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Aimee Mann Lost In Space (2002)  Rating (out of 10): 9 Tracklisting: Humpty Dumpty/High On Sunday 51/Lost In Space/This Is How It Goes/Guys Like Me/Pavlov's Bell/Invisible Ink/Today's The Day/The Moth/It's Not 'Lost In Space' is Aimee Mann's 4th Solo Album, fifth if you include the soundtrack to the movie 'Magnolia' which barr a couple of Supertramp songs was almost a complete Aimee Mann album in itself. And while her first three albums saw her make a name for herself as a solo artist following the break-up of her band 'Till Tuesday', 'Lost in Space' really sees her come of age as a singer song-writer and prove once and for all that she' s up there with the best. Aimee Mann is someone who is constantly overlooked and under-rated, and somehow it has managed to go unacknowledged that she is defintiely one of the best singer-songwriters around today. She is someone who managed to create music that is distinctive and original without coming across as quirkey or weird. And maybe that's why she's over-looked. She's just a normal woman with an amazing voice and an equally amazing talent for writing a song. Female singer songwriters usually gain publicity for all the wrong reasons and are all too often labled strange. But Aimee Mann isn't strange or quirky; just amazing. She doesn't fall into the Tori Amos, Bjork, PJ Harvey school of weirdness. For new comers to the music of Aimee Mann the most amazing thing about her is her voice. It is a voice that is laden with emotion and experience. It is an amazingly distinctive voice which is clean, full of soul, and has a unique nassally quality about it. 'Lost In Space' in a highly personal albums and provides yet another example of how a relationship break-up can make a brilliant record. It is quite a bleak album, stark and dark in places, yet managing to never become too depressing or introspective. The title conjures up images of searching, yearning, being lost in a unknown place, and in many ways it is the perfect title for an album that deals with complex issues of identity and fragmented selves. 'Lost in Space' opens with the magnificent 'Humpty Dumpty'. The lyrics work as a sort of personal re-writing of the children's nursery rhyme accompianied by prominant steel guitar. Mann's voice draws you in, ensuring that you are hooked until the end of the album. 'High On Sunday 51' follows on the sam vein and sees an amazing vocal perfomrnce from Mann. 'This Is How It Goes' starts off soft and tender with Mann's voice taking the lead and develops into a more rockier track that really gives the album substance. 'Today's The Day' sees yet another amazing vocal performance with amazing falsetto vocals. It provides a real positive moment on a mainly introspective and melancholic album. 'Pavlov's Bell' is a great upbeat track with an amazingly infectious melody. 'Invisible Ink' contains beautiful strings and minamist accompaniment to put the focus on mann's voice which sounds absolutely immaculate. It is an absolutely incredible track which takes the listener on a roller coaster of emotions starting off on a minamilist tack with only string accompaniment and then grows into a tremendous rock song with steel guitar and a hard edge to it. It is without a doubt the most beautiful song on the album. Today's the day is another magnificent track which sees Mann give the strongest vocal performance on the album. It's an utterly beautiful track with a certain haunting quality to it. On the high notes her voice soundds incrediby vunerable and sends shivers down my spine. 'Lost In Space' is an amazing album. Whether you're an Aimee Mann fan or not, you'll absolutely love it, and if you've been curious about her music for a while but didn't know where to start, then this is the album to buy. It is well written, produced and performed and is the perfect veichle for Mann's immense talent. Send A Comment The Forgotten Arm (2005) 
Rating (out of 10): 10 Tracklisting: Dear John/King of The Jailhouse/Goodbye Caroline/Going Through The Motions/I Can’t Get My Head Around It/She Really Wants You/Video/Little Bombs/That’s How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart/I Can’t Help You Anymore/Clean Up For Christmas/Beautiful The forgotten arm is without a doubt Aimee Mann’s finest hour. All of her album’s have been top class, but this one goes that step further, matching fine song writing with that little something special you can’t quite put your finger on, to produce an album that is as close to perfect as it is possible to be. Mann has described ‘The Forgotten Arm’ as a concept album. To me it seems less of a concept album and more of album with a bit of a story running loosely through it. But the story doesn’t just stop with the songs, it continues right through the design, packaging and imagery of the album, so perhaps a concept album is a better description after all. The CD booklet is designed like a little comic book with each song providing one chapter of the story complete with illustrations. The story is about an alcoholic boxer who meets a girl while boxing at a fun fair. The album follows the two through their journey of falling in and out of love and attempting to cope with their problems. . The title ‘The Forgotten Arm’ is derived from a boxing move in which one arm is used to hit the opponent, causing him to "forget" about the other arm, which is then used to deliver a harsher blow. While this adds to the boxing theme than runs through the album, it can also be seen as a reference to the fact can falling in love can blind you to someone’s faults and problems only for those problems to suddenly hit you hard when you least expect it. On one level the album acts as a very effective character study of problems, addictions and the darker side of relationships. But there’s more two it than that. Mann adds her unmatchable ability to articulate some of the darkest, most indescribable feelings in such an eloquent way. The back cover of the CD bears the statement “Aimee Mann’s recordings have revealed much of the secrets of the dark soul. But never before has she told a tale so lonely and sad or created characters so compelled and compelling as those in … The Forgotten Arm.” This adds to the dramatic, novel-like feel of the album and carries on the storytelling theme perfectly. Although there is a strong story and theme running through the album, that does not take away from the fact that songs contained on it are excellent in their own right. They may each carry on the storyline of the two lovers, but they can also be enjoyed individually without you needing the know about the album’s theme. Musically there is a mixtures of styles and tempos on the album, but the majority of songs on the album are upbeat rock songs although there are a few softer moments which add a tender touch. Of the upbeat songs, ‘Dear John’, ‘Going Through the Motions’, and ‘I Can’t Get My Head Around It’ are probably the best, although there isn’t a single bad song on here. My favourite song on the album is also one of the softest and tenderest. ‘Little Bombs’ is a beautifully crafted song with great vocals and brilliant lyrics – “Life just kind of empties out, less a deluge than a drought, less a kind of mushroom cloud than an unexploded shell”. It never ceases to amaze me how Mann always knows exactly the right words! ‘Clean up for Christmas’ is another great song with a great lyric - “I was thinking I could clean up for Christmas and then call it a day/Tell you I’m sorry I made you a witness to my moral decay”. There isn’t one single track that tis weaker than the others in any way. All twelve tracks are of the highest quality both musically and lyrically. For the uninitiated, if you only listen to one Aimee Mann record in your lifetime, this should be it.. Music doesn’t get much better than this, and if it does, I certainly want to hear it! Send A Comment @#%&*! Smilers(2008)  Rating (out of 10): 8.5 Tracklisting: Freeway/Stranger Into Starman/Looking For Nothing/Phoenix/Borrowing Time/It's Over/31 Today/Great Beyond/Medicine Wheel/Columbus Avenue/Little Tornado/True Believer/Ballantines Addiction, lonliness, hopelessness, despair…. The themes of Aimee Mann’s songs rarely change, but why would they need to? They’re not exactly themes that are going to go out of fashion, and she explores and examines these feelings with such expertise that you just wouldn‘t want her writing songs about anything else. Rather than being repetitive, each new Aimee Mann album displays a new relevance and a precise understanding of the human condition. The characters in her songs are the underdogs, the outsiders, the ones like you and me who don’t quite fit in. Whereas Mann’s 2005 album ‘The Forgotten Arm’ focussed on two such characters and followed their lives throughout the album with each song taking us one step further in their journey together, her new offering ‘@#%&*! Smilers’ takes a different approach entirely. Each of the 13 songs focuses’ on a different character, all at different stages of their life, all experiencing different problems, yet all going through the same despair and uncertainty. The thirteen songs are like little snapshots of life, miniature vignettes, each one separate yet all interconnected and all speaking to each one of us regardless of our situation. Taking it’s name from Mann’s dislike of optimists, ‘@#%&*! Smilers’ or ‘Fucking Smilers’ as it would have been called if Mann wasn’t American, follows in the tradition of her previous work and displays all the characteristics we know and love - strong vocals, beautifully crafted melodies and original and innovative song-writing skills, As always, Mann’s lyrics are highly poetic and introspective, yet still manage to be accessible. The fabulous ‘It’s Over’ which is definitely a high point on the album, provides one such lyric that really manages to strike a chord. “But you sit there in the darkness/and you make plans but they're hopeless/and you blame God when you're lonely/and you'll call it fate, when you show up too late and it's over”. I couldn’t have put it better myself! Musically, ‘@#%&*! Smilers’ is a pretty upbeat album which utilizes a wide variety of musical styles. Whereas 2002‘s ‘Lost in Space was characterised by it‘s bleak, haunting melodies and The forgotten Arm was awash with serene orchestration, ‘@#%&*! Smilers’ uses a more mixed-genre approach and managed to have an altogether more ‘poppy’ feel to it without slipping completely into the mainstream. ‘@!# Smilers’ is yet another fabulous offering from the fantastic Aimee Mann who can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes. But for me it doesn’t quite match the understated beauty of ‘The Forgotten Arm’ or the stark bleakness of ‘Lost in Space’. But it’s still another solid offering from a very talented and highly under-rated singer-songwriter. Send A Comment BACK TO INDEX BACK TO MUSIC REVIEWS INDEX
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