So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter (CD - 2002)

Personnel: Ani DiFranco (vocals, guitar); Hans Teuber (flute, clarinet, saxophone, background vocals); Ravi Best, Todd Horton, Shane Endsley (trumpet); Julie Wolf (keyboards, background vocals); Jason Mercer (bass); Daren Hahn (drums).

Partially recorded at Nantes, France and Boise Idaho. Includes liner notes by Ronald Ehmke.

Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco didn't become one of the biggest DIY success stories by sticking to the studio. Over the years, she built her cottage industry up through tireless touring, gaining a huge and rabidly loyal audience one painstaking gig at a time. So although her Righteous Babe label has released many fine studio efforts from the prolific recording artist, it's on a live album like this two-disc affair that DiFranco can truly shine. All the little touches that make Ani's performances so special can be heard over the course of SO MUCH SHOUTING, SO MUCH LAUGHTER; the trademark stuttering, start-stop acoustic guitar rhythms of "Swan Dive," the way the horns and the organ interact on "Whatall is Nice," the folky strumming that underpins the sociopolitical message of "To the Teeth,"the bluesy, slow-burn vocalizing in which DiFranco indulges on "Revelling." All the aspects of her music come into play in a concert setting, so when the pointed aggression present in one of DiFranco's signature songs, "Not a Pretty Girl" is effectively underscored by the band, you're able to feel the effect at home in much the way the audience did. And isn't that what a live album is supposed to be all about? minimize