at a glance...

Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Debut: 1989

Personnel:
Ani DiFranco -guitars, vocals
Julie Wolf -organ, vocals
Jason Mercer -bass
Daren Hahn -drums

Bands in the Family:
Andy Stochansky, Sara Lee, Utah Phillips, Prince, Irvin Mayfield, Maceo Parker

Notes:
This prolific punk-folker wrote over 100 songs by the age of twenty. Though she has been courted by major labels, Ani (pronounced Ah-nee) has released sixteen albums on her own Righteous Babe label: Ani Difranco (1990), Not So Soft (1991), Imperfectly (1992), Puddle Dive (1993), Like I Said (1993), Out of Range (1994), Not A Pretty Girl (1995), Dilate (1996), More Joy, Less Shame (1996), Living In Clip – a double live CD (1997), Little Plastic Castle (1998), Up Up Up Up Up Up (1999), two albums with Utah Phillips, and now, To The Teeth. She’s also appeared on various compilations.

With so many women at the top of the music charts these days, I wonder why Ani isn't up there with them. She has really strong songwriting skills; she's not afraid to try something different or write about real issues. Oh, I think I just figured out the reasons why.

On To The Teeth, her third release this year, Ani has plugged in a bit more than she has on other recordings and she's incorporated different instruments like flute, trumpet, saxophone and...tuba! On the track "Swing" Ani dabbles in a little bit of hip-hop (with the help of Corey Parker) which melds quite well with the folk undertones without sounding like an attempt to jump on the bandwagon. As regards her treatment of real issues, Ani tackles a few of the big ones: gun violence, hatred, love, and the murder of an abortion doctor near her home.

To The Teeth is a fine album. More than half the songs clock in at over five minutes but none of them begin to drag. And I challenge anyone not to groove to the jazzy "Going Once" or the funky "Back Back Back." As for the lyrics, the album is chock-full of tasty morsels. My personal favorite comes from the title track, "And if I hear one more time/about a fool’s right to his tools of rage/I’m gonna take all my friends/and I’m gonna move to Canada/and we’re gonna die of old age."

If you like Ani DiFranco, check out:
Juliana Hatfield Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure
Ani Difranco Little Plastic Castle
Holly McNarland Stuff
Kinnie Star Tidy
Bif Naked Bif Naked

-- Antonia Ursa

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