@#%*! Smilers

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A Vaudevillean Good Time, 2010-02-12
I was willing to write off Aimee Mann's career by the time she got to (insert appropriate punctuation here) Smilers, and on first listen, I thought it was totally appropriate to do so. Smilers has a few of Mann's least interesting songs - like "Phoenix," which wincingly rhymes its title with "kleenex," or "Stranger Into Starman," which I hope is the last song anyone is inspired to write about the New York Times Crossword puzzle. But it also turned out to be (not that there's much competition) Mann's first truly fun record. The album is filled with horns, keyboards, and buzzy melodies, and songs one after another wound up lodged in my brain. Mann still has her verbose, cutting wit and cynicism, and songs like "Freeway" (its topical chorus of "You got a lot of money/ but you can't afford the freeway") and "Borrowing Time" are just as cranky as she's ever been, but they sound like they might as well be coming from a Broadway revue - I never would have thought a line "Get up, you're borrowing time" could be so bouncy. Whether she's singing about a lack of direction in "31 Today," about cynicism that prevents anything from ever happening in "It's Over," or about romantic disillusion in "True Believer," she can't hide the fact that she seems to be having a tossed-off blast. Smilers is far from essential Mann, yet it shows her wounding consciousness can be a source of joy as well as well-crafted disappointment. And, it makes purer, emotional songs like "Columbus Avenue" feel like a touching ballad breaking up the action rather than business as usual.

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A HIT!, 2010-01-06
As I play a new album, I make a list of the songs I really like. Then I download those songs into my iTunes "music." 5 of the 13 songs on this one made it to the download, and the rest of them are good songs too. br / br /I'm sure you can listen to snippets through Amazon, and this is not one of those albums whose snippets sound good, and then it comes in the mail, and you think "what the hell did I like about this CD? Another aluminum beverage coaster." No, it sounds wonderful when your super saver Amazon envelope arrives days later. br / br /This is one real fine musician. Straight ahead. No frills. No gimmicks. No cheap shots. This music will last. I don't know much about Mann, except that I like her sound and her skill. I'm persuaded.

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Don't Stop Listening to Aimee Mann, 2009-11-21
She must be very frustrated with the "more of the same" type of review. Yes, some time ago, she figured out what her artistic metier was: Short stories set to magnificently subtle music. Most of her stuff is mid-tempo or slow for the obvious reason that her lyrics are the feature. You don't listen to Aimee Mann for the guitar solos. Her musical sensibility is absolutely brilliant, but it's more in the realm of underscoring, adding harmonic complexity to her tasty melodies and superior narratives. br / br /"------ Smilers" is, I think, a superior example of her craft. It's hard to really pick a "best album" because of her remarkable consistency, but I think this one will be a contender. "Thirty One Today," "Freeway," "Phoenix," "The Great Beyond" and the short but affecting "Stranger into Starman" are among the best songs she's ever done. The arrangements are particularly effective on this album. It's clearly the best-sounding Aimee Mann disc. Her Berklee education continually shines through. br / br /The last Aimee Mann album to be subjected to the "more of the same" treatment was "Lost in Space." I admit, at first I couldn't get into it, but the quality of the songs eventually penetrated my thick skull and now it's one of my favorites. This is another in that class.

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Great Packaging, 2009-08-04
I'm not a great music critic, so I'll let you rely on the other reviews for the music and simply comment on the packaging, which is what makes this special edition unique. br / br /I've never seen anything like this. It is the most adorable packaging I've seen for a CD! It is well worth the additional few bucks. It is very durable and very "green." There's no plastic that I can see, rather it is of very strong cardboard or card stock. Those are steel rivets you see on the binding--nice touch! The lyrics appear on durable card stock, one song per sheet along with playful images, presented in a tabbed index similar to those address books we used to carry before our cell phones. The CD is held in a sleeve that is bound along with the lyrics to the extra thick cardboard cover. br / br /This whimsical, earthy, environmentally-sound, and well constructed packaging well reflects the spirit of the music and that of the artist. You are lucky if you get to have this special edition, that is all I can say.

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Exceeds expectations, 2009-02-20
This is normally not my type of music. I listen to rock, classic rock, some alternative, (real) hip-hop and some jazz. Aimee Mann always seemed too close to pop for me. I enjoyed some of her songs on the radio, but never enough to motivate me to purchase an album. However, I purchased Smilers after seeing her on Austin City Limits. I was hooked by the performance and am now hooked by this album!!! Catchy, mid tempo songs, interesting and bittersweet lyrics, a voice that i can enjoy for extended listening sessions. My toddler dances to it too! it is album that I often listen to from beginning to end, but if your looking for suggested tracks I recommend Freeway, Stranger into Starman, Looking for Nothing, and Phoenix. I am happy I ventured off the familar path to find this album.