Oh, Mann

A former Geffen Records executive who also has left the label considers the article something of an embarrassment. He insists Mann has spent far too much time laboring over a tale so often told in the music business that it has become the stuff of sad cliché.

"God, why can't she stop talking about why labels are no damned good?" he wonders. "People who buy records don't care about that stuff -- it's so mundane, so boring, so meaningless. She's an amazingly talented musician. Why can't she talk about that?"

Aimee Mann sings to Tom Cruise and William H. Macy in the video for "Save Me," one of eight Mann songs from the forthcoming Magnolia soundtrack.

Mann with Michael Hausman, the former 'Til Tuesday drummer who has since become her manager

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• Aimee Mann
• Sound Recording Industries
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• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Jon Brion

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Mann, for her part, loved the Times piece. If nothing else, after years of railing against her various labels -- Epic, Imago, Geffen -- she finds she can do so now without fear of retribution. She can say whatever she wants in interviews without her manager coming down on her after talking to the press. She's free to bad-mouth anyone she wants, and she does so frequently. There's nothing quite like the artist with nothing left to lose.

"Before, you're supposed to lie and put a spin on it and pretend you're happy with the situation, when you feel like you're really being demeaned all the time," she says. "It's actually kind of fun. Interestingly enough, this is the one time I'm not bitter." She laughs. "I don't have a grudge. I'm totally happy. Let bygones be bygones, God bless everyone. Let's move on. I have no shred of anger left for those people anymore. I am out of the bad marriage." xxLaura Rossignol