Aimee Mann and Gord Downie Side Projects

Aimee Mann has long been a favorite songwriter of mine. After Til Tuesday, who were a fine 80s band in their own right, she made two outstanding power-pop solo records: Whatever and I'm With Stupid. If you watched Melrose Place (I didn't) you probably heard "That's Just What You Are" off the latter record. She also got a lot of exposure doing songs for P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, a movie that was written with Aimee Mann in mind, and which featured all the characters in the movie singing "Wise Up." The rest of her solo output has been good but not great. Her 2012 record Charmer is probably the best of the post-Magnolia output.

Now she has teemed up with Ted Leo to form The Both. Ted Leo is considered an indie alternative (whatever that means) artist but labels aside he's a singer/songwriter. I never really got into him that much, but after hearing this record, I should give him another shot. The Both is a great collection of power pop gems. Mann is on bass and Leo on guitar and they take turns on the lead vocals. Both sound great, but it's even better when they harmonize. At first glance it seems to be a trifle, just a one-off side project of two established artists having fun, but the songs are so well written and so well played it isn't fair to dismiss it as such. My two favorite are "Milwaukee" and "Pay For It," both of which bounce along merrily with great melodies, clever lyrics and super production. What I like best is that Mann has never had a guitar player working with her as intense as Ted Leo. His playing makes the songs roar to life. They are playing the 930 Club on Friday night and I am hoping to go.

My most favorite band on the planet not named Rush is also Canadian: The Tragically Hip. I have written about them extensively before (here and here and here) so my admiration is well known. Their singer is the amazing Gord Downie. He has mellowed out a bit as he has gotten older, but he is still one of the most mesmerizing performers I have ever seen. He seems to go into a trance when singing. Hip shows are always an amazing experience.

He has just released a collaboration with fellow Canadians The Sadies called Gord Downie, The Sadies And The Conquering Sun. The Sadies are another band I never quite got into; they were always a bit more eclectic than I had patience for. I was honestly surprised when I heard about this record. Downie has done a few solo records himself, all of them interesting but all of them again eclectic and therefore not as interesting to me as Hip records. The fact that he was making a record with another band was a bit disconcerting. What about the Hip? Why does Gord feel like he needs to work with another band? Are they breaking up! GACK!!

Hopefully a break-up isn't imminent. For the time being, to get a Gord fix, this will have to do. The best track is the kick-off track "Crater." Noisy and gritty guitars drive the tune. "Los Angeles Times" is a nice mid-tempo number with a good Clarence White-esque guitar solo at the end. Ltrically it's typical Gord Downie; sort of weird, sort of obtuse, sort of rambling but clever in every way. If this was a Hip record it would be a good Hip record, but not as good as the classics.  Perhaps Gord just wanted a break from his band; collaborating with old friends and seeing what happens. I hope he doesn't forget where home is.

Here's the FANTASTIC video for the FANTASTIC "Milwaukee" by The Both:

And not quite fantastic but still extremely cool, here's "Crater" by Gord Downie and The Sadies.

Groovin' on the New Aimee Mann

One of the best songwriters out there is Aimee Mann. She is probably most famous for her time in Til Tuesday and the video for "Voices Carry." This was back in 1985 or 1986. She has gone on to a great career as a power-popper, making two GREAT solo records (Whatever and I'm With Stupid), a handful of decent solo records, and soundtrack work, most notably for P.T. Anderson's Magnolia, which used "Wise Up" to interesting effect.

Her latest record is called Charmer and it's great. It's full of smart song-writing and great hooks. That's what I felt has been missing from her last few solo records. Perhaps I should go back and give them another try, but for now I'll keep the new record in the rotation. I was going to point out a couple of the better tracks, but really they are all really good.

The video for "Labrador" has a clever gimmick: it is a shot-by-shot recreation of the "Voices Carry" video. Check it out (including a cameo from Jon Hamm):

I have seen Aimee Mann twice. The second time was at the 930 Club. The FIRST time was at the old Bayou in Georgetown. That was a memorable show. One because it was The Bayou and it has been gone for many years, but more interesting to you was the crowd. There were a lot of girl-power type chicks there. The opening act was Semisonic which Dan Wilson and John Munson's band after they ended Trip Shakespeare and before "Closing Time" success. Semisonic got some rough treatment from the women in the audience, who were not particularly interested in seeing an opener of three dudes. Anyhow, Semisonic finished their set (who by the way impressed me enough to buy their EP that night) and when Aimee Mann came on stage she scolded the audience for booing Semisonic, that they were a great band and so-on-and-so-on. I thought that was a nice thing to do. She also told a funny story about Elvis Costello but that might have been at the 930 Club show.

If you like power pop, do check her out.