Pop music often acts as an escape mechanism, a way to "kick out the jams" or "rock the house." But pop music as a therapeutic tool is a prickly thing. Anyone listening to Michael Jackson or Eminem for nuggets of wisdom might have some real problems.

Listening to Aimee Mann's music, however, might be a good thing. Mann, who appears tonight at WYEP-FM's fourth annual Holiday Concert, admits to reading psychology books for ideas and inspiration.

"I'm really interested in people," Mann says. "I don't know anybody who is really normal, and I know a lot of people who are really damaged. So if I read something and can apply it to myself or somebody I know, it increases my understanding of that person."

"Lost in Space," Mann's latest release, is a collection of songs about obsession, addiction and loss. If those topics sound way too cerebral for the mainstream, they are. For years, Mann fought with labels that wanted her material to be more radio friendly. 

Those battles are well-chronicled - "It's old news, now," she says - and it appeared Mann was destined to become a victim of her own talent. She was literally too good - and too intelligent - for the radio.

Fortunately, director Paul Thomas Anderson had heard a tape of the music Mann was recording while he was writing the script for his 1999 movie "Magnolia." He was impressed enough to start writing characters based on her songs, and Mann's "Save Me," earned an Academy Award nomination for best song.

The recognition was nice, she says, but Mann regards the process as part of a grander scheme. It wasn't really all about her music.

"Getting nominated for an Oscar is definitely an honor," she says. "But it's not to say I don't have a clear view of how that happened. I worked with a director who made it an effort to tell everybody, kind of enhancing my cause. ... It was a movie that got a lot of attention with a very esteemed filmmaker. There was a studio behind it and a soundtrack with a major label behind it, and everybody knew it had a chance of getting nominated. And frankly, I don't think there are an enormous amount of movies that have songs written specifically for them out there. So they knew, the studio knew, there was a chance of getting nominated, and they knew that it was worthwhile to publicize that and try to make that happen because it would bring more business."

Mann probably could have written her own ticket after "Magnolia," but she decided to keep control of her own music. "Bachelor No. 2," released in 2000, drew good reviews, and "Lost in Space" has been critically praised despite its often dark subject matter. 

Still, post-traumatic stress disorder as fodder for rock 'n' roll?

If you think about it, and the neuroses that accompany much of celebrity, it's not that far-fetched. And Mann says, "If you've got those kinds of topics on your mind, it's probably better to consciously explore it instead of subconsciously chew on it." 

One song particularly stands out as it addresses the paralysis of addiction. "The Moth" takes a cliche - the attraction to a flame - and expands upon it, Mann's lyrics taking the form of a meditation as it explores a fatal attraction.

"Quite frankly, what it was, I was thinking about a specific person," she says. "This person is kind of a famous guy, but I don't personally know him. So he's a famous person, and I kind of speculated about him a bit. I'm referring to him as a moth, because he's got problems with substance abuse, and you just sort of take that a little farther, and it becomes an allegory, the moth to the flame. ... When you start to think about it, you think about what else does the moth require from that flame?" 

Mann laughs, adding that the song was partly meant to be funny, partly true. And no, she won't disclose who the song is about, despite an interviewer's guesses (it's definitely not Ben Affleck), although she admits she can't figure out the whole Jennifer Lopez-Affleck relationship.

But she can understand the public's fascination with celebrity, being a minor one herself.

"You have as much information about Michael Jackson as you do about your best friend," she says. You literally know as much information as there is about him, so it creates this weird kind of intimacy where you are intimate with him but he's not intimate with you. 

"It's a very strange circumstance, and a lot of fans of mine seem like they know me very intimately. It's quite a clash, because to me, they're strangers."

Since its inception in 1999, WYEP-FM's annual holiday concert series has benefited two charities that act as advocates for abused and neglected children.

CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates - trains community volunteers who provide information and work with the child welfare system to assure that children's need are being met. The organization also tries to ensure that abused children are placed in loving, safe and permanent homes. In 2001, it served 400 of the 6,000 children in Allegheny County declared dependent because of abuse or neglect.

Family Resources tries to prevent and treat child abuse by strengthening families and neighborhoods. Among the services the organization provides are home visits, hot lines, education classes for parents and children, and therapy groups for adults and children involved in cases of abuse.

The first three holiday concerts raised almost $45,000, according to WYEP-FM general manager Lee Ferraro. He estimates this year's show could raise as much as $20,000.

"These funds will go directly to recruiting and supporting volunteers who work for abused and neglected children," says Court Appointed Special Advocates executive director Mary Jo Meenen. "It will allow our organization to fulfill its mission by providing the court with thorough, up-to-date case facts and recommendations on behalf of each child."

"We've found the support from WYEP enormously helpful in underwriting Parents Anonymous groups and the Nurturing Course, a parent education series," says Family Resources spokeswoman Andi Fischoff. "Both these programs are among the most successful strategies available in the country for preventing child abuse and making sure that children who already have suffered abuse are not abused again.

For more information about CASA: (412) 594-3606 or www.pgh-casa.org.

For more information about Family Resources: (412) 363-1702, (800) 641-4546 or www.familyresourcesofpa.com.
 

- Regis Behe

Regis Behe can be reached at rbehe@tribweb.com or (412)320-7990.