ANI DIFRANCO info
(RBR001-D) 1990 (CD 1992)

For her first album, originally released on cassette in 1990, Ani chose to go it alone with only her voice and her guitar work. Dale Anderson's production keeps it tight with just Ani, a microphone and her guitar. The twelve songs (Letting The Telephone Ring was added as a bonus cut on the CD reissue) benefited from superb recording thanks to up-close miking and a solid sense of space. The CD graphic shows a photo of Ani in full contemplation, a bare hint of her infamous smile present. The eyes look wary, unsure while her name appears in scribbled capital letters. And while some may consider these numbers the work of a "naive" artist, there isn't a single moment where one feels in the presence of something other than a sure artist in full control of voice and song.

      The strong, visual images, accentuated by percussive stabs of notes strummed hard on the guitar, were to set the tone for subsequent albums (until she started hiring backup musicians). Eventually, this style would form the basis for Ani's folk-punk sturm und drang. On her first album, Ani showed she wasn't afraid of mincing words, of painting landscapes of fear, dread, loathing, disgust, and ambivalence while seeking the truth (especially to one's self) and a nobility in life despite all the odds. Of being "on her own" in a world not of her choosing. This sense of alienation would resurface often on subsequent releases.

      Drawn from an immense wellspring of personal experiences, the first album is a classic of modern folk, on par with impressive debuts from Suzanne Vega, The Indigo Girls, and Beth Orton. ~ Raffaele Quirino