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Red Letter Year  >>

"I've got myself a new mantra," Ani DiFranco shares on her new studio album. "It says `Don't forget to have a good time.'" This attitude has clearly influenced the dozen tunes on Red Letter Year, which celebrate existence, profess love and tackle thorny political issues with an infectious sense of glee. It's one of Ani's most joyous records to date.

And it has been a long time coming. Red Letter Year was sculpted over the course of two years, a period in which Ani continued to hone her songwriting, performing and recording skills, all the while balancing her new role as a mom. "I think I sorely needed to be slowed down, and finally a little person came along powerful enough to do it," Ani reflects. The end result is an album of focused, layered, panoramic music.

Ani's band - upright bassist Todd Sickafoose, vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon and drummer Allison Miller - is a major source of Red Letter Year's singular personality. On "Emancipated Minor," Miller's driving beat tethers to Ani's killer electric guitar hook, while Sickafoose's bass adds the perfect counterpoint to Ani's acoustic guitar work on "Way Tight". And on "Alla This," Dillon's vibes are as rich and open-minded as Ani's defiant, anthemic lyrics.

Add to the inspired, re-invigorated Ani the uncanny production skills of Napolitano (Joseph Arthur, The Twilight Singers, Squirrel Nut Zippers), the otherworldly string arrangements of long time collaborator Sickafoose, and the inspired playing of guests such as Jon Hassell on trumpet (Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Ry Cooder), and you've got the makings of a DiFranco classic.

Canon  >>

The far-reaching lexis used to describe Buffalo, New York, singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco includes "influential," "persistent," and "cutting-edge." And 18 albums released in the 18 years since the launching of her own Righteous Babe record label means "prolific" must also be high on that list. DiFranco commemorates her nearly two decades in the business with a two-CD, 35-song retrospective that offers a sequential glimpse into the socially conscious messages and punk/folk articulation that has made her an international paladin. From early recordings such as "God's Country" (1993) and "You Had Time" (1994), where DiFranco took aim at religious autonomy and failed partnerships, to later songs that tackled violence against abortion providers (1999's "Hello Birmingham") and a pair of '80s-era presidents (2002's "Your Next Bold Move"), DiFranco's poetry-fraught lyrics are the unfeigned star of the compilation. Can't-miss selections like "32 Flavors," "Untouchable Face," and "Cradle & All" make the cut, while staunch DiFranco followers will be seduced by five new renditions of old favorites, including the intrepid "Napoleon," which blasts the rock-biz elite, and "Shameless," with its candid discourse on infidelity. The divinely packaged set includes a booklet thoroughly lined with lyrics and a recording dossier. --Scott Holter

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. --Randy Silver

Not a Pretty Girl  >>

Ani DiFranco's fondness for cheeky self-effacement marks her fourth album, Not a Pretty Girl. Having redefined our whole concept of cult following, the funky, punky singer/songwriter has parlayed her prowess for six-string blues guitar into an unique alternative acoustic sound. This album marks real growth for the musician. Songs like the title track or "Worthy" are more fully realized than many of her earlier pieces that lean toward artful scat or spare guitar and vocal arrangements. It also precedes DiFranco's more experimental work, a characteristic recurrent with increasing frequency on subsequent recordings. --Nick Heil

Living in Clip  >>

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. --David Cantwell

Dilate  >>

Following up two of her strongest records, Not a Pretty Girl and Out of Range, Dilate takes a different tack. It's quieter and more lush than previous efforts but just as intensely personal, with songs like "Untouchable Face" that are easier to identify with than many other DiFranco tunes. At the same time, DiFranco's old fans might not recognize the sound here, especially on tracks like the trip-hop-influenced "Amazing Grace," the shuffling "Napoleon," or the indescribable "Shameless"--this isn't the same thrash-folkie of old. There's a lot to like on Dilate, especially if you're a fan of Portishead or Lisa Germano, but it takes some getting used to. After spending time with the album, you may find it as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans, but you also might find out that the jeans never really fit quite right. --Randy Silver

Knuckle Down  >>

Even after 15 years of releasing albums on her own Righteous Babe imprint, it's hard to know what to make of Ani DiFranco. Some see her as a folkie-punk-bisexual-feminist-radical-crap-kicker, while others reckon she's merely Alanis Morissette with better lyrics. On her 15th studio album the truth just might be somewhere in between. She does dysfunctional family portraits ("Studying Stones") and broken affairs ("Lag Time") just fine, but she also manages to leave room for rambling, autobiographical beat poetry ("Parameters"). And then there is the music. Matching acoustic guitars with earthy funk rhythms and soft moonlight moods with out-of-leftfield song arrangements, it reconfirms the one label everyone can agree upon: fiercely original. --Aidin Vaziri

Recommended Ani DiFranco Discography

Out of Range	Not a Pretty Girl	So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter
Little Plastic Castle	Revelling/Reckoning	Living in Clip

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

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. On Range, for the first time, DiFranco's songs sound like they wouldn't be out of place on the radio (in this case, that's a good thing); on the very first track, "Buildings and Bridges," she expresses herself with greater grace and subtlety than ever before. But the message is still loud and clear: she can take what the world will throw at her, and she will persevere. The rest of the album unfolds along similar lines and often reveals similar treasures. --Randy Silver

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. --Randy Silver