Puddle Dive (CD - 1993)

Personnel: Ani DiFranco (vocals, acoustic & steel guitar); Andy Stochansky (vocals, marimba, drums, steel drums, djembe, percussion); Mary Ramsey (violin); Alex Meyer (samba whistle, cuica); Rory McLeod (harmonica); Scot Fisher (accordion); Ann Rabson (piano); Scott Freilich (bass).

Recorded at International Sound, Buffalo, New York in 1993.

Personnel: Ani DiFranco (vocals, acoustic guitar, steel guitar); Andy Stochansky (vocals, marimba, drums, djembe, shaker, steel drum, triangle, percussion); Mary Ramsey (violin); Rory McLeod (harmonica); Scot Fisher (accordion); Ann Rabson (piano); Alex Meyer (cuica).

As she was not yet 20 when her self-titled debut was released, Ani DiFranco largely grew up in public. From the stark beauty of ANI DIFRANCO and the impassioned politics of NOT SO SOFT to the tentative steps into full-band folk-rock of IMPERFECTLY, each album was a marked improvement on the one before. Her fourth record, 1993's PUDDLE DIVE, is the Buffalo, New York-based singer-songwriter's first genuinely great album.

PUDDLE DIVE contains DiFranco's strongest songwriting up to that point. The sardonic "Egos Like Hairdos" and the ominously quiet "I Could Do That Any Day" remain career highlights. The album also finds DiFranco growing more and more comfortable with autobiographical songwriting, most tellingly on the outstanding "Used to You," a compelling collection of mixed emotions directed at a former lover and still one of DiFranco' strongest and most emotionally rich songs. minimize