In the interest of being Mundane and Personal (and because i simply must share)…
I got the new Paul Simon album a couple weeks ago, and because Paul Simon writes the kind of music Paul Simon does it’s been the only thing i’ve listened to for about 2 weeks.
Today, however, i woke up with Untouchable Face stuck in my head, so i fired in some Ani.
Jesus Living God (said the Taoist) did i ever miss Ani Difranco.
For those of you who dont know who she is, she’s rather like Jewel, except she didn’t sleep her way to the top (infact, she started her own record label) and doesnt do cutesie-poo stuff. It’s sort of Folk/Punk on an acoustic guitar…
I resurrected this thread because I just bought my first Ani Difranco CD yesterday (Out of Range). I can’t stop listening to it! She’s as good as friends have told me. What a Righteous Babe.
And a dissenting vote. Ani’s OK, but I can’t get into her music. I think she overplays the outraged socially conscious contemporary young female card. And she’s so damned prolific (something like 19 albums in 10 years) which I think must affect the quality.
And although it’s fashionable for some reason to sneer at her, in my opinion, Jewel has a better voice.
I’ve seen Ani! I saw her early last year at Shepherds Bush Empire (London) and she did truly rock. Sadly, i just can’t listen to her now because i overdosed on Ani when i split up from by ex-gf and now her voice reminds me of being a miserable poohead. sigh
Ani is ok. I really liked Out Of me… when I heard it back in the mid 90’s. However, that’s the only song by her I really and truely like. I prefer Jewel, Poe, Tracy Bonham, Beth Orton etc for female vocalists.
Please tell me that Ani DiFranco isn’t connected with “The DiFranco Family”, who were sort of a Partridge Family type group, without the hard-hitting, thought provoking, intricate songs that the Partridge Family was known for :rolleyes:. They were icky-sweet, treacly with a vague disco beat (their hit was “Abra-Cadabra”) and the lead was an annoying teenage castrato-sounding kid. They can’t be related…can they?
Have you heard her new 2 cd set, Reckoning / Revelling? I’ve only listened to it once, but I remember finding it subdued compared to her recent work.
I can sympathise with those who have found her early work over-earnest and, often, repetitive, but the direction she’s been moving in has demonstrated a greater fascination with possible musical ranges, blends, and genre-bending.
Her lyrics made me an teenage ani-fan; her musical explorations and experimentations hold me as an adult.