Review - Ani Difranco "Up Up Up Up Up Up"
album on Righteous Babe
Records through Shock!
Ani Difranco does not write a short
song! "Up....." on Righteous
Babe through Shock! is a collection of eleven tracks
which rolls out to in excess of an hour - only two of the songs are less than
four minutes long. The sounds Ani has brought out for this record
are a combination of every 'mainstream' artist that has made a name for herself
over the past 10 years or so in the genre.
There is a lot of bitterness,
look-what-we've-done-to-the-world and struggle in "Up.....".
The presentation belies the anger, though, with a positive up-beat swampy feel
to much of the work. The best description is Fiona (“Cypress Grove” ABC/EMI)
Kernaghan meets diana
"I Go Off/Oh No” (Origin Records/MdS) ah
naid, and is probably best explained by the artist herself
in Angry Anymore. Other stand-out songs on the record include Angel
Food, Come Away From It, Everest, the Lori Andersonesque
title and the all-in thirteen-minute jam of Hat Shaped Hat, a live
favourite.
Ani Difranco is an excellent performer,
and rather than dragging on as longer songs tend to, these tracks capture you
in their essence and take you through all the positive aspects of her life
despite the negatives. I caught some of a live performance on the TV while she
was out here last year, still enjoy the last taste of her work on the live
mid-rotation Youth Network favourite "Your
Untouchable Face" and highly recommend "Up....." on Righteous Babe through Shock!