Aimee Mann - Lost In Space

I first heard Aimee Mann's voice during the movie Magnolia. Right, I know, who didn't? Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that I was mesmerized by it. "Wise Up" was exactly what that movie needed at that exact moment. Mann seemed to sum up all that was going on at that point in the movie with a simple pop song. Maybe that was what I was hoping for with Lost In Space, but I was slightly disappointed nevertheless. Disappointed only slightly, I said. Lost In Space seems to be a fitting title for an Aimee Mann album. With all the problems she's had in the past, it's just inspiring to see her release her fourth album on her own label, Super Ego. It's that life experience and those hardships that make Lost In Space stand out from all the other albums just like it. Believe me, I think female singer/songwriters probably make up 10% of the population of the United States. Though do no fret, Lost In Space is quite refreshing. One of the first moments comes during the track "High On Sunday 51". Combined with a Ben Harper-esk slide and an acoustic backbone, the song is a beauty. When Mann utters the words, "Baby, please let me begin, let me be you heroin. Hate the sinner, but love the sin," it will send shivers down the spine. Changing gears slightly, "This Is How It Goes" begins with a timid Mann, accompanied by a lone acoustic guitar, but swells and builds into a passionate, melodic chorus. Then, in another instant, the album finds it's self deep in the middle of "Pavlov's Bell," maybe the most driven track on the album. It's on this track that Mann lets the electric undercurrents - that only loomed in the background and overdubs of previous tracks - out into the open. On the whole, exquisite musicianship and a palpable spirit, that seems to channel pop masters of the past, pervades Lost In Space. When I read that "Humpty Dumpty", the first track on Lost In Space, was chosen to be the single, I was a little dismayed. Well, you see, that's my least favorite track on the album. Yes, it's a good song, but it's because of the nursery rhyme cliché that I'm already biased against it (a little dumb, I know); the other songs are so much better, honest. Yet, amongst all the piano-playing, guitar-toting singing and songwriting gals out there, Aimee Mann and her Lost In Space are up, way up on my list. [www.aimeemann.com]