Skip to main content

12 by Aimee Mann

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This week features...










Aimee Mann is the poet laureate of the broken heart. Picking only twelve from from her is tough, especially if you include her work with 'Til Tuesday, which I have. 

1. "Voices Carry" (from 'Til Tuesday, Voices Carry, 1985) When I saw them in concert together, Aimee's husband Michael Penn did the "this little hobby of yours..." monologue from the video. It was great. 

2. "Coming Up Close" (from 'Til Tuesday, Welcome Home, 1986) This was an early indication that Mann's talents lay not in new wave but in bittersweet singer-songwriterly ruminations. 

 3. "(Believed You Were) Lucky" (from 'Til Tuesday Everything's Different Now, 1988) 
Mann is definitely not the type to let someone off the hook. Though it starts as a lament, the song quickly reveals itself as a kiss-off. 

 4. "Why Must I" (from 'Til Tuesday Everything's Different Now, 1988) 
One of the best lines she's written: "Why must I take it so hard / Other people get by with either bourbon or God." 

5. "I've Had It" (from Whatever, 1993) 
This meditative tune sounds like a typical Mann break-up song, but it's actually a simple story about a gig in New York. 

6. "Long Shot" (from I'm With Stupid, 1995) 
Mann joins the fuzzy alternative '90s, with her own spin of course. Great opening line: "You fucked it up / You should have quit." 

7. "Save Me" (from Magnolia, 1999) 
An excellent Jon Brion production that perfectly sums up the themes in Paul Thomas Anderson's film.

8. "Wise Up" (from Magnolia, 1999) 
A showstopper. When the characters sang along with this song in the movie, film and music had rarely combined so well. 

9. "Ghost World" (from Bachelor No. 2, 2000) 
A novel in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. 

10. "Red Vines" (from Bachelor No. 2, 2000) 
As a candy freak, how could I pass on this one? Though, truthfully, I prefer Twizzlers.

11. "Invisible Ink" (from Lost In Space, 2002) 
If, after listening to an artist's album, you are actually kind of worried about them, then you know they really put something across with their songs, and you hope they'll be okay.

12. "Little Bombs" (from The Forgotten Arm, 2005) 
A shuffly little ditty that shows off Mann's deft way with words: "While perspective lines converge, rows of cars and buses merge / All the sweet green trees of Atlanta burst like little bombs".

Comments

Richard said…
I love this list. You just made me want to bring my entire Aimee Mann collection to work!

Popular posts from this blog

12 by Weezer

Here's the drill: 12 songs to summarize an artist's career, in chronological order (of course). This one features... I decided to take an unconventional route for this 12 by, and pretend Weezer have already released a "greatest hits." Here's what I think that would look like:  1) "Buddy Holly", 2) "Undone - the Sweater Song", 3) "My Name Is Jonas", 4) "The Good Life", 5) "El Scorcho", 6) "Hash Pipe", 7) "Island in the Sun", 8) "Dope Nose", 9) "Keep Fishin'", 10) "Beverly Hills", 11) "We Are All On Drugs", 12) "Pork and Beans".  Here's a different take: 1. " Say It Ain't So"  (from Weezer , 1994)  A little bit heavy, a little bit catchy, quiet-loud dynamics. So basically, it's Pixies lite. The song is interesting lyrically because it's basically nonsense until the "Dear daddy..." bridge, which lets out a t

2022: The Album

Since 2003 I've made a mix of some of my favorite songs of the calendar year. Here's the cover art and track listing for the 2022 edition. 1. BODEGA - "Pillar on the Bridge of You" 2. Harry Styles - "Late Night Talking" 3. Vicious Vicious - "Evolution" 4. Hot Freaks - "Lovely" 5. Carly Rae Jepsen - "The Loneliest Time" 6. Tears for Fears - "End of Night" 7. Spoon - "Wild" 8. Death Cab for Cutie - "Here to Forever" 9. Citrine and GUKKO - "Feel Better" 10. Rhett Miller - "Fascination" 11. Broken Bells - "Fade Away" 12. Leah Marlene - "Flowers" 13. Robbie Williams - "The World and Her Mother" 14. Jimmy Eat World - "Something Loud" (acoustic version) 15. Sloan - "Dream It All Over Again" If you have Amazon Unlimited, you can listen at this link . 

12 by Matthew Sweet (2002 - 2021)

Sometimes a huge part of an artist's career has not been summarized. Case in point... Matthew Sweet has a couple of compliations out there, but neither of them cover the past couple of decades, a span that has seen him release 8 albums of original material and 3 albums of covers.  I followed Sweet's career religiously early on, with my ardor gradually diminishing after the magnificant one-two punch of In Reverse (1999) and The Thorns (2003) That's not to say he hasn't produced some great work since then, it's just that it requires bit of effort to pick out the gems. Here's my college try: (Two of these albums are not available on streaming servies, so here's a slightly modified version of the playlist on YouTube .) 1. "I Can't Remember" ( The Thorns , 2003) The Thorns was a rootsy, close-harmony early-aughts version of Crosby, Stills, and Nash, featuring Shawn Mullins (of "Lullaby" fame) and Pete Droge (of "If You Don't Lov