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20 Questions: Aimee Mann

Monday, Jun 2, 2008
by PopMatters Staff
Aimee Mann's new record, @#%&! Smilers, releases tomorrow in the U.S. She takes a moment to answer PopMatters' 20 Questions.

1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?
A German movie called The Lives of Others.


2. The fictional character most like you?
Josephine in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Basil and Josephine Stories.


cover art

Aimee Mann

@#%&! Smilers

(Superego; US: 3 Jun 2008; UK: 2 Jun 2008)

3. The greatest album, ever?
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim.


4. Star Trek or Star Wars?
The original Star Trek TV show.


5. Your ideal brain food?
Gefilte fish.
  
6. You’re proud of this accomplishment, but why?
Because I did my best, and I care abut things being good.


7. You want to be remembered for…?
I’d like to be remembered as a woman who told the truth and smelled nice, usually.


8. Of those who’ve come before, the most inspirational are?
Elvis Costello,  Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Elton John, the Beatles.


9. The creative masterpiece you wish bore your signature?
Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra”.


10. Your hidden talents…?
Texting.


11. The best piece of advice you actually followed?
My father told me that no one ever changes without having a significant emotional experience… it’s not exactly advice, but it was helpful to remember.


12. The best thing you ever bought, stole, or borrowed?
The best thing I ever bought was my cat, the best thing I ever stole was the book The Outsiders from the school library, and the best thing I ever borrowed was my brother’s guitar when I was 12 when I first taught myself how to play.


13. You feel best in Armani or Levis or…?
Habitual jeans, John Fluevog boots, pink shirt and Paul Smith tie.


14. Your dinner guest at the Ritz would be?
My comedian friend Paul F. Tompkins… he’s funny and smart and knows how to dress himself.


15. Time travel: where, when and why?
Maybe to 1972 to remember details about my life that I forgot… and to vote for George McGovern.


16. Stress management: hit man, spa vacation or Prozac?
I’m closer to Prozac than a hit man or a spa.


17. Essential to life: coffee, vodka, cigarettes, chocolate, or…?
Essential to life: friends, boxing on TV, aternative comedy shows, mono recordings, 1954 Gibson J45.


18. Environ of choice: city or country, and where on the map?
Wherever my friends are, although I have a soft spot for London.


19. What do you want to say to the leader of your country?
Umm…“dude, you blew it”?


20. Last but certainly not least, what are you working on, now?
A graphic novel.


Media
Aimee Mann - Live from the Artists Den Aimee Mann - Freeway (live)
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An Aimee Mann concert will never be memorable for bombast and showmanship but rather for the scope and sweep with which Mann delivers her songs.
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The old music-industry adage is that if a woman doesn't have a hit by the time she's 22 years old, she should probably look for another career. That's obviously a load of blarney.
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Maybe after feeling the sting from fans and critics (misplaced though it surely was) after 2005's The Forgotten Arm, Mann has retreated a bit. But, rather than a “return to form”, we have a return to format.
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The songwriter looks at the ghost of Christmas past while moving forward.
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