Aimee Mann, S+D

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Often appears as a punchline to "guess what's in the sock drawer of the young upwardly mobile professional who wants to appear hip, yet finds genuine hipster music too 'difficult'." So what does ILM make of Ms. Mann?

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

i quite like her.....i think she has a grate voice and writes some damn catchy songs.

" Everything's Different Now" has some real heart-ache lyrics too .

― william harris, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

"That's Just What You Are" is one of the greatest pop songs of the last decade, easily--and her last album has got some great songs too. As always, Jon Brion is a mixed blessing--sometimes he does the most killer accompaniment, other times it's a little too much.

My problem is that everything else is chopped from the same block--I could write a gazillion "Mann" songs as I'm falling asleep, given how many times she reuses the same structures. Funnily enough, Ron Sexsmith has the same problem, but him I don't mind. And Elliot Smith does it, and I do mind. Ah, art.

― Mickey Black Eyes, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

voices carry was great but her solo stuff is like a mix of suzanne vega and meridith brooks. sounds like she should be guest performer on dave matthews records.

― keith, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I must admit she is my favourite female songwriter nowadays. In the past it was Joni Mitchell and Aimee does maybe not reach Joni but she comes quite close. Catchy tunes, clever lyrics and a wonderful very clear and crystal voice. Bachelor #2 is a gem and was one of my favourites this year (I was a late buyer). I've seen her live and though she is a little timid, she has got a lot of humour and is absolutely adorable on stage.

― alex in mainhattan, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I quite like her. The stuff she does on the Magnolia soundtrack is great, especially her cover of Harry Nilson's 'One'. She has a nice voice and the arrangements and stuff on that record are pleasant.

However, I bought "Whatever", her first solo album (?), and it is shite on a stick.

― DV, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

"Whatever" = shite : I used to think that too when I first bought it and so just tucked it away in the cd stack. Then I bought 'Bachelor #2' and enjoyed it so much that I went back and listened to it again... and have enjoyed it more than I felt I should have. There's a few excellent songs on it and the rest is just ok. The quality seems generally higher than "I'm With Stupid" to me nowadays. B#2 is probably the best of the lot with some tender moments that don't stick in my throat and some lovely tunes. She's one of those singers whom I listen to compulsively - on rotation until I get quite sick of the songs. I agree with whoever said it above about the production - sometimes it works well but I often want it a bit more stripped back. It seems that this is the bane of releases by female singer songwriters in recent times - heavy handed, all tricks to the fore production by some sort of svengali / lover / friend. See Abra Moore's 'Stangest Places' for a good set of songs that have been almost completely overblown by a producer who thinks it's HIS record, not hers.

― philT, Sunday, 2 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I like her - she's probably the least nauseating singer to ever play Lilith Fair. And I'm downwardly mobile. I'd like her more if she wasn't used as a device with which to say something preposterous like "Hey! Proper songwriting isn't dead! Look at Aimee Mann/Elliot Smith/whoever-jumped-up-snotty-twats-are-touting-this-year". Proper songwriting is such a dodgy concept and I hate it and the fact that Ms Mann isn't exactly shifting mega-units probably means she's a) not hip, and b) a proponent of a genre in its death throes anyway.

Having said that Bachelor #2 is a good album, if you like that sort of thing. I like I'm With Stupid better because it has "Long Shot" on it. And zero points for dropping "Driving Sideways" off some releases of B#2 in favour of (ugh) "Save Me".

Search: Long Shot, Driving Sideways, That's Just What You Are, It's Not Safe, Satellite, Backfire, and her cover of Nobody Does It Better. Destroy: Save Me (repeatedly).

― EdwardO, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Doesn't Bernard Butler play on "I'm With Stupid", possibly even co- writing songs? Any obvious signs of him there?

― DV, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Nothing obvious. Co-wrote one song, played on two. If there's any obvious Bernard-ness, it's probably closer to solo Bernard.. certainly not as obvious as the Squeeze connection.

― EdwardO, Monday, 3 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

Just got the live at St. Anns warehouse DVD.

Aimee Mann is just too too cool for words.

― papa november (papa november), Thursday, 25 November 2004 01:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

i like her too

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 25 November 2004 03:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

Bernard Butler co-wrote and plays on "Sugarcoated" -- great song.

I've seen her a few times, and one time she said she would take requests from the audience. So everyone screamed and yelled, while I waited for it to die down. Then when it did, I shouted, "SUPERBALL!!!" -- one of the funnier (and prob. misunderstood songs) on IWS. So, she spent, like, 3 minutes trying to remember the song, couldn't and apologized. It was cute.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 25 November 2004 04:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

Often appears as a punchline to "guess what's in the sock drawer of the young upwardly mobile professional who wants to appear hip, yet finds genuine hipster music too 'difficult'."

Is the teller of this joke often a snotty prick?

― asdf troll, Thursday, 25 November 2004 04:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

Often appears as a punchline to "guess what's in the sock drawer of the young upwardly mobile professional who wants to appear hip, yet finds genuine hipster music too 'difficult'."

Is the teller of this joke often a snotty prick?

Yeah, I thought the answer to this one was Tricky's Maxinquaye.

― papa november (papa november), Thursday, 25 November 2004 04:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I was checking to see if there was an Aimee collection, because an in-law was asking me about her and I figured it would be a good Christmas present. I looked on Amazon and found this, a spotty grab-bag with Aimee herself as the very first, very pissed-off commenter.

The tirade is from 2001, but still sort of entertaining.

Doesn't look like there's a good collection yet, tho. I guess maybe licensing is a hassle with all those different labels.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 06:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

6 years pass...

New Mann in September, called "Charmer." Features, um, Tim Heidecker.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 20:20 (10 months ago) Permalink

i met aimee mann last week.. they were shooting a video in the store i work at. she was quite nice.

― one dis leads to another (ian), Tuesday, 26 June 2012 21:21 (10 months ago) Permalink

She's super nice. And tall.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 26 June 2012 21:51 (10 months ago) Permalink

Eh, this new one is just OK. Pretty pro forma Aimee Mann, not some big, bold post-six year wait statement.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 15:28 (10 months ago) Permalink

kinda how i felt about the last few -- nothing particularly wrong with them, just not as strong as those records from the late 90s/early 00s. i'll still check it out though.

― tylerw, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 15:30 (10 months ago) Permalink

Xpost

You've heard it already?

― to welcome jer.fairall, pie is served. (jer.fairall), Wednesday, 27 June 2012 15:35 (10 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, now I've heard it. It's just OK. Too many farty new wave keyboards, a lot of weird double tracked vocals, mostly the usual mid-tempo stuff, though a song called "Gamma Ray" is pretty rocking.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 17:50 (10 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

i have the same problems w/ her as a lot of other folks: her songs all seem to have the same tempi, the arrangements too tend to be frustratingly similar and "tangy" in that jon brion way i find kind of bloodless, etc. although her songs from it are pretty good, i can't abide the movie magnolia so that's not exactly a plus for me, either.

but damned if this new track isn't a crazy earworm:

and it doesn't really seem to grow stale with repeated listens. needless to say the jon hamm and tom scharpling appearances in the video are a bonus.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 3 October 2012 06:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

am i wrong in finding the way the piano is treated in this tune sort of reminiscent of new wave arrangements? or is it just that the retro video is influencing me?

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 3 October 2012 06:20 (7 months ago) Permalink

I am super duper into this song

― bell biv devo (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 4 October 2012 16:06 (7 months ago) Permalink

i didn't really care for "charmer," the chorus is so staid and inert, but "labrador" is gorgeous and reminds me of how much time i'd spend in high school listening to bachelor no. 2 and lost in space

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 4 October 2012 16:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

i bought this new one and... like most aimee mann records, i didn't really care for it on first listen. going to see her in jan though and i figure i will come to love it by then. it just seemed even more aimee mann-y than the other aimee mann-y records.

― a hoy hoy, Thursday, 4 October 2012 16:20 (7 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Labrador is definitely great, pretty sure it's calling back musically to her Til Tuesday days (if the video didn't make that incredibly obvious already), but with her older improved songwriting chops

Have you guys seen the video for Soon Enough? One of my favorite songs on the album and it turns out it was cowritten by Tim Heidecker??

― Nhex, Monday, 12 November 2012 19:45 (6 months ago) Permalink

Pretty intriguing that she's taking Ted Leo out on tour. I'm catching her on Wednesday.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 12 November 2012 19:50 (6 months ago) Permalink

Caught them at Town Hall a couple weeks ago, they were both good. I dig the kinda-spacey submarine stage setup they have with the lead guitarist on one end and Doctor Who at the other.

(Spoiler alert - Leo does a better job on "Living A Lie" than James Mercer, IMO)

― Nhex, Monday, 12 November 2012 20:06 (6 months ago) Permalink

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