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Name Ani DiFranco
Occupation Mainstream- dodging folk-punk matriarch.
Where did she come from? Buffalo, New York . . . that's where. DiFranco started playing in her early teens and spectacularly managed to catch the attention of both Suzanne Vega and Michelle Shocked. Leaving home at 15 to escape a tumultuous family life. she honed a singularly uncompromising style that owes at least as much to the direct ethics of punk as the introspection of folk. A move to New York City in the early 90s saw this development proceed apace. with requests from fans for recordings of her shows leading her to establish her own Righteous Babe label, through which she has issued each of her many releases over the last 15 years.
Where is she now? In a very unique place with a positively huge fanbase, while impressively offering a two-fingered salute to every major label to come sniffing around. Such an independently- minded approach isn't at odds with DiFranco as a person. A committed feminist and confirmed bisexual, she established the Righteous Babe Foundation in order to support causes from gay and women's rights to death penalty opposition and even the saving of historic buildings in Buffalo. The music, meanwhile. deals in everything from traditional girl-meets-boy/girl love to contentious issues like rape and abortion, meaning that her live audience pleasingly features groups and couples of all sexualities. and intelligent. concerned types who love a good protest song.
Where is she going? After this year's Knuckle Down, hopefully continuing the same principled trajectory that has seen her become one of the world's most successful independent artists wonhy of the name.
(David Pollock)
l Queen '3 Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 20 Mar.
72 THE LIST 1.1.41 Mai 2005
POP ROCK HANSON Carling Academy, Glasgow, Thu 24 Mar
Hanson? On an indie label? In the Top Ten? Are those irksome teenyboppers now actually cool? Well, yes and no. For starters, Hanson were never quite the cheesy poppets of nostalgic legend: they’ve been writing the lion’s share of their material and playing their own instruments since the mid-90$, and their breakthrough album, 1997’s Middle of Nowhere, was part produced by the legendary Dust Brothers.
And, while they may be on an indie, new album Underneath is not a radically different record to its predecessors: Hanson are a little older and wiser - Isaac is 24, Taylor 22 and Zach 19 - but their pure pop touch remains. The album has its fair share of brilliantly stirring drivetime classics, including ‘Penny and Me’, the track that earned the band their first UK hit in eight years. ‘We make records, we’re not making trends,’ explains Taylor, an amiable young man who says the word ‘demographic’ more than most pop stars. ‘We’re not “Hey, this is hot, lets do that”. We’ve always been
ROCK
. . . AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
QMU, Glasgow, Sun 20 Mar
Some bands never have much potential, others have unfulfilled potential. then there's . . . Trail of Dead. The Austin, Texas outfit have always promised much, especially in their live shows. when they could be the embodiment of chaotic musical genius. That promise remained at least partially unrealised. that is until album number four. Worlds Apart.
A quite phenomenal leap forward, it is an awesomely ambitious long player. a concept album of sorts that rocks harder than anything else released this year. yet also contains moments of heartbreakineg delicate pOignancy and a keen intelligence so lacking in modern rock. it is appropriately titled. being a record streets ahead of the pack. So where did
this newfound ambition come from?
“We were listening to a lot of Kate Bush and Queen, and watching a lot of Led Zeppelin DVDs.‘ says Jason Reece with a mischievous laugh. ‘lt's
kinda bizarre. I suppose. given our punk background.‘
Their discovery of classm: 70s rock might alienate some die-hard fans. but who cares when it results in a record as monumentally anthemic and ambitious as theirs? They took their time making Worlds Apart. beefing up to a quintet with two drummers (Two drummers! How fucking cool?). but they were always careful not to go too far into wanky prog territory.
‘Some people hate that shit. but I don't think it‘s all negative.‘ says Reece. ‘With any form or period of mUSIC there's always something really good happening. you know. and I guess we were shooting more for the better aspects of 703 rock. no 40-minute guitar solos or anything. ELP got
really ridiculous. but you know BOWie did it with a lot of style.’
Style is something . . . Trail of Dead know all about. (Doug Johnstone)
focused on what we like doing, and we have a natural confidence, we know what we’re capable of. People say the new record’s different. Well, of course it’s different - every record’s different. Otherwise we'd just make one record and promote it for the next 20 years.’
Hanson ended up forming their own record company, 306 after a changing musical climate left them high and dry. ‘Our record was the last healthy breath of the record industry,’ says Taylor of Middle of Nowhere. ‘Polygram and Universal merged, and we ended up on a rap label. We were working with accountants who didn’t know what they were doing. We were still being very prolific, and lots of other bands we knew had started releasing records themselves. So we decided to do it on our own.’
Hanson are unlikely to replicate the planet-whacking sales of their peak, but, as the success of ‘Penny and Me’ and this substantial tour illustrate, they are far from finished. After beginning their last acoustic tour in Glasgow, the trio are looking forward to coming back. ‘lt’s going to be about 60% new songs,’ says Taylor, ‘but we’re not bashful about playing old songs like “MMMBop”. It’s who we are.’ (James Smart)