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If you are a mad Aimee Mann fan like myself, you will want to know two things: first, that she has made a concept album and it is available for pre-order beginning March 9th for delivery beginning May 3rd. March 9th is tomorrow, not today, no matter how often I check the date on my computer. Second, the first three songs on the album are available for streaming on her website.

"Dear John" is much like an Aimee Mann song, but it has more aggressive rock tendencies than most of her recent output. "King of the Jailhouse" is slower, near to lugubrious, very orchestrated. "Goodbye Caroline" is driven by a fairly meaty rhythm section, with drugs -- and the guitar has a bit of fuzz to it, which is nice. I'm cautiously optimistic for the entire album, which is I suppose the intention of such a preview. I think she's been in a bit of a rut lately, and I miss the sparse distortion of I'm With Stupid. The Forgotten Arm isn't a return to that, but it's also not placid. Is it May 3rd yet?