ANI DIFRANCO - Which Side Are You On?

Kategorie: CD-Reviews | Genre: Folk/Folkrock | Heft: Jahrgang 2012, eclipsed Nr. 138 / 3-2012 | VÖ-Jahr: 2012 | Wertung: 8/10 | Label: Righteous Babe | Autor: WS


Critic Darling, feminist heroine, label boss, folk singer - all these names fit the New York musician Ani DiFranco. Four years have passed since their last album "Red Letter Day". Will she become the lead singer of Occupy with her new album? The title song is a radically altered version of a 1931 Florence Reece protest/trade union song that Pete Seeger once made popular. He also plays banjo on this energetic version. The text of the piece is still up to date: "lord knows the free market, is anything but free / it costs dearly to the planet and the likes of you and me". The guitar sounds rough, the drums march, a marching band blows the horn and at the beginning and at the end the banjo chugs. Fantastic as Tom Waits. The opener "Life Boat" (the perspective of an old homeless woman) with EPiano, the swinging "Unworry" and the cheerful "Splinter" sound completely relaxed. DiFranco makes her life motto unmistakably clear in the dirty ingenious "If Yr Not". Many sound ideas (theremin, New Orleans brass, percussion) make "¿Which Side Are You On?" their most versatile album.

Top track: If Yr Not

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