Ani DiFranco Living in Clip (25th Anniversary) 180g 3LP (Red Smoke Vinyl)

TAS Rated 3.5/5 Music, 3/5 Sonics in the December 2022 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

This landmark double album by Ani DiFranco features her trio from 1995-1996 with Andy Stochansky (drums) and Sara Lee (bass). Twenty-five years later the album is recognized as a point of entry that radically expanded DiFranco's audience, and a historically important testament to the relationship between Ani as a live performer and the devoted community she created with her fans.

If there was ever a record to help you pull through until the next time the Folksinger makes her way to your town, Living in Clip is the one (or three discs). Affectionately named after the state of stage amps about to blow out, the record (originally released in April 1997) is constructed like a show complete with the onstage humor and antics her fans love. The culmination of years of studio work and constant touring, Living in Clip is a tour in itself: nearly two-dozen venues provide the atmosphere for over two hours of music complete with intermission and encore. Recorded straight from the soundboard on an 8 track ADAT, digital videotape and mixed at The Congress House in Austin by Ani and the man behind the monitors, Andrew Gilchrist - Living in Clip is conceptually designed to preserve the authenticity and pulse of a live show.

The set list is massive, consisting of long time favorites and new ones, debuts, orchestras(!), stories, poetry, musings all swirling around in their most natural habitat. Ani's vision for the record selections are "songs that have changed a lot since their first appearance on the studio albums, songs that have mutated into something different...I tried to include songs that I know I'll never fucking play onstage again, ones I've forgotten, and some obscure ones too."

There are jazzy folkalicious renditions of "Letter to A John", "Fire Door"," "Diner" and "Anticipate". Amusing and sweet snippets are interwoven throughout the songs and sometimes during them - "Out Of Habit" harbors a little cinematic glimpse into Ani's first days in New York City. This dynamic collection also offers The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra playing on "Both Hands" and "Amazing Grace" at a hockey arena as well as a phenomenal version of "Shy", that was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance - Female (or whatever). Living in Clip is also considered one of Rolling Stone magazine's essential albums of the '90s.

Living in Clip includes a beautiful photo gallery that contains pictures of the sparkling faces, questionable attire and unique persons behind the road show.

When it was originally released in 1997, Living In Clip was one of the highest peaks in singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco's craggy career. Stitched together from recordings made on an extended tour that found DiFranco joined by longtime compatriot Andy Stochansky on drums and former Gang of Four bassist Sara Lee, this live album pushed its creator and her independent label Righteous Babe into a new tax bracket and has rightfully been hailed as one of the crucial releases of its decade. To celebrate its 25th birthday, the album has been given its first vinyl pressing, stretching the double CD set out over three LPs and not losing one iota of the emotional power, unflinching honesty and explosive joy of the performances included within.

DiFranco flubs some lyrics and the sound quality varies, but on the other hand you feel the energy of a live performance. That approach must have worked because, only seven years after her debut LP was released, the fiercely DIY DiFranco had her first—and to date, only—gold record. Yet Living in Clip was never available on vinyl—until now, that is, as a 3-LP set with a trifold cover and colored wax. Even during the solo performances, this self-described folk singer has a funky side, and when she's joined by bassist Sara Lee and drummer Andy Stochansky, the grooves get that much grittier. Together the performances, which can be personal, political, angry, sexually charged, or humorous (sometimes all in the same song), effectively document a period when, in venues all across America, Ani DiFranco was determined to shake things up - and succeeded.