Magnolia
Soundtrack / Aimee Mann
On Sale Now
For $13.48

The songs on Aimee Mann’s soundtrack for the film Magnolia aren’t exactly full of laughs unless you consider a line like "Now that I’ve met you, would you object to never seeing each other again" humorous. Ditto for the songs of disappointment and cynicism on her independently released new album Bachelor #2. And while her husband Michael Penn’s new album MP4: Days Since A Lost Time Incident is a tad brighter in tone, his songs occasionally touch on the dark side of relationships as well. So I guess it was appropriate that the singer-songwriters brought along a comedian for their latest tour. He provided not only an opening set of mostly lame comedy but also between song banter for both artists. One funny bit involved him doing the voice of what Penn was actually thinking as he talked to the audience. Dubbed "acoustic vaudeville," it’s a show Mann and Penn have honed during appearances together at the Los Angeles club Largo over the years.

So what could have been a dark night of the soul or even a coronation of Mann as the media’s poster child for record company troubles who is finally seeing success, actually turned out to be a low-key, light-hearted romp through the catalogs of both artists.

Guitarist Buddy Judge (The Grays), keyboard player and longtime Penn sideman Patrick Warren, and drummer John Sands joined both artists onstage. Mann and Penn traded songs and sung harmony vocals on each other’s songs.

Mann opened with three selections from 1995’s I’m With Stupid, including a languid "You Could Make a Killing." Penn followed with three songs from 1992's Free For All and 1997's Resigned including a nice acoustic "Long Way Down" and a full-band rendition of "Me Around." Mann took over lead vocals again for a set of songs from her latest releases. Judge and Penn added nice harmonies to Magnolia’s "Wise Up" as Warren added haunting piano. The catchy "Ghost World" from Bachelor #2 followed.

Penn later showcased songs from the poppy and produced MP4 including stripped-down versions of "Whole Truth" and "Perfect Candidate." While they lacked the multi-tracked vocals of the album, the sparer instrumentation allowed one to concentrate on the complex structure of the songs, which owe a debt to Lennon and McCartney. The band revved up the mostly acoustic evening with a rocking version of "Brave New World" from Penn’s 1989 album March to end the main set.

A three-song encore included Mann’s pretty piano-based "Amateur." Penn’s melancholy "Out of My Hands" was a highlight of the show. And they concluded the evening trading verses on Penn’s big hit "No Myth."

Despite the fact that they were onstage together most of the evening, Mann and Penn didn’t interact much other than the grimace they exchanged when somebody hit a bad note during Penn’s "High Time." In fact, for the most part they chose to just blend in with the other members of this surprisingly jolly "acoustic vaudeville" caravan.

Copyright © 2008 ModernRock.com All Rights Reserved