Aimee In Bloom

The Aimee Mann songs included on the soundtrack of "Magnolia" are a perfect fit for Paul Thomas Anderson's fascinating film about a group of people struggling to find peace and belonging in life. In the last decade, Mann has been trying to find that with a record label. Since her old band, 'Til Tuesday, broke up, she has recorded three solo albums (not including "Magnolia") on three different labels. In fact, she released her latest effort, "Bachelor No. 2," independently.

The Mann contributions to "Magnolia" were written or released during the years 1990-1999. The one song Mann didn't write which appears here is "One," the Harry Nilsson song which was a big hit for Three Dog Night in 1969. It originally appeared on a Nilsson tribute album in 1994, but it fits the mood of "Magnolia" as well as any song Mann wrote on the soundtrack. Stylistically, it sounds a lot like the hit record, except Mann conveys the song's sense of desperation more subtly, and gives the impression we're all alone together, unlike the hit version.

The two oldest songs follow "One." "Momentum" is the tale of someone watching the years pass ever quicker, but afraid of breaking from routine to commit to the things in life that matter most. "Build That Wall" is a song about a person who helplessly watches a friend who can't make a clean break from a destructive past, but keeps friends at arm's length. Mann delivers the vocals sweetly and sadly as the people in her tunes, for some reason, don't take more control of their lives.


Four of Mann's songs can also be found on "Bachelor No. 2" (3 1/2 if you consider that "Nothing Is Good Enough" appears without the vocals). The first of those tracks is "Deathly," where Mann sings about a person who craves affection and fears it all at once. "Driving Sideways" is "Build That Wall" told from a man's perspective. "You Do" is a ballad about a woman who mistakes sexual intimacy for love, time and time again. "Nothing Is Good Enough" is a piano-driven piece that shows Mann's musical skill, even when she's not singing.

The last two of Mann's contributions are the album's two best tracks. The "Wise Up" sequence in "Magnolia" was the most memorable, as the characters in the movie, one by one, sing lines from the song. The actors don't appear on the track, but Mann doesn't need them. On "Wise Up," a song which originally appeared in the movie "Jerry Maguire," Mann plays advice giver, reminding everyone to be careful of wishes, for life is in a constant state of change. On the Oscar-nominated song "Save Me," she is someone wanting and expecting a person who will make love a reality. Not once does Mann remind people of her 'Til Tuesday days in her songs. The synthesizers that featured prominently in her old band's hits have been replaced with softer, more melodic accompaniment, like acoustic guitars, piano, and orchestral instruments. Perhaps Mann would have shed 'Til Tuesday on her own, but their label, Epic Records, dumped them first. In spite of her problems, Mann has persevered and grown as a solo artist.

The soundtrack's final four tracks aren't Aimee Mann tracks, but are fine songs in their own right. "Goodbye Stranger" and "The Logical Song" by Supertramp are oldies but goodies that originally appeared on their 1979 best-selling album, "Breakfast In America." When disco, "My Sharona," and "Rust Never Sleeps" weren't playing on the radio, Supertramp was. "Dreams," a 1993 song by Gabrielle, is a pleasant tune with a nice dance beat, but I'm not rushing out to find a Gabrielle anthology CD. The disc's final track is "Magnolia," a beautiful, haunting instrumental by Jon Brion, who has worked with Mann during her solo career.

Anderson makes interesting revelations in the liner notes he wrote for the "Magnolia" soundtrack. The film was his attempt to adapt her songs into a screenplay. He had access to Mann's recordings and actually put some of Mann's thoughts into the mouths of his characters. The movie is a wonderful collaboration of a fine film artist and a fine recording artist. Anderson does leave one question unanswered, though: where did he hear an Aimee Mann song about a rain of frogs?