Word: difranco
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...many ups is that? Luckily, Ani DiFranco's newest album is not quite as redundant as its title might suggest. Sweet melodies and sharp rhythms are paired with tortured musings, while unfocused ramblings accompany social commentary and sad stories. This righteous babe is also smart; she has a wonderful gift for poetry. Her lyrics are complex under a simple exterior. And she sings with an honesty that convinces one that the world must be as she describes it. The lyrics dance around the hidden meanings of her subtle truths in a collection that ranges from folk...
...series is nimbly narrated by folk-punk guitarist Ani DiFranco, who brings curiosity and energy to the project. "Beneath the surface of mainstream popular culture, there is the ever-present undercurrent of organically generated music," DiFranco writes in the River of Song companion book. "I'm talking about the indigenous, unhomogenized, uncalculated sound of a culture becoming itself in the streets, bars, gyms, churches and back porches of the real world...
Both the music and the words on Little Plastic Castle seem unfettered and fluid. There's a jokey, poetry-slam freedom to DiFranco's lyrics here that is reminiscent of some of Bob Dylan's freewheelin', socially conscious early work. In one song, Fuel, DiFranco starts off with a pointed political observation--"They were digging a new foundation in Manhattan/ and they discovered a slave cemetery there/ may their souls rest easy now that lynching is frowned upon/ and we've moved on to the electric chair"--and then shifts easily to an image of digging deeper to uncover cultural...
...DiFranco, however, has not forgotten how to rock. Gravel is powered by chugging, chunky guitar work that pulls you in and pushes the tune along. It's a cry of independence, of sorts, from an overbearing lover. "Maybe you can keep me from ever being happy," she sings, "but you're not going to stop me/ from having fun." In Loom DiFranco again unleashes kinetic guitar riffs. And again the theme is intrusive love: "You are the one-way glass/ that watches me/ standing at the bank...
...DiFranco takes another chance--one that works--on Pulse, a sliding, slippery jazz-folk number that stretches on for 14 minutes. On the whole, Little Plastic Castle is a sharp, indulgent, fascinating album, the kind that an artist can probably release only when he or she owns the record company. Let's hope DiFranco never signs with anyone but herself...