Singer/songwriter/guitarist Ani DiFranco's release, ¿Which Side Are You On?, features 11
new songs alongside a radically reworked rendition of the
classic title song, famously popularized by Pete Seeger nearly five decades ago, but no less relevant
today. Backing DiFranco on this collection is a remarkably diverse line-up
of stellar musicians, including members of her own touring band as well as guest players Ivan and Cyril
Neville (of New Orleans' first family of funk and R&B, The
Neville Brothers), avant-saxophonist Skerik (Pearl Jam,
R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, The Meters), acclaimed singer/songwriter
Anaïs Mitchell, guitarist Adam Levy (Norah Jones,
Tracy Chapman, Amos Lee), and a host of New Orleans-based
horn players known for their work in such outfits as Galactic,
Bonerama, and The Rebirth Brass Band.

The newly recorded version of ¿Which Side Are You
On? is a funk-fueled epic, incorporating not just Ani's band,
but Pete Seeger himself on banjo and vocals alongside The
Rivertown Kids, a Hudson Valley-based children's chorus,
and The Roots of Music Marching Crusaders, a brass band
consisting of students from The Roots of Music, a music
education program for at-risk middle-school students in New
Orleans. DiFranco contributed her own straight-from-the
headlines verses to the song and has used it to close her own
live shows ever since. The album represents an extraordinary
snapshot of DiFranco's own life as well her sense of where the
country stands at this particular moment in time.

"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.

Throughout her career, Ani DiFranco has given her own take on tired rock star cliches. When other artists answered to major labels, she opted to start her own. While other guitarists relied on electric heroics, she pounded on a strangely tuned acoustic. And when faced with the task of releasing a career retrospective, Ani created anything but the traditional "greatest hits" package. With Canon, the double-disc set, fans will get an unprecedented look at how the artist sees her prolific career, and newcomers will get the ultimate primer in DiFrancology. Because like everything else she creates, Ani made this record to her precise specifications, carefully selecting 36 songs from her voluminous back catalog, including tunes from her first album and her 19th.

EVERYONE WANTS IN ON THE SEX ACT!Falling for a porn star can put you in a difficult position, but when you`re the director, you choose the positions. David Stanley brings you the story of an adult film director that slips from behind the camera and into the talent.

ANI DIFRANCO Living In Clip (1997 US 31-track live double CD featuring performances recorded across America during 1995 and 1996 & including a 36-page photo album booklet picture sleeve & outer picture slipcase RBR011-D)

Every new album from Ani DiFranco gives listeners a reason to get excited about music all over again, and her latest, Reprieve, is certainly no exception. Across 12 tracks, DiFranco ignites more of her signature blend of poetry, politics and musicianship.

Ani and touring bassist Todd Sickafoose are the only two players on the new album - something you'd never guess from it's rich and detailed sound. In addition to the usual array of acoustic and electric guitars, Ani can be heard on keyboards, drums, and other instruments, while Todd contributes bass, wurlitzer, pump organ, piano and "fakey-bakey" trumpet and strings.

The album was tracked in her New Orleans studio in early 2005 during a break in her usually heavy touring schedule. Forced to leave the master recordings behind before Hurricane Katrina, she drove back into the city to retrieve them just three days after the levees broke. From there she headed back to overdub in her hometown of Buffalo with whatever instruments happened to be on hand.

Between the evacuation and the time off the road, Ani found herself concentrating on the process of recording to a degree she had never done before, and the resulting album is the clearest demonstration yet of her talents as a producer. Unconstrained by the pressures of touring, she was able to take her time with the record, and the end result is an overall sound that is clear and succinct.

While not intended to be taken as a concept album, the songs on Reprieve do provide a cohesive picture of what’s been on Ani’s mind during turbulent times on the personal, cultural, and global front.

Ani describes Reprieve as rooted in the Crescent City, and there’s a direct reference to that town in the album’s centerpiece, "Millennium Theater." The line "New Orleans bides her time" in the middle of this scathing critique of the current Republican regime might sound like a response to Hurricane Katrina, but in fact the song was written well before the disaster that has devastated the city, about a crisis that took no one but the presidential administration by surprise. Like just about everything else on Reprieve, "Millennium Theater" finds Ani speaking her mind, singing from her heart, and playing music like her life—like all of our lives—depended on it.