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Red Letter Year | 
| Artist: Ani Difranco
Label: Righteous Babe
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $9.96
You Save: $7.02 (41%)
New (45) Used (11) from $7.00
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 1099
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.8 x 0.3
MPN: 63
UPC: 748731706326
EAN: 0748731706326
ASIN: B001D7T276
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new and factory sealed. Most orders shipped within 24 hours directly from our warehouse.
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| Tracks:
| • | Red Letter Year | | • | Alla This | | • | Present/Infant | | • | Smiling Underneath | | • | Way Tight | | • | Emancipated Minor | | • | Good Luck | | • | The Atom | | • | Round A Pole | | • | Landing Gear | | • | Star Matter | | • | Red Letter Year Reprise |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
"I've got myself a new mantra," Ani DiFranco shares on her new studio album. "It says `Don't forget to have a good time.'" This attitude has clearly influenced the dozen tunes on Red Letter Year, which celebrate existence, profess love and tackle thorny political issues with an infectious sense of glee. It's one of Ani's most joyous records to date. And it has been a long time coming. Red Letter Year was sculpted over the course of two years, a period in which Ani continued to hone her songwriting, performing and recording skills, all the while balancing her new role as a mom. "I think I sorely needed to be slowed down, and finally a little person came along powerful enough to do it," Ani reflects. The end result is an album of focused, layered, panoramic music. Ani's band - upright bassist Todd Sickafoose, vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon and drummer Allison Miller - is a major source of Red Letter Year's singular personality. On "Emancipated Minor," Miller's driving beat tethers to Ani's killer electric guitar hook, while Sickafoose's bass adds the perfect counterpoint to Ani's acoustic guitar work on "Way Tight". And on "Alla This," Dillon's vibes are as rich and open-minded as Ani's defiant, anthemic lyrics. Add to the inspired, re-invigorated Ani the uncanny production skills of Napolitano (Joseph Arthur, The Twilight Singers, Squirrel Nut Zippers), the otherworldly string arrangements of long time collaborator Sickafoose, and the inspired playing of guests such as Jon Hassell on trumpet (Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Ry Cooder), and you've got the makings of a DiFranco classic.
Album Description
Prolific feminist singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco began performing at the age of nine, establishing her independence by living on her own from the age of 15 onwards. Literate, ebullient and a natural live performer, she quickly won converts drawn equally from Folk and Rock audiences. Her debut album confirmed this promise, its lyrics informed by feminist theory but never subsumed by rhetoric or preciousness. As she told Billboard magazine in 1995: `It`s not like I have an agenda in my music. It`s just that to me, the world is political. Politics is music - is life! That`s the lens I look through.` 12 tracks.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 I wish Ani would be as ashamed of making this as I am of buying it October 16, 2008
J. Hornbuckle
16 out of 35 found this review helpful
listen to this garbage:
"I won't rent you my time
i won't sell you my brain
i won't pray to a male god
cuz that would be insane
and i can't support the troops
cuz every last one of them is being duped
and i will not rest a wink
until the women have regrouped"
2008, and Ani is still trying to sell feminists and baby lesbians on the idea that women are being kept down and that a "male god" that half of them don't even believe in oppresses them with its maleness somehow. Ani is cynically selling class warfare and men vs women activism like its still 1960. She's the feminist equivalent of Jesse Jackson at this point. Don't even get me started on the anti-soldier rhetoric
Not to mention that her voice on all these tracks sounds like she's singing underwater. They've mixed it with the instruments crystal clear and her speaking/singing totally washed out. You can't even hear what she's saying in several places in each song
For a woman who's done numerous spoken word pieces, and who has published her lyrics as a book of poetry, you'd think letting people actually hear her would be more important than that. Although, when the lyrics in question are as lame as those i just quoted, i guess you could be forgiven for trying to make sure no one can hear them
I've been an Ani fan for 12-13 years, been to more live shows than I can count, have more bootlegs than i can count, and of course own every cd she's ever put out, most of them on tape and cd, and one of them on vinyl too.
But this is my last Ani-related purchase. She's been on a downslide for 3 or 4 years and I thought she'd come out of it at some point, but its only getting worse and I'm not going to throw away my money on drivel like this. I'm ashamed to call myself an Ani fan, literally ashamed. I'm afraid that people will think of this cd when I say it instead of Dilate or Little Plastic Castle, or something she did when she was actually good and relevant
I have never been as upset at spending money on anything as I was when I put this in my cd player. I'm sure 99% of the reviews will be glowingly positive, but if you're an Ani fan over the age of 20 you might want to think twice before you get this one
Finally, the band works! October 2, 2008
K. Gallagher
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I was always crazy about Ani's solo work, going back to the early 90's, but I have always regretted her decision to try to develop a full band -- the amazing qualities of her musicianship and songs never translated to an upright bass, terrible horns, and marginal rotating bandmates. However, the new album achieves some awesome heights, particularly the tracks 'Red Letter Year', 'Alla This', and 'Smiling Underneath'. Her signature percussive guitar attack is all but gone, but I think she finally may have found a sound with her band. The drums are extraordinary throughout, and some very interesting effects/sounds pepper many of the songs. However, even more so than the improvements in the band, Ani's voice has reached an incredible maturity. In many songs, there's a simple (yet very strong) sweetness to it, and very seldom do you hear the overly-affected vocal tremolo that has marred her singing style on the last few albums. If you take away the inexplicably horrible final track (which sounds like a bunch of drunk high school band castoffs trying very unsuccessfully to sound "fun"), this album is truly a treat. Highly recommended, especially for those who may have been avoiding her recent albums due to the reduction of the visceral results of her and her acoustic guitar. Great job Ani!!
Back and strong September 10, 2008
Wayne Hobson
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I first encountered Ani Difranco's music when I was going through a rough period in my life and it so happened that "I'm Not A Pretty Girl" was released. She may not be pretty, but her music was beautiful to me. "32 Flavors" comforted me through those rough days - I was so broke that I had to save up just to buy the CD, which I would listen to evryday at Tower Records for free until I could buy it. I've been hooked on Ani ever since and even turned a few friends onto her. Being African American, I'm impressed by her elaborate understanding of African rhythms and her ability to incorporate a collage of James Brown and Prince-like formats into her music, yet keeping up with her folk music roots. She is a rare lyrical treasure and "Emanicipated Minor" shows that she is back in a strong way, with a funky vengeance! By the way, you've got to see Ani perform live - it will be one of the best concerts you'll ever see. She's even more energetic live then on CD. When her new CD drops, I'm buying.
Conquering/being conquered by New Orleans October 10, 2008
Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Ani Difranco relocated from Buffalo to New Orleans, and this has clearly had a profound effect on her writing and musical style. And at all that (plus having become a mom) hasn't stopped Ani from continuing to be the prolific writer that she's always been. This is Ani's 18th proper studio album (never mind the many live albums and compilations).
"Red Letter Year" (12 tracks, 47 min.) brings a renewed focus from Ani. After a disappointing opening title track (yes, we get it, you don't like Bush) that is simply not interesting musically, the album kicks into gear with "Alla This", which immediately brings forward the influence of New Orleans and the Louisiana music underground. The album features plenty of horns and other brass music, and Ani makes the best of it. There remain of course several tracks of more traditional Ani songs, sparse, with acoustic guitars (such as on "Star Matter"). One of my favorite tracks is "The Atom", a beautiful pensive tune with such lines as "I had a great great uncle who worked on the atomic bomb/He got a nobel price in physics and a place in this song", hehe. The album closer is an instrumental reprise of the title track, a full brass all-out re-interpretation, just beautiful.
In all, "Red Letter Year" is a most welcome addition to the rich Ani Difranco catalog. I saw Ani in concert earlier this year at the Langerado festival in South Florida, and she brought a tremendous set, playing many of the classics along with a couple tracks from this album (which by then was not out yet).
 Ho-hum October 9, 2008
Dimension (Canada)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Ani is great, no more said.
Having said that I think she has well past her prime. Her last six or so albums have failed to engage my the way her early work has namely: self titled, Pretty Girl, and Dilate (her best!)
Just as I feared, there are lots of songs about her daughter. Why do artists think we want to hear how happy they are and how children have changed thier life?? Yeah, yeah she's chilled and happy-- I get it, just don't want to pay to hear it.
Nothing new or interesting or memorable here and she sticks with her tried and true formula of the personal and political.
Sure to please to hardcore fans. I personally thinks she's at her best in more the relationship arena, but hey she's in her 30's a mom and she can't be all things to all people.
Will continue to enjoy her old classics!
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