Since 1990, Ani DiFranco has fought her way through the chaos of modern music heavily pushed by record companies. She has toured the bars, the local joints, the college locations, and created her own record label. DiFranco did this all in the name of being able to produce her music the way she saw fit. Since that beginning Ani's work ethic has not changed, she averages two albums a year. In 2002, she released her first DVD and now gives us a double live album entitled So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter. Come listen to the continuing evolution of her classic songs, and hear Ani's response to the events of 9/11.

In July, Generation X reviewed the Ani DiFranco DVD Render because it marked the little folk singer's first collected vision of her concerts outside of bootlegs. This month Ani released her second media offering in the form of a double, live CD titled So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter. The CD encompasses the two-year period of touring done by DiFranco and her six-piece band. The CD showcases the amazing stage rapport she has with her audience, the evolving sound of her music, and features a poignant reminder of 9/11.

Stray Cats is the name given to disc one (1) of this double live set. Its concept revolves around an event at one of Ani's shows where she found some stray cats outside the theater. She single handedly found them a home by the end of her performance. Disc one (1) features Ani classics such as Swan Dive, Cradle in All, and To the Teeth that spring from her set of albums released in 1998 and 1999. Cradle in All shows the most marked change in its presentation. With a high-tempo, horn section, and jazz-funk feel that moves the song along, the live version separates it from the acoustic guitar heavy version on its parent album.

Living in Clip released back in 1997 was the first Ani double live album. It showcased more of the energy of her shows as she presented her songs in their original form. During the Living in Clip performance on her latest release, Ani's vocals are more subdued. She sounds more like a TV narrator discussing the images flashing before her. Side one lyrics reveal a happy united American while side two's lyrics reveal people still struggling to get by. It is a revolutionary song that has become more noticeable as time passes. Even as America has united under 9/11, awareness arose that things are not as they appear on TV.

So Much Shouting, So Much laughter features a few live moments. During Swan Dive, Ani is wrestling with her guitar's sound. Griping to the audience, she explains that she hates that ‘folk singer sound', but the acoustic guitar was the first guitar she was given, so she's been stuck with it. Prior to starting Shrug, she mentions that some radio stations are banning certain music from air play. Initially the image is of parental discretion advisory labels on records and the artists to which they're attached. However as Ani explains, these stations are banning songs like Walk Like An Egyptian and New York, New York. DiFranco remarks, "It's just another sign of the political and corporate American phenomenon screwing things up again."

Girls Singing Night Out is the name given to disc two(2) on the album. On this side, the track that marked this CD for review is Self-Evident. I'm sure none of our readers have forgotten the black day of September 11, 2001 and its events, nor have they forgotten the emotions of unity, paranoia, fear, and family. Our memories may not fully recall every (despite our best efforts) event that took place in the aftermath. Such as, Arab Americans were attacked in some regions of our country even as the media kept those stories to a minimum as they discussed the war on terrorism. However, DiFranco hasn't forgotten that despite all the good that has come from 9/11. America still has a lot of work to do here at home.

Self-Evident is the result of a lifetime of knowledge of what goes on beyond our TV's and our doors. The song begins with Ani reading her poem which is the heart of the piece. Being presented in Ann Arbor, the crowd bellows a cheer as Ani reads the line, "(America) Strutting around without saying, ‘Thank You' or ‘Please'," and receives equal response as she adds, "Take away our Play Stations, and we are a third world nation." She paints a blunt contrasting picture to what we say on our TV screens, and she evokes the raw emotion of 9/11 – displaying both her own rage and her own realization that perhaps America had this coming.

People will find this song a broad challenge against what happened after 9/11 on the political scene. She says near the end: "Remember the first time around (Oklahoma City)…Let the record show crimes against humanity. Three thousand (3,000) poems on an almost perfect day to make sure they didn't die in vain." DiFranco's challenge here was that even as we react and respond to this attack, we can't ignore the domestic problems that the media has featured on a more international scale.

Ani DiFranco's music (whether in studio form or in a live album) briefly touches on a simple message. It is a message about our selves, about life, and about America. As we remembered 9/11, patriotic songs played alongside songs of memorial and hope. Ani encourages us through her lyrics, music, and her own evolving style of play that we cannot stop growing and we cannot ignore our country itself.

~~~~~

Brad DeMaagd was born in Sacramento, California in 1976. Mr. DeMaagd currently lives in Michigan, but is planning a move to Oregon in the late spring. Mr. DeMaagd attended Michigan State University where he majored in English, with minor studies in Economics and History. Mr. DeMaagd continues to pursue his goal of becoming an Acquisitions Editor at a publishing house. His past times include watching David Lynch films, NFL football, working on his stories, and reading an ever growing stack of books.