The title of Aimee Mann's latest album, "@#%&*! Smilers," does a good job of conveying the tone of the singer-songwriter's output, not to mention her wry sense of humor; which isn't to say Mann has nothing to smile about. After years of hassling with major record labels about the direction of her music, first as the leader of the post-new wave Boston band 'Til Tuesday in the 80s, and then as a solo artist in the early 90s, Mann became one of the first pop artists to successfully strike out as an independent, before the Internet and affordable do-it-yourself technology made such a move easy for anyone. Nevertheless, she doesn't necessarily believe that music in general benefits from this tech-assisted egalitarianism.
"You know, I'm a snob," she says over the phone from her office in Los Angeles. "I don't like that much stuff. Music has a different function for me than when I was a kid. I'm now looking for music that's inspiring, and to be inspiring is a tall order."
She continues, "It's difficult to sort through it all, to decide what to listen to and what to track down. It makes it difficult for me as a listener and a fan. I gravitate to one song here and one song there. I don't listen to full albums any more."