Monday, April 04, 2011

Little folk singer, redux

While researching a post for Tumblr over the weekend (yes, I haven’t even been on Tumblr a week and I’m already breaking my fun, easy, no words rule), I rediscovered the distinct joy that is listening to Ani DiFranco all night. It’s not that I don’t listen to her anymore. I do. It’s just with the advent of shuffle and Pandora and other such music mixologists, I tend not to listen to one artist exclusively anymore. (Well, that is unless I’ve just bought her CD and can’t stop playing it, cough, Adele, cough.) But I popped in Ani in the early evening and one album led to another and another and another. The rawness of “Imperfectly.” The hurt of “Dilate,” The irreverence of “Little Plastic Castles.” The growth of “Evolve.” I (and imagine Robe Lowe’s character from “Parks & Recreation” saying this here) literally have all of her albums. Yes, all of them. I’ve seen her probably a half dozen times. I even got to interview her once. It will remain a high point in my life forever.

While I didn’t really discover Ani until college, she has since been with me through almost all of my major life developments. Graduating. Finding a job. Moving across the country. Breaking up. Hooking up. Watching presidents come and go. Fighting for change. Growing older, growing up. Each record, especially the older ones, plays like a record of a time and place in my life. Sometimes they remind me of a specific person, sometimes they remind me about myself. But it’s always fascinating, like musical archeology. You uncover layers of your life that you thought were long buried. But once dusted off, given a wash and shined up, the emotions rush back like yesterday.

Just a few favorites, out of too many to count.

Shy


Dilate


Little Plastic Castles


Swan Dive


Evolve

Oh, Ani. You’ll be in my neck of the woods this week and I won’t be able to make it. But I’ll be there in spirit, singing along to every single word. I’m sure many a gal – gay or otherwise – feels the same way. Or perhaps you have another musical time capsule. Well, by all means, don’t be shy – share.

14 comments:

Norma Desmond said...

I'd have to say, the closest thing I have to a 'musical time capsule' are my Broadway cast recordings... *sigh* I'm a terrible lesbian...

vaLe said...

Seems like we were doing the same thing last night.

Anonymous said...

OMG It must be some kind of energy she is putting out, cos I put on her not a pretty girl album in my car today and was really digging shy. I too have literally all her albums. I would love to see her live on time, if she goes on overseas tours again. My favourite songs of hers are Angry Anymore (Youtube that seriously, the one when she sings it with julie wolf is amazing) and Slide. I love Slide, cos I always liked it and listened to that album like religion for about 3-4 years and I only recently realized exactly the metaphor she was drawing that I related to subconciously with that song. That is what is so good with Ani is that it never gets old and always feels fresh.

Kristan said...

"Sometimes they remind me of a specific person, sometimes they remind me about myself. But it’s always fascinating, like musical archeology. You uncover layers of your life that you thought were long buried."

LOVE that. Because that's exactly how it is.

Love Ani too.

alex dumas said...

Thanks for inviting the musicians to play in all the women-worship. :) Though I don't share your enthusiasm for Ani, I'm looking forward to more music-related posts.

Amanda said...

Today I put on my "Ani Fucking DiFranco" shirt, because I'm tired, it won't stop raining out, and it's monday. 2 girls (not gay, mind you) told me how much they love the shirt, and could really use some acoustic girl riot rock on a day like today. It's an Ani day for everyone I guess

Amanda

Anonymous said...

DS!! i cleaned up my home~

kind of welcome spring clean up,

i mean my blog.

see you anywhere when we see!

by the way, you said

you will write something nice thing

on tblr, but why politic again?

you can say what you like but

don't you want to be comfortable place,

drink tea, talking about something positive.

with good people who love you?

Lola said...

she's the best live performer ever!

Bent Fabric said...

Funny, I likewise relegated Ani to the back seat to accommodate my recent Adele binge. But I'm suddenly in the mood for some Ani. Thanks!

FASTTCR said...

Must be the Spring. I've been listening to her lately too. Think I'm in the mood for some "Pulse" tonight.

Anonymous said...

Would you get out of my head? On Sunday, my cooking day, she was playing all day on the pod. I was feeling as though I'd been neglecting her lately and I enjoyed every minute of it - from Both Hands to Everest. She rocks!

Adrienne said...

Listening to Ani DiFranco is like visiting with college friends; you've all read the same books, listened to the same albums, and slept with the same people.

Or maybe that's just when you attend, like I did, a women's college.

When I was a wee pip, Ani said the things I couldn't...or didn't know how.

NorthWrst said...

wouldn't she be great as Lizbeth Salander?

grasshopper said...

I love your blog.