To say that Ani DiFranco is prolific isn't far from understatement. Clocking in 10 solo albums in the past decade, not counting her two collaborations with legend Utah Phillips, DiFranco holds true to being "commander-in-chief of [her] one-woman army"‹not just describing her record label, Righteous Babe Records, or regime of constant touring.
For those doing the math, she averages one record a year along with that touringsomething most musicans couldn't pull even if they did have the stamina and inclination. But DiFranco's not one to rest on her laurels; 2000 saw nothing but touring, ad yet 2001 brings Revelling/Reckoning, a dual album set in the two moods of its titleloud and quiet in the same package.
Revelling is the band record, where her road crew of musicians back her up on standouts like "Ain't That the Way," "Marrow," and the jazz-tinged "Rock Paper Scissors." DiFranco's not a kid telling adult stories anymore: she's an adult trying to figure out how she got there, how adults fall in love and reconcile their pastsnot just in words, but in haunting (and mostly short) instrumentals like "Harvest" and the rhythmic "Beautiful Night."
Reckoning is the more private record, where she's The Folk Singer hearkening back to her days of girl and guitar; she's not so much the punker-folkie most fans would know anymore, instead subtle with her politics in "Subdivision" and "Your Next Bold Move." Some of her fans might think she's lost her edge, but then she wouldn't be singing, "I loved you, so what?" if her defiance never really left.
DiFranco's sound changes as her hair does, and as her life does, bringing us along‹a sound that is becoming more comfortable, more mature, aging better than the most of us.