Ani DiFranco

Out of Range

            ^{Ani DiFranco — Out of Range (March 1, 1994)}
♣   5th album. Icon. Feminist. Pioneer. Poet. Entrepreneur. Mentor. Extraordinary singer~songwriter~performer. Displaying a wisdom beyond her 23 years and a voice softer and more controlled than before, Out of Range was a gigantic creative leap forward for DiFranco.
♣   So you always saw yourself as a singer~songwriter?
♣   I believe so. When I was young and first started learning how to play, I met a fellow named Michael Meldrum who took me under his wing because he saw a spark in me. Soon enough, I was accompanying him on his gigs. I didn’t really realize it at the time, but he was an embodiment of the singer~songwriter — in his dress, manner, chain smoking, and night owl barfly philosophy. He was my mentor and I didn’t really question it. As I met more singer~songwriters it just felt like a natural progression for me to do the same.
♣   How did you first get into alternate tunings?
♣   Early on, somebody showed me DADGAD [Ed. note: All tunings listed low to high.] and I was really interested by it. Pretty soon, I began experimenting with my own tunings and incorporated them on some of my earlier songs. For example I use E, B, B, G, A, D on “Shy” and E, B, B, G, B, D on “Not a Pretty Girl.” Now, 20~plus years later, I have this baffling index of all sorts of different tunings and I have to rely heavily on my tech to help me keep track of them all! I guess I wouldn’t really recommend it for the solo stealth performer unless you want to be tuning your guitars all night [laughs].Birth name: Angela Maria DiFranco
Born: September 23, 1970, Buffalo, New York, United States
Genres: Folk rock, indie, alternative
Occupations: Musician, singer–songwriter, poet
Instruments: Guitar, bass guitar, tenor guitar, vocals, percussion, piano
Location: New York, NY, U.S.A.
Album release: March 1, 1994
Record Label: Righteous Babe
Duration:     47:59
Tracks:
01. Buildings and Bridges      4:06
02. Out of Range (Acoustic)      3:47
03. Letter to a John      3:48
04. Hell Yeah      5:02
05. How Have You Been      4:29
06. Overlap      3:45
07. Face Up and Sing      2:54
08. Falling is Like This      3:01
09. Out of Range (Electric)      3:26
10. You had Time      5:49
11. If He Tries Anything      3:15
12. The Diner      4:40
℗ 1994 Righteous Babe Records, Inc.
Personnel:
♣   Ani DiFranco — acoustic guitar, percussion, piano, el. guitar, steel guitar, vocals
♣   Colleen Allen — saxophone
♣   Chris Brown — piano
♣   Stephen Donald — trombone
♣   Scot Fisher — accordion
♣   Alisdair Jones — bass
♣   Sarah McElcheran — trumpet
♣   Andy Stochansky — dumbek, drums, backing vocals
Production:
♣   Ani DiFranco — Producers, srt direction
♣   Ed Stone — producer, engineer
♣   Scot Fisher — photographyAllMusic Review by Darryl Cater;  Score: ****
♣   DiFranco spruces up her sparse folk arrangements with the odd brass band, accordion, and even an electric guitar or two, but the meat of these songs is still her distinctively funky acoustic guitar style (she borrowed her rhythmic plucking technique from R&B, but unplugged, it bears no resemblance to its genre of origin). Meanwhile, DiFranco's spunky activist lyrics are tempered here by a bigger dose of vulnerability than in previous albums, which allows for a unique mix of anger, humor, and poignancy. The best songs this time around are not bitter, but quietly reflective (“You Had Time,” “Buildings and Bridges,” “If He Tries Anything”).
Review
BY SAL CINQUEMANI, MARCH 9, 2003 / Score: ****
♣   On the tails of 1993’s Like I Said, Ani DiFranco continued her musical (r)evolution with 1994’s Out Of Range. The album traced the Buffalo native’s on~going progression from folksinger to folk~punk goddess, adding brawn to her acoustic guitar~driven arrangements by way of long~time drummer Andy Stochansky and several other musicians. The track “How Have You Been,” which features trumpet, sax and trombone, finds DiFranco reveling in the muscle of a full band for the first time in her career. The singer had also honed her lyrical talents, conjuring vivid imagery on tracks like “The Diner,” and proving herself a consummate observer on a series of exquisite folk~ballads. She pines softly on “Overlap” and “Falling Is Like This,” in which she sings wryly, “You give me that look that like laughing/With liquid in your mouth/Like you’re choosing between choking and spitting it all out.” DiFranco explores her ever~evolving relationship with her fans on songs like “Letter To A John” and the heart~wrenching “You Had Time”: “You’ll say did they love you or what/I’ll say they love what I do/The only one who really loves me is you.” The title tracks appears in two incarnations, one of which is a relatively disappointing first attempt at plugging in (it would be a couple of years before the electric splendor of “Napoleon”). But displaying a wisdom beyond her 23 years and a voice softer and more controlled than before, Out Of Range was a gigantic creative leap forward for DiFranco.  ♣   http://www.slantmagazine.com/
Website: http://www.righteousbabe.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/righteousbaberecs?feature=mhee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anidifranco/
Guitar Player Magazine, BY  VINNIE DEMASI, February 6, 2015: http://dev.guitarplayer.com/artists/1424/ani-difranco-on-recording-allergic-to-water/50780                                                                    © Photo credit: Charles Waldorf 
Studio albums:
♣   1990 — Ani DiFranco
♣   1991 — Not So Soft
♣   1992 — Imperfectly
♣   1993 — Puddle Dive
♣   1994 — Out of Range
♣   1995 — Not a Pretty Girl
♣   1996 — Dilate
♣   1998 — Little Plastic Castle
♣   1999 — Up Up Up Up Up Up
♣   1999 — To the Teeth
♣   2001 — Revelling/Reckoning
♣   2003 — Evolve
♣   2004 — Educated Guess
♣   2005 — Knuckle Down
♣   2006 — Reprieve
♣   2008 — Red Letter Year
♣   2012 — ¿Which Side Are You On?
♣   2014 — Allergic to Water
♣   2017 — Binary
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Ani DiFranco

Out of Range

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