So Ani's got a new album out again. And guess what - it's mostly recycled material! Unheard of, you say? Believe it! To be fair, this one's a "career retrospective," and girl is still keeping up with the frenetic album-a-year pace she set for herself from day one, so we can forgive her yet ANOTHER recording of that "Distracted" soundbyte.
I have a lot to say about Ani DiFranco. In fact, the whole reason I have a blog on this website is because I went on Dykes on Mykes for whatever reason after I happened to have seen her at the jazzfest and launched into a long-winded analysis of the show with very little provocation from host Dayna. I wonder if it's still in the archives! Regardless, her name always seems to inspire a host of reactions, and she's been popping up in and around the media lately with the release of Canon. I've been listening to it over the last few days and am prepared to weigh in.
But first.
I have to say, in the past few years I've run into this pesky little tendency among lesbians to declare themselves to be "over" Ani DiFranco. What the fuck is this about? It annoys the hell out of me. Why? Because I'd wager dollars to donuts that the folks who make such claims are the same ones who spent rainy days in high school listening to Out of Range or exhorting the brilliance of the line "When I say you sucked my brain out / . . . " The same girls for whom "In or Out" was a Big Deal when they first heard it. I get that we're older now. I get that going to an Ani show is less appealing when you look around and realize you're surrounded by 17-year-old baby-butches who only recently first heard her early acoustic stuff and shout out requests for "Rockabye" at her. And yeah, after To The Teeth she got a bit too jazzy maybe, a bit too heavy on the god-awful sax solos by Maceo Parker, and maybe a lot of people lost interest after her millionth double-live or bootleg album, but come ON - that doesn't negate all the crazy shit she's done, all the ways that her music impacted you earlier on in your life. Show me a lyricist who has HALF her ability to use metaphor. Hell, I rarely put her music on anymore, either. I never even know when she's playing in town, much less stand in line for hours beforehand like I did all those years ago. But let's remember our roots people, and show some RESPECT.
That said, Canon is what it is. It's a career retrospective, and she's made interesting choices in terms of what she's decided to include, and even more curious choices of what to omit. Half of the second disc is composed of material from her last four records, with the other 56 records she's put out (jk it's only 16 - but that's even WITHOUT the live ones and all that Utah Phillips shit) getting spread out over the first 3/4 of the album. Seems disproportionate but whatevs.
She's re-recorded five songs (Both Hands, Overlap, Napoleon, Your Next Bold Move, and Shameless) because, she claims, she couldn't find any recordings of them that she liked (she also claims she would have re-recorded all of them if she could have) . In my opinion all of her revisitations pale in comparison to the originals with the exception of Napoleon and Overlap. The latter brings in Todd Sickafoose on bass (loved that tour!) and drums, and also it's one of her Best Damn Songs Ever, so there's no going wrong there. On Napoleon she's got the electric going over top of acoustic rhythm work, and even brought back that echo-y voice effect she used on Angelfood (Up x6) Remember that? "It's mostly icing . . . (mostly icing) . . ." It was so random. Also Julie Wolf swearing. That was awesome. She also got really into touchtone phone samples on that record . . . But I digress.
She's made interesting, though obvious, selections for the album, choosing the most popular/strongest songs from each record, though often choosing to weigh some records more heavily than others. All the classics make an appearance, but she's kept it to a minimum where her old material is concerned. I feel like she's probably pretty embarassed by a lot of it now. I mean come on - "Blood in the Boardroom"? It's a song about PERIODS.
As much as I tend to instinctively hit the skip button whenever any really, really old Ani comes through my headphones (it's just that tinny guitar sound!). she's maybe been a bit TOO scant in her early-career inclusions - she put Fire Door and 32 Flavours on the record, but not "Anticipate" or "Out of Habit." Also, the third song on the record is "You Had Time." Now, maybe it's just me, but that song is pretty HEAVY to have so early in the lineup, no? I was all "woah man, we're only on track three let's keep it light for some minutes here, right?" Maybe I'm just having flashbacks to that terrible lesbian movie where Piper Perabo goes crazy and takes up falconry. Filmed at Bishops!
"Wha? Why did she choose THAT of all things"s include:
Fuel, Swim, Paradigm, Millenium Theater, Grey, 78% H20.
Glaring omissions :
Not A Pretty Girl, Angry Anymore, School Night, Out of Habit, Tis of Thee, Garden of Simple.
So there you have it, Ani has a new record. And if you've got a friend who's only recently discovered her, or hasn't discovered her (we've all got one), then this would be a good intro level course. It's always hard to get people onto Ani if they've never heard her, because she's undergone so many musical shifts over the years that it's hard to know what era of her music will most speak to a person. It's a good record for the hardcores too, as it will allow you to revisit your own Ani journey / the traumatic events of your high school years which ani lyrics always seemed to nail to a tee.
Enjoy!
Commenting is closed for this article.
Plus de chroniques : Dexter (27), Dykes On Mykes (60), Live from Marntown (4),Maurice (3),
Mostly Harmless (14), Raging Homo (1)
Plus de critiques : Cinéma (29), Livres / Books (14), Musique / Music (19)
Long Live Ani!
— mél Nov 18, 08:46 #