Aimee Mann’s sixth album of original material, 2008’s @#%&*! Smilers, is her best work yet. It’s the first since Bachelor No. 2 to work as a simple collection of songs and not a concept album and perhaps it was that freedom that allowed her to produce such a consistently great record.

This is one of those albums that feels like it’s always one step ahead of you, taking unexpected turns that seem perfectly obvious in retrospect. It’s the rare album about which you can say “There isn’t a moment on this record I don’t love.”

Or at least, it’s an album about which I can say that. @#%&*! Smilers received critical acclaim, but I recall seeing it at the top of only one best-of-2008 list aside from my own. It’s an eternal mystery why somebody’s “pretty good album” is somebody else’s masterpiece… I guess the lucky artists release enough albums that at least something they do will be received as a masterpiece by somebody.

‘Medicine Wheel’ is a lovely piano ballad with typically provocative lyrics. It seems to be about medicating children and, um, a homeless guy? The production here is fabulous… listen to how the horns and drums enter the mix at the start of the second verse, and what sounds like an electric piano solo at the bridge. Mann makes such great use of layered instrumentation in her songs.

So this concludes my trip down Aimee Mann Lane. Hope you’ve enjoyed it.