Tonight's Top Stop: Aimee Mann

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AIMEE MANN'S FIRST ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOW winds up its monthlong tour at the Birchmere tonight and tomorrow. The former 'Til Tuesday singer and insightful chronicler of human sadness has — surprise! — decided to lighten up and conduct a holiday variety show. The event is hosted by "Saturday Night Live" comedian Fred Armisen and features singer-songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips along with some other special guests. (At Mann's recent New York City show, comedians Morgan Murphy and Paul F. Tompkins, as well as vocalist/pianist/adorable kook Nellie McKay, dropped by.)

Mann's new holiday CD, "One More Drifter in the Snow," is an excellent compendium of reinterpreted classics such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," along with one great Mann original, "Calling on Mary," and an old composition, "Christmastime," by her singer-songwriter husband, Michael Penn. The usually stone-faced Mann even drops her guard with a cute cover of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."

Because Mann treats these holiday songs as real compositions with strong emotional cores — and not as just another tossed-off collection of trite Xmas tunes — "One More Drifter in the Snow" is an album that could easily be listened to year-round.

In a recent conversation with Express' Jennifer Barger, Mann said, "I don't really like modern sounds on holiday records. No 'Electronica Christmas' for me. My favorites are from the 1940s and 1950s, like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. I wanted to hint at some of the old-fashioned arrangements that are almost corny. But it's a fine line — I've tried to keep the record in that mellow, we're-sitting-by-the-fireplace-with-eggnog mood."

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., $45; 703-549-7500.

» GET MORE TOP STOPS for tonight here.