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Listening to: Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm

The first time I ever heard Aimee Mann singing was when I was driving with Scott in his Dad's old car, which may or may not have been a Chrysler LeBaron, on the way to my uncle's screenprinting shop to do some work making t-shirts. This was probably in grade 11 or so, maybe earlier, but I'm not sure. I know it was grade 11 at the latest, because I didn't have my license. I can't remember why Scott and I were working for my uncle Glen, but I do remember it was a weird time, because the guys that worked there were insane. If you've ever done any screenprinting, you know the drill: slop the ink on the screen, pull the squeegee across, release the screen, throw the shirt up on to the heater conveyor belt, repeat. Well, these crazy dudes added an extra step in there right after releasing the screen wherein they would clap their hands, with their non-dominant hand making a sort of cup so they could get a perfect 'pop' from their clap. It was super weird. They had this whole theory about how if you could get the 'pop' every time you were totally in the zone and your whole being was centered in the moment. They had created this whole new-agey sort of zen apotheosis thing around it, and they were way too intense about it. Weird dudes.

Anyway, Scott and I were driving to the screenprinting shop, and he put in the soundtrack to "I Am Sam", and the first song was a duet with Aimee Mann and Michael Penn. I think we probably skipped that song pretty quick, as the Black Crowes and Eddie Vedder were a lot cooler at the time. Later on, I listened to the song, "Two of Us", and quite enjoyed it. Her name was always sort of linked in my head as an artist I sort of liked, but I never actively sought out any of her music because female singer-songwriters weren't high on my list of priorities (aside from Alanis, of course) at the time.

It's pretty funny how simply playing an album like this (which is quite good, by the way) can bring up all these hilarious memories. I really like this new blogging thing, it's exciting to see what's going to come up in my head. It's an adventure for all of us! A shared adventure! We are all together!

I actually really like this CD. It's got a pretty cohesive storyline to it, about boxing and alcohol addiction. I always kind of like concept albums, because while I like individual songs being stories, I like it even better when they all combine to make one BIG story. Maybe I should figure out some sort of recommendation or rating system in order to track my progress... I'll put it in the sidebar, maybe... Interesting...

P.S. I just sort of scanned over the Wikipedia entry on Aimee Mann and realized she was the Nihilist who had her little toe cut off in The Big Lebowski! She's cool!



Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm ★★★★★★★✩✩✩

Favorite Tracks: Dear John, Goodbye Caroline, Little Bombs

1. Dear John
2. King of the Jailhouse
3. Goodbye Caroline
4. Going Through the Motions
5. I Can't Get My Head Around It
6. She Really Wants You
7. Video
8. Little Bombs
9. That's How I Knew This Story Would Break My Heart
10. I Can't Help You Anymore
11. I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas
12. Beautiful