Aimee Mann: Charmer

THIS ALBUM is full of horrible, heartbreaking things. Things that happen not just to bad people but good people, too. Of course, by the time a few of Charmer's songs have passed by, the lines between good and bad become so blurred that the infinite subjective becomes the only rational paradigm. Perhaps perspective really is everything. Perhaps there's no such thing as "good" or "bad" people, only those who shift from righteous to rakish and back as the people and situations around them revolve. Only those who suffer and struggle through the confusion, alternately trying their best to transcend it and flailing recklessly through time and space with no regard whatsoever for anyone — least of all themselves.