Ani DiFranco
Not A Pretty Girl

THE REVIEW

Album that perhaps represents Ani DiFranco better than any other (alongside Dilate), or at least Ani from the ‘first phase’.
Fortitude to spare, feelings of anger and rebellion translated into frenzied, scathing chords like the words the small (but grand) folksinger declares in the lyrics of her songs (an example of all, the beautiful ‘The Million You Never Made’, with an angry shouted finale, almost punk... the lyrics stating “I don't care how much you pay me, I'll never work for you... I may not change this effing world, but I can still be that money you’ll never make...” dedicated to the record label majors that devour everything, reducing music to mere business).

Speaking of the songs... sometimes just whispered (the very delicate ‘This Bouquet’, 'Hour Follows Hour’, the title track itself), other times dreamy and almost ‘tantric’ (the splendid ‘32 Flavours’, one of the absolute peaks of her discography, with an evocative finale supported by tribal rhythms). Others still, of such beauty and poetry that it's hard to describe in words (Shy, probably the apex of the entire album, and not only).

Indeed, even just to listen to these gems, it would be worth spending money on this album. To experience the passion she puts into the chords of a piece like “Light Of Some Kind”, where there are only the guitar and her splendid voice, which in every respect sounds like an additional instrument. But the other great truth is that Ani DiFranco's songs almost never descend into banality; even the most ‘banal’ and immediate ones are never pure and simple exercises in style, but carry with them something special. Poetry, emotions... call them what you will.
Ani DiFranco is not the usual singer, fake rebel, no sir. Ani DiFranco is first and foremost a full-fledged artist, she writes her pieces, arranges them, plays them and produces her albums with total independence; sometimes with some session men for support (like on this album).
And, it goes without saying, she plays and sings them divinely.