SuperEgo Records

Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects. Her work with the producer Jon Brion in the 1990s was influential on American alternative music.

Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia, and studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. In the 1980s, after playing with the Young Snakes and Ministry, she co-founded the new wave band 'Til Tuesday and wrote their top-ten single "Voices Carry" (1985). 'Til Tuesday released three albums and disbanded in 1990 when Mann left to pursue a solo career.

Mann released her first solo album, ''Whatever'', in 1993, followed by '' I'm With Stupid'' in 1995. They received positive reviews but low sales, and placed Mann in conflict with her record company, Geffen. Mann achieved wider recognition when she recorded the soundtrack for the Paul Thomas Anderson film ''Magnolia'' (1999), earning nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal. After Geffen refused to release her third album, '' Bachelor No. 2'', Mann self-released it under her own label, SuperEgo Records, in 2000. It received strong sales and critical acclaim, establishing Mann as a career artist who could work outside of the major label system.

Mann has released seven albums since. In 2014, she released an album with Ted Leo as the Both. She has appeared in films and television series including ''The Big Lebowski'', ''Steven Universe,'' ''The West Wing'' and ''Portlandia''. Her awards include two Grammy Awards, including Best Folk Album for ''Mental Illness'' (2017), and she was named one of the ten greatest living songwriters by NPR in 2006.

Early life

Mann was born in Richmond, Virginia, at the Medical College of Virginia on September 8, 1960. When she was three, her mother had an affair and became pregnant and her parents divorced. Mann was kidnapped by her mother and her new boyfriend and taken to Europe, where they traveled. Her father, a marketing executive, hired a private detective, who brought her back from England a year later to a new stepmother and two stepbrothers. Mann said her father was "like a stranger" when they were reunited, and she did not see her mother again until she was 14. She said the episode gave her post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety around travelling later in life. She forgave her mother decades later, saying she had been "trapped on every side".

Mann grew up in Bon Air, Virginia, and attended Midlothian High School in Chesterfield County. Her drama teacher recalled her as "kind of an insecure kid, very quiet, very introspective … When she did start talking, she was worth listening to." When she was 12, Mann told her family she wanted to learn to play the bass guitar. Her family ridiculed her, saying it was unladylike, and she did not take up the bass until later: "When I grew up, I was in charge of my own life. I became serious about music. I finally learned how to play bass. What they thought didn't matter." She learnt to play her brother's guitar when she was confined to bed with glandular fever at the age of 12.

As a teenager, Mann enjoyed David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and found punk and new wave music inspiring. She said: " twas so interesting, so inventive – literally do whatever you want. That Patti Smith was out there and people were accepting her? Oh my God, there's a way out." Feeling she did not fit in the "normal world", Mann enrolled in Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1978, and studied bass guitar. After 18 months, she dropped out and joined the Boston punk band the Young Snakes on bass. She was unhappy in the band, saying the other members objected to her writing love songs or music they considered too melodic. She joined the band Ministry, which she said helped her learn to write songs efficiently. In the early 1980s, she worked at Newbury Comics in Massachusetts.

Career

1980s: 'Til Tuesday

At Berklee, Mann met the musician Michael Hausman and formed the new wave band 'Til Tuesday, with Mann providing bass and vocals. They released ''Voices Carry'', their debut album, in 1985. The single "Voices Carry" reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and won that year's MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. According to Mann, "Voices Carry" was one of the first songs she wrote. ''Stereogum'' described it as "an early indicator of Mann's penchant for character study, drawing outside the lines of boy-meets-girl love songs". The success made Mann an early female MTV star; the ''Washington Post'' described her as "a neo-punk pop princess, a new wave glamour girl, all doe eyes, gangly limbs and spiky bleached hair with that long, braided tail snaking out from underneath".

'Til Tuesday released '' Welcome Home'', their second album, the following year. Mann sang vocals with Geddy Lee on the 1987 single "Time Stand Still" by Rush, and appeared in the music video. 'Til Tuesday released their third and final album, ''Everything's Different Now'', in 1988. According to ''Stereogum'', though it "showcased a tremendous development in Mann's songwriting palette", the album was "dead on arrival". Mann said it was "scuttled" by a change of staff at their record company, Epic Records.

'Til Tuesday broke up in 1990 when Mann left to start her solo career. Hausman, Mann's former boyfriend, became her manager. She said later: "Til Tuesdaywere sort of doing, like, post-new-wave dance-pop stuff ... I started to feel like it was not really my thing. Acoustic guitar music was what I was more influenced by and what came naturally to me." Epic did not release Mann from her record contract for another three years, which prevented her from releasing new material. It was the first of several disputes Mann had with record labels, which Hausman said had a lasting effect on her attitude to the music industry.

1990–1999: Solo beginnings, ''Whatever'' and ''I'm with Stupid''

Mann developed her first solo albums with the producer Jon Brion, who had been a member of the 'Til Tuesday touring band. Mann found working with Brion exciting, and said that her songwriting improved with him. Together, they developed a sound that the ''Stereogum'' writer Doug Bleggi called "LA alternative". Mann's debut solo album, ''Whatever,'' was released in 1993 on the independent label Imago. In 1994, Mann toured with Squeeze as part of their band, playing songs by both acts.

Mann moved to Los Angeles in 1994. After she finished her second album, '' I'm with Stupid'', Imago encountered financial problems and delayed its release. Imago eventually sold it to Geffen, which signed Mann in 1994 and released ''I'm with Stupid'' in 1995. According to ''Pitchfork'', Mann's first two solo albums showed that she was "a witty, self-possessed songwriter", but they did not meet commercial expectations, with sales "in the low six figures". Mann began to be seen as "an 80s pop casualty" who was approaching "has-been status". Dick Wingate, the executive who signed 'Til Tuesday to Epic, described Mann as "the model of an artist who has been chewed up and spit out by the music business", and whose disappointment and bad luck had made her distrustful of record labels.

Later in the decade, Mann became a regular act at Largo, a Los Angeles nightclub that hosted performances from alternative songwriters including Brion, Elliott Smith, Fiona Apple and Rufus Wainwright. This shaped Mann's songwriting; Largo fit Mann so well that the owner jokingly nicknamed it "Aimee Mann's clubhouse". In 1997, Mann recorded a cover of "Nobody Does It Better", the theme song of the 1977 James Bond film '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', for the album '' Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project''. She also made a cameo in the 1998 film ''The Big Lebowski'' as a German nihilist.

1999–2001: ''Magnolia'', ''Bachelor No. 2'' and label independence

Mann received wider recognition after she contributed songs to the 1999 film ''Magnolia''. Her music had inspired the film; the director, Paul Thomas Anderson, another Largo regular, said he "sat down to write an adaptation of Aimee Mann songs". The film features dialogue taken from Mann's lyrics and a sequence in which the cast sing her song "Wise Up". The song " Save Me" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal and an Academy Award for Best Original Song; Mann performed it at the 72nd Academy Awards. The ''Los Angeles Times'' described "Save Me" as Mann's masterpiece, which "solidified Mann's stature as an esteemed songwriter". Mann later said it "really gave a blood transfusion to my career. But it wasn't like I went from playing to five people to 5,000 people. It was just a real influx of energy." The ''Magnolia'' soundtrack album was certified gold.
Mann took more control over the production of her third album, '' Bachelor No. 2''. Geffen refused to release it, feeling it contained no hit singles. In response, Mann sold homemade EPs of her new music on tour in 1999, which she described as a "DIY fuck-you-record-company-I'm-selling-it-myself move". She accepted an offer from Geffen to leave her contract, feeling she wanted to be "in charge of her own destiny".

In 1999, Mann and Hausman formed their own label, SuperEgo Records, and bought the ''Bachelor No. 2'' masters from Geffen. Mann sold 25,000 copies via mail order from her website, a large amount for an independent artist. After she secured a distribution deal, ''Bachelor No. 2'' sold 270,000 copies, outperforming ''I'm with Stupid''. ''Pitchfork'' described this as a "decisive victory". ''Bachelor No. 2'' became the 28th-best-reviewed album of the decade, according to the aggregation website Metacritic. The success established Mann as a career artist who could work outside of the major label system.

In 2000, Mann formed the Acoustic Vaudeville project, a mixture of music and comedy, with her husband, the songwriter Michael Penn. Among the comedians joining them were Janeane Garofalo, Patton Oswalt and David Cross. In 2001, Mann sued Universal Music over the release of a greatest-hits compilation, '' The Ultimate Collection'', which she had not authorized and considered "substandard and misleading". She was also a judge at the inaugural Annual Independent Music Awards, an award for promoting independent musicians. She judged the awards again in 2011.

2002–2008: ''Lost in Space,'' ''The Forgotten Arm'' and ''@#%&*! Smilers''

Following ''Magnolia'', Mann entered a period of depression and had a breakdown. She referenced the experience obliquely in her fourth album, ''Lost in Space'', released in August 2002. In 2004, she released '' Live at St. Ann's Warehouse'', a live album and DVD recorded at a series of shows in Brooklyn, New York City. She also appeared in the TV series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', performing "This Is How It Goes" and "Pavlov's Bell", and on ''The West Wing'', performing a cover of James Taylor's "Shed a Little Light". Mann sang on "That's Me Trying" from William Shatner's 2004 album ''Has Been'', cowritten and produced by Ben Folds.In May 2005, Mann released her fifth album, ''The Forgotten Arm'', a concept album set in the 1970s about two lovers who meet at the Virginia State Fair and go on the run. The album artwork won a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. In October 2006, Mann released '' One More Drifter in the Snow'', a Christmas album featuring covers and new songs. Mann said she did not enjoy music that combines Christmas songs with modern genres, and instead drew inspiration from Christmas records by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and the Vince Guaraldi Trio. In 2007, Mann contributed two original songs, "The Great Beyond" and "At the Edge of the World", to the soundtrack to the film ''Arctic Tale''. She also contributed vocals to "Unforgiven" on John Doe's album ''A Year in the Wilderness''.

In June 2008, Mann released her seventh album, '' @#%&*! Smilers.'' It features minimal electric guitar and an emphasis on keyboards. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 32 and on the Top Independent Albums chart at number 2. ''@#%&*! Smilers'' received mostly positive reviews, with AllMusic writing that it "pops with color, something that gives it an immediacy that's rare for an artist known for songs that subtly worm their way into the subconscious ... ''Smilers'' grabs a listener, never making him or her work at learning the record, as there are both big pop hooks and a rich sonic sheen." The music video for "31 Today", directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, features the comedian Morgan Murphy. The artwork, by Gary Taxali, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

2010s: ''Charmer, Mental Illness'' and the Both

In May 2011, Mann performed for President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at a poetry seminar at the White House. She also appeared in a sketch for the Independent Film Channel series ''Portlandia''; she played herself working as a cleaning woman, telling Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein that she needs the second job to support herself.

In 2012, Mann released her eighth solo album, '' Charmer'', comprising songs based on the theme that personal charm is not always to be trusted; one song, "Crazytown", is about an alcoholic "manic pixie dream girl". Two singles were released: "Charmer", with a music video directed by Tom Scharpling, and "Labrador," which features the actor Jon Hamm and references to Mann's music videos with 'Til Tuesday. In the same year, Mann contributed vocals to Steve Vai's album '' The Story of Light'' on "No More Amsterdam" and recorded the song "Two Horses" for the soundtrack of the film ''Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie''.In February 2013, Mann and Ted Leo formed a duo, the Both, and performed shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They released an album in April 2014. In 2013, Mann appeared on the Ivan & Alyosha album '' All the Times We Had''. On July 22, she filed a lawsuit against MediaNet, claiming they were distributing 120 of her songs on an expired license agreement. She attempted to claim as much as $18 million in statutory damages. Mann settled out of court in 2015.

In February 2014, Mann appeared in an episode of the animated series ''Steven Universe'' as the voice of the Gem fusion Opal''.'' She reprised her role for '' Steven Universe: The Movie'' (2019); with Leo, she performed the song "Independent Together". Mann contributed a version of Styx's "Come Sail Away" to the 2014 ''Community'' episode "Geothermal Escapism". In 2015, Mann and Leo appeared on '' Conan'' performing a song in support of the 2016 US presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee. Mann covered the Carpenters' 1973 single " Yesterday Once More" for a 2016 episode of the HBO drama ''Vinyl''. In October 2016, Mann released a new song, "Can't You Tell", as part of the '' 30 Days 30 Songs'' campaign protesting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

In March 2017, Mann released her ninth solo album, ''Mental Illness'', featuring collaborations with the songwriters Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick. It won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Coulton joined Mann for some performances on the ''Mental Illness'' tour. That September, Mann contributed the song "Everybody Bleeds" to an episode of the Netflix series '' Big Mouth''. In January 2018, Mann appeared in an episode of the FX series '' The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'' as a bar singer, performing the 1984 Cars song "Drive". She also appeared in the sitcom ''Corporate'' in the episode "The Pain of Being Alive". In 2019, Mann released an expanded 20th-anniversary reissue of ''Bachelor No. 2'' for Record Store Day. She also hosted a podcast with Leo, ''The Art of Process,'' interviewing celebrities including Wyatt Cenac and Rebecca Sugar.

2020s: ''Queens of the Summer Hotel'' and paintings

In 2020, Mann wrote a song, "Big Deal", for the animated series ''Central Park'', performed by Stanley Tucci. On November 5, 2021, Mann released her tenth album, ''Queens of the Summer Hotel''. It features songs inspired by ''Girl, Interrupted,'' the 1993 memoir by Susanna Kaysen about her time in a psychiatric hospital. Mann developed the songs for a musical based on the memoir with the producers Barbara Broccoli and Frederick Zollo, which was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2022, Mann began posting autobiographical comics on Instagram. In April, she displayed a series of her paintings, ''You Could Have Been a Roosevelt'', at City Winery, Manhattan. The paintings are portraits of the "ten worst US presidents" and a selection of first ladies. Mann created them after promising her friend, the politician Antony Blinken, a painting for his White House office. She said that Blinken "declined to have a portrait of Millard Fillmore on his wall, and I can't say I blame him".

Mann was scheduled to open for Steely Dan on their 2022 tour, but was dropped. She suggested that Steely Dan did not think a female singer-songwriter would suit their audience. Donald Fagen, the co-founder of Steely Dan, denied this and instead said that Mann was not "the best matchup in terms of musical style". He apologized, saying he respected Mann and did not realize any commitment had been made. Mann accepted the apology and said it was plausible that Fagen did not know she had been announced for the tour. She covered the Steely Dan song "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)" on tour that year, which ''Variety'' took to mean she had forgiven Fagen. On May 22, Mann led a lineup of women performers raising funds for the Magee Women's Institute at Novo, Los Angeles.

Artistry

Mann's first instrument was the bass guitar; she played bass in the Young Snakes, 'Til Tuesday and the Both. She generally plays acoustic guitar for her solo shows, finding it "more convenient", with her producer Paul Bryan on bass. According to the ''Stereogum'' writer Doug Bleggi, Mann's work with Jon Brion on her first solo albums created a sound he called "LA alternative"; this "became synonymous with a strain of notable alternative acts at the turn of the century", such as Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Rufus Wainwright and Eels, all of whom worked with Brion in the 1990s. In 2006, NPR named Mann one of the ten greatest living songwriters.

Mann is noted for her sharp and literate lyrics. ''Pitchfork'' wrote that Mann explores depressing themes while "transcending the self-pity so associated with lovesick laments", and "excels" at using specific imagery to carry general meanings. The ''Washington Post'' journalist Michael Cavna said that Mann often writes about "underdogs, misfits and lonely, lost outsiders". In the ''New York Times,'' Nate Chinen wrote that "the sugarcoated poison pill is a reliable device for Aimee Mann, a singer-songwriter given to ravaging implication and dispassionate affect".

Another ''New York Times'' critic, Ben Ratliff, wrote of Mann's "skill at writing urbane pop songs, melodically rich and full of well-worn sayings fitted into spiky couplets". Mann said she admires precision in lyrics: "I like a rhyme that's perfect and interesting. Some songwriting is so vague. It makes me yell at the radio, 'Home and alone do not rhyme!' I've been sloppy in the past, but I'm getting better over time." Though Mann is known for writing songs about dark subjects, her songs are often also humorous; she said, "I'm sure I'm the only person who thinks any lines or any moments are funny, but that's usually because they're the most accurate and bleak ones."

The journalist Jon Pareles

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