Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is Alla This
by Ani DiFranco from the 2008 album Red Letter Year on Righteous Babe.
Over the past two years, Ani DiFranco has been composing her upcoming release, Red Letter Year, the first album she has put out since becoming a mother. (Wait. The inspiration for all of my female friends in college shaving their heads in now a mother? With a dude?) Never one to divorce politics from music, DiFranco gave the album a title which goes hand in hand with the overwhelming sigh of relief those of us in the Blue States are feeling about 2008 -- this is a year of special significance. “Alla This” might be a more direct calling out of the problems with United States’ culture of consumerism and blind patriarchy than her previous albums with lines like, “I won’t let you make a tool of me / I will keep my mind and body free” and more pointedly, “I can’t support the troops / ‘cause every last one of them is being duped.” Even if you’re not one for overtly political music, Ani DiFranco continues to back her rants with excellent production, guitar playing, and songwriting. A sea of strings swells around the pull-and-push of the drums with some quirky tremolo guitar action being tossed in for flavor. Order the pre-release of Red Letter Day from her MySpace and check out this live performance of the song from earlier this year:
