Aimee

As usual, Aimee Mann’s latest is slowly crawling under my skin and taking over. Her songs don’t jump out from the radio and grab you by the neck and say “let’s go!” They sneak in through the back, sit in a dark corner and just say what they have to say, over and over, and eventually you notice them and can’t get them out of your head. Unlike most such songs, you don’t want to, either. Last night the one that really grabbed me was “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas” — the title alone says everything you could say about addiction. And “Little Bombs,” which read from a lyrics sheet in the cold light of day means almost nothing — but listen to her voice. Incredible.

Also heard an interesting little snippet on Fresh Air last night — a re-release of the band Joe Strummer was in pre-Clash, the 101ers. It sounded great, there were definitely early elements of The Clash in there. In other musical news, last week I bought one of the odder pairs possible, even for someone whose tastes have a fairly wide range: The Ramones’ “Pleasant Dreams” and the Partridge Family’s “Sound Magazine.” They both rock. Trust me.