren't so clear, so we'll proceed literally.

The three people are: 'I', that is - the narrator (let's call her Aimee), 'you' and the spouse form the married couple.There is of course a fourth participant to all this - the listeners (one of whom, let's call him Wozza, is puzzled but enjoys trying to imagine the scene).

The natural assumption to make (for me) is that 'you' is male which provokes one stream of thought. If it's female it's a whole different ball game (if you'll pardon the clumsy sexual allusion).

Aimee is the narrator, therefore the whole story is skewed towards her point of view. The dialogue balloon ('everyone loves you, how could they not' in my reading) is chosen by Aimee. It makes the couple sound narcissistic at worst or obsequious (fawning) at best.

So what's going on?

Aimee is observing - she's on the sidelines, watching the show, unable to do anything about the
situation. Is she a jilted lover? A relation? A dispassionate observer? Only Aimee really knows but my speculation is that Aimee has had a sexual relationship with the husband before the marriage and knows the guy enough to know he can't paper over the cracks for long ('you haven't got the skill...'). He's hoping for the best ('you never do know'). Aimee is friends still with the couple (the three are together in the car) but she knows the marriage is doomed.
There is a sense of foreboding in the lyric - 'Disneyland is about to close'. Okay it's not Lear railing against the storm and stripping himself to his core being, but it's not looking rosie.

I like the way each part of the song reveals more and more about what's possibly going on. The last bit, 'would it kill you...if you didn't blame yourself' provides a few more clues. Is Aimee
actually happy with the situation or is she agitating for him to be proactive? I'm not sure but I like the way that thought is left hanging at this point.

It's a neat trick - a threeish minute pop song that has a slice of autobiography with a mood that is believable. Not too many can pull that off. Maybe two percent. Aimee and William.

Just find your place to make your stand and take it easy

I was told today, as I made tracks to the stereo system, to not put on "any boom boom crash stuff, your horrible hillbilly music or jazz". This means she wanted 'nice music'. Boom boom crash = noise (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zep, Mastodon, Beatles et al), Hillbilly is reserved for the worst insult = twangy or nasal (Dylan, all blues, folk, Patti Smith et al) and Jazz includes everything else pretty much. Which doesn't leave a lot - soothing classical or a fringe act that somehow combines things into a new genre - Jacky music.

As you can probably tell I don't live with a music lover. In this instance I came up with David Crosby's 'Thousand Roads' album, The Thorns, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor - long since proven safe bets. I wasn't asked to take any off so I must have succeeded.

It got me thinking though as I was searching - what are the albums that stack up as quality but still qualify as 'nice music'. Clearly Captain Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica' is a non starter.

The following five albums are the ones that bear repeat showings and (through bitter experience) are 'nice music':
5) Joni Mitchell's 'Hejira' is absolutely there, so is 4) Bon Iver's brilliant 'For Emily, Forever Ago'. There is an other-worldly aspect to this music - they all sit outside established genres. So does 3) Aimee Mann 'Bachelor No.2'. She doesn't conform to female singer/songwriter norms, releases her work in the margins and has a maverick persona.

There are elements of pop and jazz and folk and it all makes a perfect sense. Plus she sounds superb. 2) Mike Oldfield's 'Ommadawn' stitches together prog and celtic music over two seamless sides and 1) Van Morrison's 'Moondance' combines jazz, the spiritual, the sexual, the lyricism of 'Astral Weeks' to make a sublime album that is the epitome of 'nice music' and sheer quality.