Aimee Mann

Any consideration of the songwriting craft would be incomplete without the inclusion of American singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. From her first steps as singer and bass player with '80s synth pop band 'Til Tuesday, who scored a massive MTV hit with 'Voices Carry' in 1985, she has continually produced starkly autobiographical and often ironically melodic songs that cut through the emotional detail. With a career now spanning almost forty years, she has built a catalogue of nine studio albums since going solo in the early 1990s and, via a series of record label frustrations, has developed into a fiercely independent recording artist, flying outside the mainstream. Her critical acclaim has never wavered, and whilst happy to work in a niche market, her soundtrack for the film Magnolia and the accompanying Oscar nomination raised her profile considerably, adding to her stalwart army of fans. This book gives an overview of Aimee Mann's career from her earliest days, making it big with 'Til Tuesday and onward through her solo career to date, investigating every recorded track in a comprehensive guide for fans and new listeners keen to investigate a true original and double Grammy winner whose songs should be much more widely recognised.

Any consideration of the songwriting craft would be incomplete without the inclusion of American singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. From her first steps as singer and bass player with 1980s synth pop band ‘Til Tuesday, who scored a massive MTV hit with ‘Voices Carry’ in 1985, she has continually produced starkly autobiographical songs, with a sense of melody that cuts through the emotional detail. With a career now spanning almost forty years, she has built a catalogue of nine studio albums, from debut Whatever to 2017’s Mental Illness, since going solo in the early 1990s. Via a series of record label frustrations, Aimee has developed into a fiercely independent recording artist, flying outside the mainstream. Her critical acclaim has never wavered, however, and while happy to continue working in a niche market, her soundtrack for the film Magnolia and the accompanying Oscar nomination raised her profile considerably, adding to her stalwart army of fans. This book gives an overview of Aimee Mann’s career from her earliest days when she ‘made it big’ with ‘Til Tuesday, through her solo career, investigating every recorded track. It is a comprehensive guide for fans and new listeners keen to investigate a double Grammy winner who is also a true original and whose work deserves to be much more widely recognised. A music fan for as long as he can remember, Jez Rowden worked in record shops for many years, absorbing music of all kinds. He enjoys many genres and has been involved in writing album and concert reviews, mostly within the progressive rock field, for nearly 15 years, also acting as editor for the ‘Dutch Progressive Rock Pages’ (DPRP) website and currently ‘The Progressive Aspect’ (TPA) which he helped found in 2013. His previous book for Sonicbond covered the music of Steely Dan’s Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. An avid gig goer, he lives in Swansea.

Danny Bland’s fictional prose novel about a doomed junkie couple is given depth by his first hand experiences in the ’90s grunge rock scene. “It wasn’t the pounding headache or the all too familiar taste of blood in my mouth that woke me that morning, but the stink of cat piss. They all have cats. Cats and bad tattoos and mops of dyed black hair that reek of cigarettes and watermelon Bubblicious.” This debut novel by veteran Seattle musician Danny Bland follows a pair of outsiders who find themselves locked in the palpable, dizzy grunge-rock scene of early-’90s Seattle. Vulnerable to the high relief of heroin addiction, Bland’s characters ― Charlie Hyatt and Carrie Finch ― are unapologetic protagonists whose epiphanies are as blinding as their weaknesses. Finch, 21, beautiful and dangerous, drowns out the voices in her head and the consequences of a misled life with electric guitars, booze and petulant misbehavior. Her single abiding faith takes the form of an unlikely savior ― ’60s psychedelic musician Roky Erikson. At the ripe old age of 28, Hyatt attempts to make sense of the cards he has been dealt: a miserable job in a porn shop, a drug habit he cannot afford and the wildly unstable woman he had chosen to love. Two damaged people can balance a seesaw for a long time, even finding the illusion of safety; but when one gets off unannounced, the other will fall. As Finch finds sobriety, her sanity and her relationship with Hyatt falter until an inevitable event brings the two back together a decade later.

Elliott Smith was one of the most gifted songwriters of the nineties, adored by worshipful fans for his subtly melancholic words and melodies. The sadness had its sources in the life. There was trauma from an early age, years of drug abuse and a chronic sense of disconnection that sometimes seemed almost self-engineered. Smith died violently in Los Angeles in 2003, under what some believe to be questionable circumstances, of a single fatal stab wound to the chest. By this time fame had found him, and record buyers who shared the listening experience felt he spoke directly to them from beyond: lonely, lovelorn, frustrated, fighting until he could fight no more. And yet, although his achingly intimate lyrics carried the weight of truth, Smith remained unknowable. In Torment Saint, William Todd Schultz gives us the first proper biography of the rock star, a decade after his death, imbued with affection, authority, sensitivity and long-awaited clarity. Torment Saint draws on Schultz's careful, deeply knowledgeable readings and insights, as well as on more than 150 hours of interviews with close friends, lovers, bandmates, peers, managers, label owners, and recording engineers and producers. This book unravels the remaining mysteries of Smith's life and his shocking, too-early end. It will be an indispensable examination of his life and legacy, both for Smith's legions of fans as well as readers still discovering his songbook.

The author offers a compelling memoir of her two years as a teenager in a psychiatric hospital, sharing vivid portraits of her fellow patients, their keepers, and her experiences during treatment

Soundtrack album-matching folio to the highly acclaimed Oscar-nominated film from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson that interweaves stories inspired by the music of Aimee Mann. Her song "Save Me" was nominated for Best Song. Folio includes four-color photos of Aimee Mann and shots from the film. Songs performed and/or written by Aimee Mann are: One * Momentum * Build That Wall * Deathly * Driving Sideways * You Do * Nothing Is Good Enough (instrumental) * Wise Up * Save Me * Goodbye Stranger (performed by Supertramp) * (The) Logical Song (performed by Supertramp) * Dreams (performed by Gabrielle) and the title track Magnolia (written by Jon Brion).

A 1990s near-famous rock music performer recounts how she made a final effort to achieve stardom after years of trying, found herself embroiled in a maelstrom of million-dollar labels and Billboard listings, and decided to give it all up.