I can't listen to preachy lyrics anymore, and most that are prosaic and without a possible second layer of interpretation tend to bore/annoy me. It's just my personal taste. I mean I thought Le Tigre and Kathleen Hanna and all that was cool when I was 19, I'm over it now. For whatever reason.
I think it's the slam-poetriness of it all, mainly. I don't think that stuff is cool anymore. It embarrasses me to listen to that stuff.
Also, plz introduce me to a lesbian who isn't a huge ani fan... I will kiss them right away. I do know a couple of them, though. I know, generalizing, but I'm gay myself, and I have met LOTS of gay (and non-gay) ani fans in my circle of acquaintances, so I'm not just being cruel. It gets tiresome. I'm actually afraid to dis certain musicians around some of my friends because I don't know if someone will blow up and get all offended about it. (I mean, I'll get pseudo-offended for a laugh, but it's just music, I can't take it personally.)
― Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:27 (twenty years ago) link
i guess i don't hate her, it's been years since i've even heard anything by her. who knows how bad i'd cringe, if at all.
― typo acapulco (gcannon), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:50 (twenty years ago) link
taking sides: ani difranco vs belle and sebastian
― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 9 November 2003 23:54 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Meeder (Mert), Monday, 10 November 2003 00:15 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 10 November 2003 00:26 (twenty years ago) link
― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 10 November 2003 02:03 (twenty years ago) link
― cinniblount (James Blount), Monday, 10 November 2003 02:51 (twenty years ago) link
if you're a teenager and have nobody who understands how you feel (about any particular topic, not just coming out), it's understandable that you'd latch really tightly onto a figure like Ani DiFranco. depressed white boys like me frequently do the same with Nirvana, but hey different strokes etc. when you're a bit more grown up and ought to have developed a bit of maturity, it's k-pathetic to fly off the handle because somebody had the nerve to dis your personal saviour. just because 'ani difranco saved my life' doesn't make her music sound any better to the average person talking smack about boring music in a record store, and if you can't handle it then you need to get some therapy. urrrrrgh.
― Dave M. (rotten03), Monday, 10 November 2003 03:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 10 November 2003 03:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Dave M. (rotten03), Monday, 10 November 2003 03:29 (twenty years ago) link
The argument that "she needs a good editor" seems to be used only because she releases so much. Her double album from 2 years ago is almost flawless as far as I'm concerned and I can listen to both discs in a row very easily; by comparison her single-disc release this year seemed very flat, and was a real stretch to listen to all the way through. Which makes me think that she doesn't need an editor so much as an advisor, to tell her which deliberate decisions she makes (in terms of lyrical content, stylistic twists, etc. etc.) are good and which are bad.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 10 November 2003 03:30 (twenty years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 10 November 2003 03:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 10 November 2003 05:10 (twenty years ago) link
The album that's coming out in January is astounding. With anything after Not a Pretty Girl, I've sort of forced myself to listen to it, to wade through the over-instrumentation and softening to find great songs within the mush. I didn't have to put any work into Educated Guess. Over the years, she's achieved focus with her lyrics, while becoming more vague -- her songs used to be all over the place in terms of content, though incredibly specific, and now they're just sort of about one thing and vague in themselves. Because the entire album, save two political tracks, is about her divorce, she's shading and making this multi-faceted take on the whole ordeal. Plus, she recorded it all herself, so while she's not entirely back to slashing and burning with her guitar, it definitely feels old school and lean and like a complete return to form.
And, she often sounds like Prince.
I think it took her eight years to make a great album again. I'm just happy that she still has it in her.
― Rich, Monday, 10 November 2003 16:15 (twenty years ago) link
I personally really love like almost everything she's ever done, but I think my favorite of her material always seems to be the broken-hearted stuff.
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 16:25 (twenty years ago) link
Nobody ever talks about this. They talk about her politics, her sexual preferences, her lyrics, her songwriting, her label, etc. Ani's a good guitar player.
I guess there's a lot of hate fodder, but I interviewed her once for a TV show and she was sweet, accomodating, forthcoming.
― scott m (mcd), Monday, 10 November 2003 17:06 (twenty years ago) link
And she scores extra points for publishing Hamell on Trial.
― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 10 November 2003 17:34 (twenty years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 10 November 2003 17:39 (twenty years ago) link
― scott m (mcd), Monday, 10 November 2003 17:49 (twenty years ago) link
― scott m (mcd), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Monday, 10 November 2003 18:15 (twenty years ago) link
― Ben Boyer (Ben Boyer), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Monday, 10 November 2003 19:10 (twenty years ago) link
One of the things that originally turned me on to her was her distinct vocal cadence & idiosyncratic style, honestly. I think the thing I most love about it is that she feels actually affected by what she's singing, she doesn't feel detached from her own voice like many other singers.
Right now I think "Dilate" is maybe my favorite, she sounds like she's breaking down midway through it, but then when the lyricless singing parts come through it's so friggin' triumphant.
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:28 (twenty years ago) link
I've mostly avoided her after knowing too many of the aforementioned tunnel-vision fans.
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 10 November 2003 20:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Felcher (Felcher), Monday, 10 November 2003 21:30 (twenty years ago) link
― adam (adam), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:12 (twenty years ago) link
― adam (adam), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:13 (twenty years ago) link
**Incidentally, two of my best friends are a couple (lesbians) who don't like Ani DiFranco either.
― paige, Monday, 10 November 2003 22:14 (twenty years ago) link
the world's last minority
― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Monday, 10 November 2003 22:49 (twenty years ago) link
Ann, you misogynist!
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 10 November 2003 23:55 (twenty years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:21 (twenty years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:26 (twenty years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:28 (twenty years ago) link
I made a compilation of Ani's best jazzy/balladic stuff for my boyfriend - who was suspicious because of the uncritical love by lesbians - and I surprised myself at how totally unlike the public idea of Ani it was.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 00:45 (twenty years ago) link
― Agent Uranium [GPC], Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:30 (twenty years ago) link
-- Kenan Hebert (edito...), November 10th, 2003."
Oh, c'mon, I want to kick Darren Spooner down the stairs after her...
― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 01:32 (twenty years ago) link
― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:05 (twenty years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 02:07 (twenty years ago) link
I am bothered by:*her weird vocal affect*her guitar tone (thuddy, jarring)*her general aversion to melody
I am much more bothered by:*listening to people trying to imitate her weird vocal affect at open-mic nights*listening to sound engineers at my college tweak the EQ on any acoustic guitar to make any acoustic guitar to make it sound like hers*her popularity among my ex-boyfriends
― Kevin Erickson, Tuesday, 11 November 2003 13:03 (twenty years ago) link
― Felcher (Felcher), Tuesday, 11 November 2003 19:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Adrian (Adrian Langston), Wednesday, 12 November 2003 09:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Lauren S, Tuesday, 30 March 2004 06:23 (twenty years ago) link
― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 30 March 2004 12:00 (twenty years ago) link
― Matt Smut, Tuesday, 11 May 2004 15:55 (twenty years ago) link
― Cameron Octigan (Cameron Octigan), Monday, 27 February 2006 20:01 (eighteen years ago) link
this is the pinnacle of eloquence and you hit every annoying notion that represents "Ani-dom" to me!!!WELL DONE!!!!and let's face it, it's ALL about the fans near fanatical defense of everything she's ever done that put most people off...as is the case w/ most band, innit?
― eedd, Monday, 27 February 2006 20:28 (eighteen years ago) link
and hey, i'd know - my ani obsessive phase began my freshman year of high school and ended my freshman year of college, when i replaced her with sleater-kinney and le tigre and the slits and bratmobile for my feminist girlpunk jollies.
but her good stuff (imperfectly, out of range, dilate, to the teeth, parts of little plastic castle) is some of the best, most tough and smart and sensitive songwriting i've ever heard. i've finally come round to liking her again, and i must say, dilate still remains one of the most heartbreaking relationship albums, right up there with "blood on the tracks" and "the meadowlands". i really don't like her warbly ness and weird vocal tics, but when she's just singing - angry or sad - it's very powerful stuff.
and she is an absolutely brilliant guitar player. her fingers must be made of some space age material that never scuffs or anything. seriously.
like someone said in a previous post - she just needs an editor, or at least shouldn't record and release what seems like every single song she ever writes. her last few albums have been depressingly mediocre.
― Emily B (Emily B), Thursday, 1 June 2006 00:50 (eighteen years ago) link
She uses some kind of false press-on fingernails (reinforced w/ glue and/or tape) for picking IIRC.
― Marmotdeth (marmotwolof), Thursday, 1 June 2006 01:12 (eighteen years ago) link
ended my freshman year of college, when i replaced her with sleater-kinney and le tigre and the slits and bratmobile for my feminist girlpunk jollies.
Also, she seems to be a gateway artist: a bit eccentric while still accessible, but mostly a bag of stems and seeds, hooking nascent music nerds and guiding them towards the uncut stuff. Like Jane's Addiction. Is there a thread on bands like that?
― bendy (bendy), Thursday, 1 June 2006 10:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dan Heilman (The Deacon), Thursday, 1 June 2006 13:09 (eighteen years ago) link
i used to admire the way she approached her career (diy, yadda yadda yadda) until i found out that her parents hired a harvard mba (at a cost of $30k/year) to manage her career when she was starting out.
― Lawrence the Looter (Lawrence the Looter), Thursday, 1 June 2006 13:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 1 June 2006 13:29 (eighteen years ago) link
Not as indestructible as you might think - she had to cancel a tour recently to recover from some nerve damage issues with her hands. One of those "take a break or you'll never play again" things...
― Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 1 June 2006 14:02 (eighteen years ago) link
I've barely heard her music, aside from like one or two songs someone brought into an undergrad Music & Gender course I took. If it garners comparisons to Rush and Ali Farka Toure it's probably worth hearing though.
― Sundar (sundar), Thursday, 1 June 2006 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link
a) Rush is not lifeless. at all.b) Difranco's pre-fame records, of which there are many, are basically home recordings -- vocals and guitar -- and are the polar opposite of "slick"c) the harvard mba thing sounds spurious, at best
― erklie (erklie), Thursday, 1 June 2006 17:29 (eighteen years ago) link
What irks me is the seemingly endless parade of Ani wannabes, and lest you think I'm dealing in strawmen here, I sat through more than my fair share of them during my open mic-attending college days. All of the fire, twice the passion, but not a single coherent statement, engaging lyric, or memorable melody in the bunch.
I also have a funny story involving her ex-drummer, but that's another rant for another time.
― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Thursday, 1 June 2006 18:51 (eighteen years ago) link
This is the red light.
― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 1 June 2006 19:00 (eighteen years ago) link
And while it's unfair to blame a musician for their imitators, gawd she has the worst.
― js (honestengine), Thursday, 1 June 2006 19:04 (eighteen years ago) link
I haven't listened to ani in literally years but for some reason I've had a couple of her songs running through my head the last couple days. I spent a while being really into the stuff she realeased in the late 90s and as annoying as I eventually grew to find her whole shtick, she's a talented woman. Also, seeing her play this in NM in 1998 was one of the two times I've cried at concerts. It was incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwEI6UNMkag&feature=related
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Friday, 29 April 2011 22:51 (thirteen years ago) link
so cleaning out my section of the office I found an unopened promo copy of Evolve beneath a pile of folders.
Tim says it's bleh. Should I try it?
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 July 2013 13:36 (ten years ago) link
Ask John maybe, I got rid of that one years ago.
Knuckle Down from a few years afterwards was great though.
― Tim F, Monday, 29 July 2013 16:07 (ten years ago) link
boy Jon Hassell sounds great on "Pulse."
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 March 2015 23:59 (nine years ago) link
It seems like she was popular because she presented a confident image and said what a lot of young women needed/wanted to hear. As a songwriter and performer I find her abysmal -- obvious, didactic lyrics with awkward phrasing, worst guitar tone I can imagine, not catchy
― IF (Terrorist) Yes, Explain (man alive), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 18:44 (six years ago) link
good to know dude
― brimstead, Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:00 (six years ago) link
Explain what you hate about Ani DiFranco.
― IF (Terrorist) Yes, Explain (man alive), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:01 (six years ago) link
Casual fan here, albeit one who hasn't heard anything she's put out since around the turn of the millennium, but there there is a certain type of gay guy who is obsessed with her that was a bit annoyingly overrepresented in my social circle for a while.
― iCloudius (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:36 (six years ago) link
Ani's in that select group of people I hate but have no desire to slag in public
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:38 (six years ago) link
(i do not consider hurting's post a slag btw)
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 10 October 2017 19:40 (six years ago) link
the new album is great
― uberweiss, Wednesday, 24 March 2021 21:50 (three years ago) link
The first half sounds like she has been listening to D'Angelo.
Agree this is great, trying to decide whether it's her best since Knuckle Down or Red Letter Year or Allergic to Water (though really the albums after Knuckle Down tend to blur together for me).
― Tim F, Thursday, 25 March 2021 00:35 (three years ago) link
Am I inventing this memory or did she complain that Eno “stole” her observation that the Eventide H3000 Ultra Harmonizer sounds great when you overdrive it?I can’t find it anywhere on the internet right now. And yeah, dudes take credit for women’s ideas all the time. But even still, this is some weak sauce.
― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 25 March 2021 01:41 (three years ago) link
"shrinking violet" is achingly perfect. it's like "if i believe you" (the 1975) mixed with "tolerate it" (taylor swift)
There's nothing I can sayBeyond this whispered wishYour anger has a hunger, misterAnd I'm its favourite dishThere's nothing I can saySo I don't make a soundI just wipe the counter and II keep my head down
― überweiss, Friday, 26 March 2021 16:10 (three years ago) link
The last Secondary English Curriculum I used incorporated the lyrics of her song “Amendment” and asked students to analyze the language she employed. I got more out of it than the kids, but they’re apathetic to everything
― beamish13, Friday, 26 March 2021 18:52 (three years ago) link
Gotta say I did not expect to see much Ani love on ilm, but heartened nonetheless. I listened to her a ton in college, then fell away for a bit but have been paying more attention to her recent stuff. Hoping to get my copy this weekend.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 26 March 2021 19:03 (three years ago) link
OTM but also lol at this Beatlejuice-like attempt to manifest Brad in this thread.
― Tim F, Friday, 26 March 2021 22:28 (three years ago) link
I realized that I hated my roommate 26 years ago when he asked me if I liked Annie. Me thinking Annie Lennox replied, “Oh my God I totally love her!” and then he started playing Ani Difranco… 🤢
Ani Difranco has no redeeming qualities to my ears. Sorry to those who like her but fingers on a chalkboard are more appealing than her incessant whining and dreadful stream of consciousness word vomit.
― Mbaby, Saturday, 15 April 2023 21:04 (one year ago) link