aimee mann, obscure no more

aimee mann’s inclusion in paul thomas anderson’s difficult flick, magnolia, was more or less a re-introduction to the finnicky music buying population. let’s face it most people had not thought of aimee much since being labeled as “that chick with crazy hair in the one video,” all the way back in the 80′s. i, of course, referring to til tuesday’s voices carry video. even with two well recieved solo records under her belt, whatever and i’m with stupid, she still lingered in a bit of obscurity. admittedly, i had not given aimee much thought, before magnolia, for much of the decade. i pride myself on being up on just about everything, and if she was out of my mind, i am sure she was all but forgotten by 99.9% of people.

magnolia was decent, the magnolia soundtrack was most excellent. not only did it add so much to mood of the film, but the songs even without the backdrop of the film were magnficent. which leads me to 2000′s release, bachelor #2, the first “real” aimee mann record i had physically/monetarily purchased. it’s a lush and intimate record that was recorded around the same time as the magnolia soundtrack, which i guess is the reason why they hold roughly the same qualities in terms of orchestration.

lost in space is a piece of work that was a bit of a let down when it was released. i was still riding high on bachelor #2, and i was ill prepared for the quasi concept record that is lost in space. like most of her songs subject matter, the main theme running through lost in space is lost and despair. its a real bummer of a record, but have since grown to love it.

if it weren’t for lucero’s nobody’s darlings, the forgotten arm would have been my favorite record of the ’05. a record that revolves around a boxer, and his dealings with abuse, self doubt, and hopefully the thoughts of recovery. lyrically mann is at the top of her game, the subject matter flows elegantly from track to track. creating a world that i know i wouldnt want to inhabit. as an outsider looking in to the world mann created, one is left to wonder how much of her is in her songs?

this is a collection of recordings for two seperate radio sessions.
girls talk – mp3

say anything – mp3

tracks 01-05 recorded at JPR 1 (NOB Studio) in Hilversum on March 10, 1994.

tracks 06-07 recorded at NOB radiostudio in Hilversum on June 7, 1993. sessions recorded for the Dutch radio program “2 Meter Sessies”.

01 Girls Talk (Dave Edmunds/ Lowe)

02 Say Anything

03 50 Years After The Fair

04 I Should Have Known

05 4th Of July

06 Stupid Thing

07 I Know There’s A Word

flac rar file

thanks to the original