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www.churchonthursday.com
Ani DiFranco
Educated Guess
Righteous Babe Records
2004
Ani DiFranco (or "Ahhh-knee", as her disciples
like to pronounce her name) has been the 
heroine
for National Public Radio listeners, bumper sticker activists and teenage
feminists for over a decade now. She has transformed herself from a coffee
shop open mic act to a veritable icon of slogan folk. At this point in her
career she doesn't have to live up to any expectations. She can put out a
recording of herself singing the S.C.U.M. Manifesto and her fans
would pronounce it the greatest work of genius since the sports bra.
As a journalist, I'm supposed to be objective. Yeah, right. I could try to come up with cleverly-placed language to conceal my opinion, but why bother? I fucking hate Ani DiFranco! More often than not her music is mediocre and her lyrics (in all their misspelled glory) seem like they were culled from some 16-year-old girl's lost Hello Kitty notebook. However, I have to give credit where credit is due. She's damn prolific, releasing at least an album a year, and she tours more often than Metallica. At least she's out doing something other than putting a "Free Tibet" sticker on her run-down Volvo.
She likes to espouse her so-called "Do It Yourself" ethic almost as much as her fans like to credit her for it. I thought it was all bullshit (since she's appeared in People magazine and on nationally-syndicated television), and I dislike her mostly for that. I had an argument with a friend over this, so I decided to do some research. I was wrong. I called her label, Righteous Babe Records, who gave me the name of their distributor, Koch Entertainment, that had me talk to some guy who convinced me that they were indeed independent. I wasn't quite satisfied so I dug a little deeper, but I found that this appears to be true. The only thing that made me raise my eyebrow a little is that "Ahhh-knee", a supposed champion of women's rights, has her records distributed by the same corporation that distributes Death Row Records (champions of "Women are bitches, yo"). I can let it slide though, at least she's not distributing though Sony or EMI (both very evil corporations).
As far as the music on this disc, I also have to admit that I was a little surprised. Her lyrical approach has become more subtle and, as a result, more profound (for her anyway). Still, she's nothing compared to Patti Smith whom, sickeningly, most Ahhh-knee fans don't have the faintest fucking clue about. Her singing has improved, too. And perhaps most importantly, she has finally learned how to play the fucking guitar--even with a distinctive (if somewhat irritating) style. This is the best thing I've heard from her since Not A Pretty Girl--which wasn't really good as much as it was unique.
Her sound still owes a lot to Patti Smith and Kate Bush, but hey, that's better than Lisa Loeb.
--Felix Thursday