Let me say this at the outset: I really want to like Aimee Mann. After all, how can you not like someone that calls the people that run record labels "fucking criminals"?? She’s taken on Big Music and so far is doing a pretty good job all on her own. But perhaps I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself – after all, it’s not as if she’s a household name or anything. So how did lil’ old Aimee Mann become the new David to Big Music’s Goliath?  

Well, after the break-up of ‘Til Tuesday in the late 1980s, Aimee made 2 albums: Whatever which was released by indie label Imago in 1993 and I’m With Stupid – which was shuffled around from label to label until it was finally picked up by Geffen Records in 1995. As it happened, Geffen (part of Polygram) was then bought by Seagram's and Aimee was shuffled off to one of Seagram's sister labels, Interscope Records. When the time came to release her third album, it was apparent that Mann and Interscope had some serious issues. She had spent two long years working on the disc – Bachelor No. 2 – and when it was rejected by Interscope for not being “commercial enough”, Mann had had it. She felt that she wasn’t being properly supported and that the label cared more about the profits she’d make them than her artistic merit. So what happened next is Big Music’s worst nightmare: she bought back the tapes of Bachelor No. 2 from Interscope, started her own label (SuperEgo), set up a website and went on tour. As luck would have it, her music would also be the centerpiece around which the movie Magnolia was written - her exposure there (with the hit "Save Me") would help her become even more popular and set her up to be completely independent of the major labels. Interestingly enough, Bachelor would end up selling only 300,000 fewer copies than the last Hanson album did, for which Polygram spent millions in advertising. Maybe there is some accounting for taste after all!    

"Major labels’ relationships with their artists now is like the abusive husband with the wife — she’ll put up with it if it’s just insults and screaming, but as soon as the first punch happens, she’s out of there. And I think [artists] are just getting pummeled."

- Aimee Mann

So now that the dust has settled from her war with Big Music, how is her fourth album, Lost In Space? Weeeeeelllll. As I say, I really want to like her. The album is absolutely well-crafted and well-produced. There's nary a note out of place. Her voice is marvelous. But yet... all her songs tend to have a... sameness to them. If I fell asleep with this CD on in "repeat mode", I'm not entirely sure if I'd know which song was playing when I woke up. Nor is this album much of a departure from Bachelor No. 2. In fact, you could almost get away with calling this album Bachelor No. 2 Part 2. And Lost in Space is even more depressing and lonely than Bachelor No. 2.

Having said that, there's plenty to like about the album. I really like a couple of the songs. The title track is really good - catchy popcraft at it's finest. The first tune "Humpty Dumpty" is quite good as well. The song "This Is How It Goes" starts off with just Mann and a guitar and is absolutely beautiful - until the rest of the band kicks in and turns it into a standard pop tune. But my favorite song on the disc is easily "High On Sunday 51", a tune with a southwestern feel (think Aimee Mann with a hint of Mazzy Star). And as much as I "almost like" most of Mann's lyrics, I really like the words to this one:

Now, if you had a track listing of the album, you'd know that the songs I mentioned above are the first four songs on the album. The fifth track - "Guys Like Me" - completely loses me. And as I forward through the rest of the tracks, it just seems like something I've heard before. There's nothing wrong with the rest of the album, it just all kind of fades together. Like side 2 of any Natalie Merchant album. But it is pleasant to listen to and I am liking more and more with each listen. Lord knows buying an album with four really good tracks on it is rare enough these days, especially given that the last half of it is at least nice and listenable. And since Aimee is on "our side" against Big Music, you almost have to buy this album.  Almost.

TRIVIA ALERT: Do you remember the scene in "The Big Lebowski" where the German nihilists are sitting in the diner and order pancakes? The girl with the missing toe was Aimee Mann. Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers was also one of the "nihilists". Don't believe me? Check IMDB.

Please check out the United Musicians website.  UM is a group "founded on the principle that every artist should be able to retain copyright ownership of the work he or she has created and that this ownership is the basis for artistic strength and true independence".  United Musicians Artists "have their own labels under the United Musicians banner and retain all rights of ownership to their work. By uniting and sharing resources, United Musicians Artists have a stronger organizational base from which to build and flourish in their independence".