REVIEW: Ani DiFranco, To the Teeth (Righteous Babe)
- Jon Steltenpohl
In Ani DiFranco's world, time goes by twice as fast as it does for mortal musicians. It's been less than a year since her release of Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, and barely a year and a half since Little Plastic Castles. For those who've followed DiFranco through her roller coaster of releases, To the Teeth will not be much of a surprise.
In continuing her insatiable need for experimentation, DiFranco travels further down the funk and jazz trail on To the Teeth. Horns are everywhere on this album. Maceo Parker, famed instrumentalist for James Brown, adds his distinctive sax to a few tracks and flute to another, and Prince layers in the background vocals for a song DiFranco's been performing on tour called "Providence". (In return, DiFranco guests on both Parker's and Prince's new albums.)
"Providence" is a powerful little song that's more soulful than funky. Prince's vocals are there on it. They echo out from behind the mix like some apocalyptic backup choir in a Baptist church. Prince's strange knack for minor key harmonies plays oddly against such a lyrically strong song. Even for a big Prince fan, the effect is as unsettling as it is engaging. "Swing" sounds a bit funkier as DiFranco slides in a little rap by Corey Parker, some scratching by drummer Daren Hahn, and Maceo Parker's incredibly cool saxophone.
Despite the funky emphasis, it only applies to a third of the album. There are some songs which fit the old DiFranco mold. "To the Teeth," "Hello Birmingham" and "Back Back Back" are political and strong, and "Soft Shoulder" and "Cloud Blood" are personal and emotional. Other songs are DiFranco's individual home experiments which succeed with varying degrees of success. "Carry You Around" and "The Arrivals Gate" both work okay as upbeat, simple little songs set against a sampled beat. "I Know This Bar" is quiet, and one of the better songs on the album. It features a slightly off-tune piano and careful memories of a friend who was a waitress. It's a compelling song that reads like a balled-up poem you unfold to read one last time. But, then there's "Freakshow" which, true to its name, is a bit frightening. It's loud and abrasive, and, unfortunately, it sounds disturbingly like Alanis Morissette...which is NOT a good thing. DiFranco's voice is out of tune and grating.
DiFranco tackles a lot of styles on To the Teeth. She has taken classes from the Picasso School of Savant Instruction. Picasso, years before creating the strange work he's famous for, was just a highly skilled young artist. Go to the National Gallery and see his work in chronological order, and you will see beautifully immaculate and realistic paintings at the start of his career. They are nearly photographs. But as the years go on, you see the attitude change, normalcy gives way to strange colors, misplaced eyes, and abstractions. DiFranco seems to be following the same path. Judging from her recent work, she's bored with making simple, powerful songs.
She is a restless artist looking to expand her boundaries. There isn't a track on the album which sounds dated or in any way derivative. The individual songs are, for the most part, exceptional and compelling. They have lyrical power and moving rhythms. But, taken as a whole, they are a jumble of ideas and a clashing of styles. DiFranco is treating her albums as chronological records of her journey of musical experimentation. In true folk music style, DiFranco is showing the world the real her. It's a double-edged sword, and the quality of her albums as "albums" has suffered. It's as if every time she accumulates 70 minutes of incredible music in the studio, it gets released as an album.
In that sense, To the Teeth is no different than the last two DiFranco albums. One can't help but wish that she would sit on these songs long enough to split them up into albums that you could listen to from start to finish without pausing every other track to think, "I like that song, but I'm not in the mood for it." It is the complaint of a fan who begs for perfection. Because, with the exception of the horrific track, "Freakshow", the only real problem with To the Teeth is that it feels like a compilation rather than album.
