Friday, October 17, 2008

and I'm recording our history now on the bedroom wall

Oh Ani. Long before I knew your music I knew who you were. You’re a strong feminist, a crazy guitar player, owner of a small record label, and a chick with some crazy hair. I only had heard the song “Both Hands” when I saw Regina Spektor was playing at the Mann Center and you were the main act. Although I knew little about your music, Regina was a must see act for me, so I went along for the ride. Once I had heard Regina’s set I could have left happy. Her cute dress, insane piano skills, interesting noises and fun blue guitar had me satisfied.



The crowd was quiet, but perhaps a little restless. When Ani came on I knew why- a bunch of insane women screaming so loud that I simply not hear had somehow appeared out of the mild mannered crowd before intermission. A set filled with guitars, a cute androgynous drummer, a bassist and a… well, random percussionist were on the stage but every eye was on the minuscule woman beating the hell out of a guitar and singing her lungs out. In the song ‘You Had Time’, when her lover asks her if she played well she says “My fingers are sore and my voice is too.” It’s easy to see where these lyrics come from, for she growls out her lyrics, screams against the patriarchy in the US, and plays guitars that are bigger than her 5' 2" frame.



She’s an excellent performer and if she could have sung more about her opinions and said less, and if could have stood her drunk insane fans I’m sure I would immediately have become one of her largest fans. However, after the concert it took me a long time to get into her. I slowly eased in with ’32 Flavors’, her most famous song, and I cannot stop listening to ‘Two Little Girls’. I love the style of her older work for her new stuff is incredibly glossy compared to the extremely raw sound of songs like ‘Untouchable Face’. Artists grow as they age and since Ani has her own record label she can produce her music however she wants to. So, I’ll be the feminist college girl cliché and jump on the Difranco bandwagon with pride.

and I'm beyond your peripheral vision
so you might want to turn your head
cause someday you're going to get hungry
and eat most of the words you just said. -32 Flavors

Some days the line I walk
Turns out to be straight
Other days the line tends to deviate
I've got no criteria for sex or race
I just want to hear your voice
I just want to see your face –In or Out

So I guess I’ll just stand here with my back against the wall

while you distilled your whole life down to a 911 call –Two Little Girls

So I’m beginning to see some problems

with the on going work of my mind
and I’ve got myself a new mantra
it says: "don't forget to have a good time" –Present/Infant

You are a china shop, and I am a bull

you are really good food, and I am full –You Had Time

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