`MAGNOLIA' BLOSSOMS WITH BEAUTY AIMEE MANN AND HER SOUNDTRACK GETTING CRITICAL, POPULAR ACCLAIM.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Aimee Mann doesn't consider herself a muckraker, and she certainly doesn't see herself as any kind of whistle blower. Yet this perennial music-biz insider, whose songs play a pivotal role in Paul Thomas Anderson's widely praised film ``Magnolia,'' is a fearless soul.

At the risk of burning bridges by exposing the inner-workings of the world's largest record companies, Mann tells how label execs have continually tried to change her music even to the point of refusing to release her albums. Most recently, the Golden Globe-nominated Mann shelled out a significant amount of cash to buy back her latest album, ``Bachelor No.2,'' from her previous label, Interscope Records, rather than agree to their demands to scrap parts of it so she could write and record more radio-friendly material.

``One of the reasons it's so frustrating dealing with people at record companies who are trying to push you in a direction you're not comfortable with, is that they're trying to get you to do stuff you're not good at,'' Mann said. ``Posing for pictures and videos and schmoozing are the things I'm least competent at.''

The ``Magnolia'' soundtrack features nine songs from Mann, including the opening theme, a cover of Harry Nilsson's ``One.'' The first single, ``Save Me,'' was nominated last month for a Golden Globe for best original song. ``She is the great articulator of the biggest things we think about,'' Anderson said. ``You can look at the movie as the perfect memento to remember the songs that Aimee has made. Aimee is a brilliant writer.''

Mann, who rose to fame with '80s pop band 'Til Tuesday, appears Saturday in an acoustic in-store show at Borders in Santa Monica. In a perverse way, she enjoys the challenge of performing for free at a busy bookstore. ``Part of me gets a kick playing for people who aren't paying much attention,'' Mann said this week. ``I mean, I don't think those kinds of things are my favorite gigs in the world. It's a brightly lit situation where everyone's drinking coffee and yawning. Lilith Fair was like that - people wandering around looking at booths. A lot of them don't know who you are. I'm just the soundtrack to their good times.''

Mann's third solo album and first independent release, ``Bachelor No.2,'' released on her own Superego label, will be available early next month just as she goes out on tour with her husband of two years, fellow singer-songwriter Michael Penn. Mann says Interscope's complaints about the new disc included her choice of a writing partner (Elvis Costello) for a track titled ``Fall of the World's Own Optimist.'' It marks her first collaboration with Costello since ``The Other End of the Telescope,'' which Costello also cut, after its initial appearance on a 'Til Tuesday album.

``We have our record back, and I'm sure Interscope could've given us a lot more trouble about getting it back, but they didn't, and God bless 'em,'' Mann said. ``People who want to have giant hits at any cost, that's the place for them. If they want to make fabulous videos and have giant hits and have people asking them what they're wearing at the Grammys, that's perfect for them. It's the system they belong in.

``It hasn't been a system for people like me in a long, long time. I was crazy to think I could find some way to make it work for me. As it happens, I can't.''

Despite her marriage, many of Mann's songs on ``Bachelor'' deal with being single. ``Some of them I had already written or started working on before we were married,'' she explained. ``But my relationship with Michael is so unique that there are ways in which I don't really feel like I'm in a relationship, because I've defined 'relationship' as being this sort of unwieldy, nightmarish thing. Having a happy marriage enables you to actually get work done, rather than being so despondent you just sit in a room for days on end. And he's also a great help in bouncing things off of and getting a good second opinion. It's nice have another professional musician in the house.''

After 'Til Tuesday disbanded, Mann released her 1993 solo debut, ``Whatever,'' (Imago) to enthusiastic reviews. Her 1996 follow-up, the Jon Brion-produced ``I'm With Stupid'' (Geffen), was hailed in Time as one of the ``catchiest pop albums of the year, brimming with poised three-minute mini-masterpieces.''

The latter album's Squeeze-augmented ``That's Just What You Are'' appeared on the popular ``Melrose Place'' soundtrack album. Mann also placed songs in ``Jerry Maguire'' (filmmaker Cameron Crowe being among of her most ardent fans), ``Cruel Intentions'' and ``Sliding Doors.''

But it will probably be because of Anderson's inspired use of Mann's material in his ``Magnolia'' that the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter will become even better-known. Typically, Mann downplays her part in the creation of ``Magnolia,'' a strong contender in this movie awards season.

``Paul gave me a sense early on of how the songs would be used,'' she said. ``But when you see the finished product, it felt like I fooled everyone. But I don't know who I felt like I was fooling. Maybe myself.''

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Photo: Aimee Mann contributed songs for Paul Thomas Anderson's ``Magnolia.''