Aimee Mann, S+D

Ok, so this is a pretty solid cross between the two songwriters. Interesting to hear the effect each has on the other, melodically, musically, lyrically. Sounds like a true collaboration. Tempers Ted Leo a bit, pumps up his power-pop, grits/perks up Mann, lets her explore more rough edges. They're both singing on every song, but generally one takes lead while the other plays support/harmony. Brightening this endless winter right now.

Sounds good, can't wait

Man, "Lost in Space" is such a great record. She leans a little too hard on drugs (which she has conceded is a shorthand metaphor), but it's just such a dark, beautiful record.

No doubt! It's wonderful

You get The Both? Definitely some good tracks, "Milwaukee" still probably the best track, weird/fun how Ted brings Aimee back to her '90s mode a little.

Lost in Space is her best album by some margin, I think.

Best Al-Anon record ever. The drugs can be shorthand for any addiction, and being in the orbit of someone with an addiction (and loving/resenting it).

if i had to pick one album, it would be bachelor #2. i think it is one of the most perfect female singer-songwriter albums after the classic joni mitchell records from the seventies. lost in space i never really got into, i was really disappointed after bachelor #2. it seemed so middle of the road, so unimaginative. maybe i should give it a spin gain.

LiS is a subtler record than B#2 but, I think, a more rewarding one.

Only reason I wouldn't pick B#2 is that it followed Magnolia and obv overlaps a lot with it, which made it a bit anti-climactic, imo. Also, lacks her cover of "One" from the aforementioned.

So: what's up with "Lost in Space" being so thick with drug-stuff, and then that album being followed by "The Forgotten Arm," which is also thick with drug stuff?

Bachelor #2 is always gonna be my favorite, I think, I consider Magnolia to be a companion EP to it (instrumental of "Nothing is Good Enough" really solidifies that feel) as well being the album that got me into Mann. But I'm With Stupid and Lost In Space are both great as well, for different reasons.

I had the Mag soundtrack, then bought direct the EP that preceded B#2. And then B#2 was basically most of the songs from Magnolia plus the EP .

She put Whatever and I'm With Stupid back in print, right? I once saw her, and this one person was yelling for "Superball." Mann couldn't believe it, but I like that song, too.

I also would pick B#2 -- and Whatever -- ahead of LiS. Maybe even The Forgotten Arm! Something about LiS just makes it a little less memorable for me.

I've seen her a couple times, and at one show she took requests. Someone asked for "Jacob Marley's Chain" from Whatever, and she had to go over the chords with the band before she could remember how to play it.

lost in space benefits from jon brion's wizardry and magic fuzztones and features some really stunning highlights but imo the forgotten arm is stronger top-to-bottom

No Jon Brion on "Lost in Space," iirc. Or any of the post "Magnolia" stuff. (Maybe Brion was too in charge during "I'm With Stupid"?)

guitar tones on bachelor no. 2 and lost in space are all time, warm resonant lasers

cried to "it's not" at work today, woo

yeah, I'm With Stupid has ton of Brion-isms, wacky circus typewriter effects and so on
"it's not" is all-time

I've seen her a couple times, and at one show she took requests. Someone asked for "Jacob Marley's Chain" from Whatever, and she had to go over the chords with the band before she could remember how to play it.

― bi-polar uncle (its OK-he's dead) (Phil D.), Monday, April 21, 2014 1:01 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Does she have some kind of disowny thing happening with her first two records? When I saw her about 5 years ago, the whole show was requests, pieces of paper thrown up on stage. A few times she looked at the paper and curtly said, "Nope, don't do that one anymore," and the oldest song she played was from Magnolia.

no, she still plays a good amount of stuff from the first two, like "4th of July", "Choice in the Matter", and "You Could Make a Killing" are standards in the set list... I've seen her perform some odd stuff out too like "Fifty Years After the Fair", "Frankenstein", "Ray" in the last few years
there are a few I don't think we'll ever see again, though, like "Put Me On Top"

oh yeah, of course "That's Just What You Are" comes back around a lot

if any album has been mysteriously ignored it's The Forgotten Arm - I never actually heard this one, so I tend to notice only "Dear John" still gets played from that one

Huh, interesting...I guess it's possible the requests she refused were 'Til Tuesday songs.

No Jon Brion on "Lost in Space," iirc. Or any of the post "Magnolia" stuff. (Maybe Brion was too in charge during "I'm With Stupid"?)
--Josh in Chicago

Doh. That's right. Not sure why I connect this with the end of the JB run but I stand by my contention that the guitar tones on this record are magic :)

I've heard her do "Voices Carry," for sure. A lovely version.

She did it on the Acoustic Alchemy tour, but Michael Penn sang it.

At least at the show I went to.

she played it on the bachelor #2 tour, which was the last time I saw her.

I once saw her, and this one person was yelling for "Superball." Mann couldn't believe it, but I like that song, too.

I remember "Coming Up Close" being requested three of the four times I've seen her (1999, 2000, 1996, possibly only wasn't in 2008 cause she was only doing a mini-performance previewing Smilers tracks) but never being played. But I've seen her do "Voices Carry" more than once, and honour a request for "(The Other End of the) Telescope."

(oh, and when she performed "Voices Carry" in 2000, Michael Penn did the jerk boyfriend's lines from the VC video)

The Both have been doing "Voices Carry" fairly regularly. Also see the "Labrador" video above if you haven't already...

Flame and moth got a sweetheart deal.

Saw these two last night, great show. They performed the whole album plus Mann's "Voices Carry," "Save Me" and "Goodbye, Caroline," and Leo's "Bottled In Cork," a new song called "Lonsdale Avenue," and one I didn't recognize. Lots of great banter, including Mann outing Leo as a Tolkein nerd (he apparently "led some chapter discussions" of The Hobbit on TheOneRing.net), and Leo's absolutely perfect impersonation of Paul Stanley from the banter tapes.

_I once saw her, and this one person was yelling for "Superball." Mann couldn't believe it, but I like that song, too._

Was that in DC?

Nope, it was here in Chicago.

Ha!

We appear to have slept on this wonderful new song from her forthcoming album, written from Trump's point of view. It's been out since October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROQ0XYP4Ck

is it from a forthcoming album? I don't know. all kinds of people put out songs in that campaign

it is not on the new album

which is called mental illness and which is out in march

an actual song from the album can be heard here

http://mentalillness.aimeemann.com/

There are few artists in the world that I love more than Aimee Mann, but I found that Trump song super clunky and obvious.

The one from the new album sounds much more promising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSUF_umjo0E

JoCo's on it, something good came out of that oddly-conceived cruise!

I don't know why it never occurred to me before that James Urbaniak was born to play a character in an Aimee Mann song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8HZ6X20Og

good song

New album streaming on NPR

just casually getting crushed by "you never loved me"

.... album of the year?

lmao i'm obviously overstating it but this album is really strong and also devastating

Do Steely Dan not know they're assholes?

Oh, sorry! It was hiding there in plain sight, I can’t read this morning, too much time on ILX, you know the drill.

Do Steely Dan not know they're assholes?

They don't give a fuck about anybody else.

That may be the nicest way to call somebody an asshole that I have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2iLAubras

Response by Fagan (via a statement "shared with Pitchfork"):

Well, first of all, the idea that I would make any decision based on the gender of a performer is ridiculous. That’s something that would never even occur to me.

There was a communication problem on our end. I was misinformed as to how firm the commitment was to any particular opening act. And, although I have the greatest respect for Aimee as a writer and performer, I thought it might not be the best matchup in terms of musical style.

But I can’t pass the buck. I’ll take the blame for the screwup. I apologize for any distress this has caused Aimee and her fans.

Some of his best wives are female singer-songwriters.

The upside to this is that she can now do her own tour and people won't be forced to listen to Steely Dan in order to enjoy her performance.

Some of his best wives are female singer-songwriters.