April 24, 2005
Gonna Fly Now
I reserve Monday night midnite trips to Vintage Vinyl for those extra special artists, near and dear to my heart. Albums that I have to listen to the moment they are officially released. This is why, for those particular albums, I don't like to hear the online leaks. This is probably the same reason I've never liked to shake my Christmas presents to find out what they are prior to Christmas morning. It ruins the surprise, and makes it less of an event.
Aimee Mann is one of those artists. I fell in love with her epic character study, and her gorgeous yet forlorn melodies after seeing Magnolia, to which she wrote and sang the songs on the brilliant soundtrack, and have loved everything she's done since.
Her new album, to be released on Tuesday, May 3rd is a concept album called "The Forgotten Arm". It is set in the '70's and is about a boxer on drugs and his girlfriend who works at a carnival. It's Rocky meets Carnivale meets Tapestry. Well, not really. Here, I'll let you read a (glowing) review in Paste Magazine:
With her latest release, The Forgotten Arm, Mann finally seems to have discovered a format that gives her characters room to breathe: the concept album. According to Mann, The Forgotten Arm follows the travails of a Virginia carnival worker and a down-and-out boxer who meet in Richmond not long before he’s sent to Vietnam. Inevitably the boxer returns with a drug addiction and the carnival worker spends most of the album contemplating the relationship’s fiery tailspin, trying to muster the courage to eject. Though the scenario is a bit too familiar, Mann has time over the course of the record to develop nuance and believability. This freedom is a blessing and a curse: while the emotional payoff of the album proves more satisfying than anything she’s done so far, the individual tracks don’t stand alone as well. But as anyone who’s followed Mann’s toils in the record industry can tell you, she probably isn’t all that concerned with crafting a Billboard Heatseeker at this point. It may turn out that Mann’s best record is also the least radio friendly.
See you at Vintage vinyl on Monday, May 2nd at 11:30. It's always nice to grab a pint at Blueberry Hill before hand!
Posted by Tom at April 24, 2005 06:15 PM