Credits▼ Accompanied By – Joseph Arthur Acoustic Guitar, Producer – Ani DiFranco Bass – Alisdair Jones, Jason Mercer, Sara Lee, Todd Sickafoose Drums – Allison Miller, Andy Stochansky, Jerry Marotta Harmonica – Rory McLeod Organ – Greg Dulli, Michael Ramos Saxophone – John Mills (3) Trombone – Jon Blondell Trumpet – Gary Slechta Vibraphone – Mike Dillon Notes▼ Retrospective spanning the past 16 years of Ani DiFranco's recordings, with five songs performed and recorded anew specifically for this collection. Those five songs (tracks 1-17, 1-18 and 2-16 to 2-18) are denoted as 'Brand-Spanking-New Studio Versions. Phpbb3 Wow Styles more. Hp 1501 Drivers here. ' CD 3, called 'Official Bootleg Series Sampler', contains a selection of live recordings.

The easy part is the facts: that there are 36 cuts on these two CDs, taken from 's catalog over a 14-year time span. There are many familiar songs here: 'Firedoor' (the version), 'Coming Up,' 'Hello Birmingham,' 'Buildings and Bridges,' 'Joyful Girl,' 'Marrow,' and 'Manhole,' to name just a few. It's even easy to write that, in addition to the original songs, there are five new versions of old favorites in 'Napoleon,' 'Shameless,' 'Your Next Bold Move,' 'Both Hands,' and 'Overlap.' That's all simple. What's difficult is tracking it all from 1993 through to 2007 through a staggering 16 studio albums, three live offerings, and a few EPs and singles tossed in. It seems that the same person who writes and plays these songs has only gotten sharper, cleverer, wrier, and less wordy, perhaps, but that's just language and the practice of craft seasoning.

But in listening to this set it's nearly impossible to chart her development as a very original guitarist who plays in no style but her own, the way she can convey more by using her voice less, and her depth as a musical collaborator with some of the best in the biz from and to,,,, and many others. Her wide-ranging sense of musical adventure has only grown, along with her lasting commitment not only to what she believes, but to continuing to offer contrasting, sometimes contradictory views that all come off as on the money. Her humor now is as caustic as her rage, which has grown itself into a wizened, complex, and even diffident anger, where the poetry in the songs is more sophisticated but no less accessible than it was when she began. Is a document to be sure, a 'best of,' but it's also a testament to something else: that through the biz and media trends, from riot grrrl to the rise of the '90s and 2000s troops of female singer/songwriters who come and go, is always here, has been present, and has not paying attention to the machinations of such things. She's on a path, and the music here offers that it's a wildly divergent one sometimes, but it is unquestionably hers, and she doesn't let go of anything she collects -- until she's ready to, that is, and even then you can see the traces of her own scratch marks all over that thing: fascination, Eros, agape, heartbreak, betrayal, love, violence, celebration, and anger both righteous and petty (she discovers these things herself, it's not a critical judgment). Or maybe, she simply weaves them all into her own quilt, thread by thread, to be identified and grabbed when needed most.