Thursday, 5/29/97 Versatile folk-punk singer releases double
live album MUSIC: Ani DiFranco’s ‘Living in Clip’ filled with
dynamic energy
By Mike Prevatt Daily Bruin Staff Say what you will about Ani
DiFranco. Members of the music press have exhausted themselves in
putting labels on the singer/songwriter/guitarist from Buffalo,
N.Y. To those people who have heard of her but aren’t part of her
passionately devoted fanbase, DiFranco is that
bisexual-folk-singer-punk-feminist who has her own record label.
She has been featured in Time, the Los Angeles Times and Forbes as
a revolutionary musician who makes more money per album than any of
the huge artists splattered on the airwaves and MTV today. However,
she gained a huge following despite little promotion or radio
airplay, through pure focus on music, appreciated by those lucky
enough to be part of her long, word-of-mouth chain. The buzz is
growing now that she has released "Living in Clip" (Righteous
Babe), a double live album that features fan faves and rarities
performed during her 1996 tour. Now it’s time for the music to do
the talking. With "Living in Clip," (recorded in 22 different
cities) hopefully people will recognize her for what she should
really be recognized as: a phenomenal and talented musician. This
album contains more than two hours of extremely powerful and
skilled music, interrupted at times by highly entertaining musings,
which make DiFranco one of rock’s most versatile and engrossing
artists. Beyond that, it serves as the perfect introduction to
people unfamiliar with DiFranco’s authentic brand of masterful
acoustic energy. Her fervent fans religiously attend her live
shows, which usually receive glowing reviews by the critics aware
of her "underground" status and dynamic concert presence. As a
result, the brilliance of "Living in Clip" comes as no surprise. It
is a live album which showcases DiFranco’s showmanship and
musicianship wonderfully, rather than the usual crowd-adulation
live record filled with half-assed duplications of hit songs. On
"Living in Clip," Ani gives us her extraordinary performance, while
coming across as a down-to-earth entertainer who can cross the
barriers and reach fans with her inviting voice and humorous quips.
Most of the material here is heavy on the folk side. This isn’t
some sonic riot grrrl thrash set. With mostly acoustic guitars, the
mainstream defiant sound allows for intelligible music,
complimented by the even more intelligible vocals. A great example
of this is her new single, "Gravel," in which DiFranco blankets
feel-good, toe-tappin’ jangles with an ironic edge ("You were never
a good lay/ You were never a good friend/ Oh, what can I say? / I
adore you"). DiFranco goes beyond sexual boundaries and gender
roles. In "Untouchable Face," she uses calm, down-home music and
juxtaposes it with an angst-filled boldness a woman usually directs
to a man ("She’s not really my type/ but I think you two are
forever/ and I hate to say it/ you’re perfect together/ so fuck you
and your untouchable face"). She further probes her bisexuality
with the strikingly defiant "In and Out," a rockin’ tale in which
she tells both sexes, "I got no criteria for sex, alright?/ Just
wanna hear your voice/ Just wanna see your face." In "I’m No
Heroine," she takes on the vulnerable, weak role for the sake of
someone else’s benefit ("I’m too easy to roll over/ I’m too easy to
wreck/ I just write about what I should’ve done/ sing what I wish I
could say/ and I hope somewhere some woman hears my music and it
helps her through the day"). Yet she aims to persevere in "Hide and
Seek," with music that sounds like the Old West, but lyrics that
come from Generation X ("Here we go again/ Yeah, OK, this time you
win/ And I would feel dirty, I’d feel ashamed/ But I wouldn’t let
it stop my game"). There are some surprises on this otherwise
tight, consistent album. On the beautiful "Both Hands," and a
somewhat gothic version of "Amazing Grace," DiFranco has former
"Tonight Show" bandleader Doc Severinsen and the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra join her for a more symphonic approach to
her music. Humorous speaking bits are also randomly interspersed
throughout the album. "Travel Tips" recalls a night on her tour in
which the only vacancy in Chicago was the study room of a
university dormitory. In "Distracted," DiFranco tells about how
other indie artists on her label see her as losing her political
edge, becoming to wrapped up in romance, and potentially selling
out. She jokingly retorts with "I kinda got distracted!" The beauty
of DiFranco’s artistry is that she doesn’t follow the rule book.
With all her boldness, she plays the music without the bombastic
noise and fuzzboxes, something that the average fan would expect in
such an intense performer. There is definitely something to be said
for a stripped-down, unplugged-like clarity that worked for such
artists as Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. The confessional aura
she displays doesn’t need blatant electricity; she provides that
herself with an articulate yet gritty voice that indicates
self-awareness and self-certainty. She brings in vocal and lyric
styles that remind us of the brutally honest women made familiar to
us through conventional means (Tori Amos, Liz Phair, even Alanis
Morrissette). "Living In Clip" is more than just live fem-rock.
It’s more than just an angry chick with a nose ring and a guitar.
It’s more than just girl-power, indie label politics. It is about
an artist who knows exactly who she is, revealing herself through a
blend of intimate music and lyrical candor that can’t be found in
any rock and roll thesaurus. Confident yet unpretentious, Ani
DiFranco challenges the mope, the masochism and the mindless
romance of music today. More importantly, in a culture of cliched
deviance and sugarcoated irony, she chooses not to accessorize her
soul for hip complexity but instead strips down to a self most of
us are to shy to expose. Grade: A Righteous Babe Records Ani
DiFranco recently released "Living In Clip," on her own label,
Righteous Babe. Related Links: Indie Music Showcase: Ani
DiFranco