NEW MANN SEARCHING FOR LIGHT\Ex-'Til Tuesday leader ready to put troubles behind her after\record-company nightmare.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

Aimee Mann is concerned that she's developing a reputation for feeling burned by the music business.

In the next breath, the former 'Til Tuesday bassist-singer compounds the problem by bitterly illustrating exactly why she's getting that reputation.

"There's a certain amount of frustration I've felt in working with people I consider stupid," she said, warming to a bit of a snit. "All I want to do is something good. It doesn't seem like I'm asking too much. You're right if you think I'm angry about what I've been through."

What Mann has been through really isn't all that unusual, truth be told. Her most recent gripe is, after spending the better part of a year in dreary London recording the follow-up to her 1993 solo album, "Whatever," for Imago Records, the company went belly-up, leaving Mann high and dry. And still under contract.

Finally, after threatening to license the year-old album to another label against her wishes, Imago sold Mann's contract to Geffen Records with her blessing, and the disc, "I'm With Stupid" (DGC/Geffen), was issued a few weeks ago.

"It's the old story of an artist trying to get her music heard," Mann, 34, said from Seattle, where she was in the midst of a short, grueling tour. "I talk about it in interviews because I think it should be common knowledge. It should be explained in a very simple way. I know lots of people who have been put on ice by their record company who could have made four albums instead of just one in all that time."

Mann, who lives in Los Angeles, has two sold-out shows tonight at the Roxy in West Hollywood.

The formerly Boston-based singer-songwriter has had other hassles. Epic, the label she and her old band, 'Til Tuesday, recorded for in the '80s, refused to free her from that deal, even though the company had no plans to release any more music from the group.

"I was ready to quit the business entirely," Mann said of her most recent ordeal. "I couldn't take it anymore. I would have just gone off somewhere and gotten a job. Doing what, I don't know."

Luckily for us, it didn't come to that. "I'm With Stupid," written in part with longtime collaborator Jon Brion, is a striking effort that brings tough-minded pop and folk-pop harmonies into the late '90s. Collaborators also include Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, Juliana Hatfield and current guy pal Michael Penn.

The disc includes the song, "That's Just What You Are," which garnered much radio play early last year due to its inclusion on the "Melrose Place: The Music" soundtrack album.

Mann is no stranger to pop success. In 1985, 'Til Tuesday's song and video of "Voices Carry" reached the top 10. The follow-up, however, never cracked the top 20, and the band broke up a few years later.

"After that, I started writing songs that were based on acoustic guitar rather than the drum machines and synthesizers we started out with," Mann said. "The band had wanted to stick with this dance-funk thing, and I was moving toward this folkie stuff."

The impasse with Epic lasted three years, during which time Mann remained in Boston, performing with Brion along the East Coast. Eventually, "Whatever," her first solo album, came out on the ill-fated Imago label.

Mann makes clear that she doesn't enjoy touring, at least on the level she currently is traveling.

"This tour is 3-1/2 weeks, but it might as well be three years," she explained. "The musicians are completely losing their minds. It's extremely exhausting. There's no novelty factor. We're all homesick. Nobody's saying, 'This is really fun!' We're living on pretzels from the bar. I've never understood how people can go out for months at a time."

Still, Mann is looking forward to one more trip when she arrives back in Los Angeles.

"Believe it or not, I really am going to Disneyland when I get home," she said. "I'm going to take my whole band and stay at the park hotel and eat at the restaurant."

Meanwhile, as the tour winds down, Mann tries to stay cheerful. It's obviously becoming a chore.

"I'm not one of those people who gets a kick out of exploring the dark side," she said. "The dark side gets plenty of air time as it is. I'm into exploring the light. Give me the light!"

THE FACTS

Who: Aimee Mann.

Where: Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: 8 and 10:30 tonight.

Tickets: Sold out; try brokers.

Information: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Performing two sold-out shows tonight at the Roxy in West Hollywood, Aimee Mann has moved away from the synthesizer-driven sound of her 'Til Tuesday days in favor of a guitar-based approach.