Aimee Mann - Little Boxes - Various Songs (2010-2012)

Here is the next in my line of stray tracks albums for Aimee Mann. I find her musical output to be of a high quality, and very consistent. So this is more of the same good stuff from her.

The first three songs are originals that have never appeared on an album. That's also the case with the bonus track, "Conflicted," which is only a bonus track due to sound quality issues. Apparently, these songs were meant for a musical based on her "The Forgotten Arm" album, but it never came to fruition.

Some of the remaining songs are covers: "Jealous Guy," The Hissing of Summer Lawns," Free Man in Paris," and "Little Boxes." I believe all the rest are originals. "No More Amsterdam" is a collaboration with "guitar hero" Steve Vai that works surprisingly well and doesn't sound like Vai's typical stuff.

Two of the songs have been drastically edited: "Two Horses" and "Little Boxes." In both cases, Mann did the songs for TV shows, and they only needed a minute or less of music. So, for both of them, I edited them to repeat the entire song. That leaves them still on the short side, but they sound more like complete songs now.

By the way, I'm still looking for "Swanee River," which is a Mann original that has only appeared as a bonus track for the "Charmer" album. It must be for a very limited edition of that album, because I can't find a copy of it anywhere. If you have it, please let me know, so I can add it here.

01. Easy to Die (Aimee Mann)
02. Eiffel Tower (Aimee Mann)
03. You've Got to be Willing to Hurt the One You Love (Aimee Mann)
04. Jealous Guy (Aimee Mann)
05. The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Aimee Mann with Herbie Hancock)
06. Free Man in Paris (Aimee Mann)
07. No More Amsterdam (Steve Vai & Aimee Mann)
08. Brother's Keeper (Aimee Mann)
09. Mea Culpa (Aimee Mann)
10. Two Horses [Edit] (Aimee Mann)
11. Bigger than Love (Aimee Mann & Benjamin Gibbard)
12. Little Boxes [Edit] (Aimee Mann)

Conflicted (Aimee Mann)

https://www64.zippyshare.com/v/QpnJg9zL/file.html

For the cover art, I decided to adopt a literal approach to the album title. The song it is based on, "Little Boxes," was written by Malvina Reynolds in the 1960s after seeing the suburban tract housing of Daly City, near San Francisco. So I've used a photo of a Daly City neighborhood.