Ani DiFranco Goods on JamBase

Ani DiFranco

Official Website | Listen on Rhapsody


Live at Babeville (2008): Available at: Amazon

Canon: Available at: Amazon

Reprieve: Every new Ani album gives listeners a reason to get excited about music all over again, and her latest is no exception: 13 more tastes of her signature blend of poetry, politics, and dazzling musicianship. It’s just the Little Folksinger and bassist Todd Sickafoose at her home in New Orleans this time, offering up a picture of what’s been on her mind lately during turbulent times on the personal, cultural, and global front. Reprieve finds Ani speaking her truth, singing from her heart, and playing music like her life—like all of our lives—depended on it.; Track Listing: 1. hypnotized
2. subconscious
3. in the margins
4. nicotine
5. decree
6. 78% H2O
7. millennium theater
8. half-assed
9. reprieve
10. a spade
11. unrequited
12. shroud
13. reprise; Available at: Amazon

Carnegie Hall - 4/6/02 LIVE: Ani DiFranco’s live shows are legendary, whether performing with a six-piece band or standing alone with her guitar, but some shows stand out from the rest. Ani’s historic 2002 solo performance at the Carnegie Hall is one of those. The ecstatic vibrancy of that evening is captured on Righteous Babe Records’ latest release, Carnegie Hall 4.6.02.; Track Listing: 1. God's Country
2. Subdivision
3. Angry Any
4. Educated G
5. Not So Soft
6. 2 Lil Girls
7. Gratitude
8. Detroit Annie...
9. In The Way
10. 2nd Intermission
11. Names & Dates
12. Serpentine
13. Work In Progress
14. Out Of Range
15. Bonus Track 1; Available at: Amazon

Knuckle Down: The music on Ani DiFranco’s latest CD is as stunning as ever, packed with irresistible melodies, poignant lyrics, and virtuoso performances. But for the first time in her career, Ani has invited a fellow singer-songwriter to work with her as co-producer: Joe Henry, himself the creator of nine highly regarded solo albums.
She is also joined by more than half a dozen guest musicians, many of whom have played key roles in Ani’s recent career, including current stage partner Todd Sickafoose, former band member Julie Wolf, and Righteous Babe recording artist Andrew Bird. Through twelve new songs as intricately crafted as short stories, DiFranco creates another unforgettable musical self-portrait of a woman coming to grips with love’s twists and turns, confronting the legacy of her family, and learning to live on her own terms. - Amazon.com; Track Listing: Track List
1. knuckle down
2. studying stones
3. manhole
4. sunday morning
5. modulation
6. seeing eye dog
7. lag time
8. parameters
9. callous
10. paradigm
11. minerva
12. recoil; Available at: Amazon

Educated Guess: In form, this is the disc DiFranco fans have wanted for years: a return to her naked roots of words and guitar, entirely played, sung, and taped to eight-track by Ani herself. But in important ways, Educated Guess suggests there is no going back. Even alone, the lessons of DiFranco's adventurous decade with a band are apparent.; Available at: Amazon

Not In Our Name: A Benefit CD: Proceeds from this purchase will be donated to the Not In Our Name project, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization created in response to the actions of the US Government in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. Supports general education awareness programs for the public community and schools; Track Listing:
1- Michael Franti & Spearhead - "Oh My God" 2- Jonatha Brooke - "War" 3- Ani DiFranco - "Evolve" 4- Ozomatli - "Pa'lante" 5- Charlie Hunter Quintet - "Whoop-Ass" 6- Los Pachanga Pistols - "I Don't Have A Car And I Live In LA" 7- Martin Luther - "The Calling" 8- Shana Morrison - "Connection" 9- The Looters - "Manzanar" 10- Les Claypool - "David Makalaster 2" 11- Garrin Benefield - "Home" 12- Michael Franti & Spearhead - "Stay Human (stereo steambath remix)"; Available at: Homegrown

Little Plastic Castle: As she's gone from the Young Woman Who Could to the Woman Who Has, Ani DiFranco has explored more than her share of musical styles, all the while remaining true to her core. Even during her most extreme departures, you could hear the sound of the early albums coming through. On Little Plastic Castle, an album on which people are credited for adding pontifications, incantations, and an "evil machine" to songs, you could--for the first time--hear an almost completely new artist. Call her Ani, version 3; she couldn't have existed without hearing all of Ani, version 1's albums, and she wouldn't be as funky and experimental without the influence of Ani, version 2. She still has a lot to say--about politics, about relationships, about herself--but the messages aren't thrown in your face here (well, not as often). Instead they're wrapped in funky hooks and lots of production--anything you learn from DiFranco on this album will come from pure repetition, and for the first time, the album is varied enough, catchy enough, and subtle enough that you'll push the repeat button while cleaning the house.; Track Listing: 1. Little Plastic Castle
2. Fuel
3. Gravel
4. As Is
5. Two Little Girls
6. Deep Dish
7. Loom
8. Pixie
9. Swan Dive
10. Glasshouse
11. Independence Day
12. Pulse; Available at: Amazon

Living in Clip LIVE: The mannered vocal style that has always been the most off-putting element of Ani DiFranco's music is still present on this two-disc live set, but for some reason it doesn't matter anymore. Maybe it's the way you can hear DiFranco using her breaths to accent a rhythm section that's downright merciless with its circling, pulsing, scary grooves. Or maybe it's the way, with an audience screaming, she pours heart and soul into "Unforgettable Face" and the story song "Gravel." Whatever, Living in Clip is the album where DiFranco begins to deserve her hype. And "Amazing Grace," backed by the Buffalo Philharmonic, is where she surpasses it.; Track Listing: 1. Whatever
2. Wherever
3. Gravel
4. Willing To Fight
5. Shy
6. Joyful Girl
7. Hide And Seek
8. Napoleon
9. I'm No Heroine
10. Amazing Grace

Disc: 2
1. Untouchable Face
2. Shameless
3. Distracted
4. Adam And Eve
5. Firedoor
6. Both Hands
7. Out Of Habit
8. Every State Line
9. Not So Soft
10. Travel Tips; Available at: Amazon

Out of Range: Out of Range marks the end of the first phase of Ani DiFranco's career, not so much in terms of the way she goes about her business (as always, on her own terms) but in terms of her songwriting, arranging, performing, and, to a greater extent than ever before, growing popularity.; Available at: Amazon

Imperfectly: It's only by looking back on Imperfectly, Ani DiFranco's third album that we're able to see how far she's come. It's also easy to see where she came from. At this point, DiFranco was still enough of a traditional folkie to stick a political sentiment like "She sits there like America / Suffering through slow reform" into a personal song that deals with abuse ("Fixing Her Hair"). Similarly, on many songs she sounds as though if she's already come to terms with her sexuality, then she hasn't yet come to terms with the way society deals with it. But she also demonstrates that she's figuring out how to use her voice, charisma, affected delivery, and the chance to play around in the studio on the a cappellas "Every State Line" and "Coming Up." There's also the tender, impassioned tracks ("The Waiting Song," "Served Faithfully"), which DiFranco's never had a short supply of--and never been less than moving on.; Track Listing: 1. What If No One's Watching
2. Fixing Her Hair
3. In Or Out
4. Every State Line
5. Circle Of Light
6. If It Isn't Her
7. Good, Bad, Ugly
8. I'm No Heroine
9. Coming Up
10. Make Them Apologize
11. The Waiting Song
12. Served Faithfully
13. Imperfectly; Available at: Amazon

Ani DiFranco: Ani DiFranco was a star from the get-go. It just took the world a little while to catch on to that fact. In 1990, folksingers didn't shave their heads, wear nose rings, or sing about the feelings in their jeans, but DiFranco did. Her bracing, punky stance hit just as hard on her debut as it does now--perhaps even more so, due to its freshness and DiFranco's uncompromising solo acoustic attack. These songs, all delivered with an absorbing passion and a palpable conviction, are the bedrock of her soaring career. Some, like the fantastic and challenging "Both Hands," still pop up in concert. --Michael Ruby; Track Listing: 1. Both Hands
2. Talk To Me Now
3. The Slant
4. Work Your Way Out
5. Dog Coffee
6. Lost Woman Song
7. Pale Purple
8. Rush Hour
9. Fire Door
10. The Story
11. Every Angle
12. Out Of Habit
13. Letting The Telephone Ring; Available at: Amazon

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