Search - Ani Difranco :: More Joy, Less Shame

One of her best songs in my opinion.....

03/27/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really love this song because of its simplicity and feeling. I am amazed how different it sounds in each mix. And the lyrics are JUST SO GOOD. I love it. I am a Joyful girl now that I have this CD. The samples here do not do it justice. Believe me-buy it. I would, however, recommend buying the Dialate CD first to become familiar with the song. The shameless mix is funky, and both hands is cool because it is live, but I rarely listen to them on this version."

PERFECT

ladrena@hotmail.com | 07/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A beautiful song, played over and over and different each time. What more could you want.. Be prepared to have your heart expand. Shameless and Both Hands are beautiful and always fun."

For diehard fans only

spacedog | boston, ma United States | 07/25/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"it's nice to see ani stretching a bit w/ this remix EP, but the results are pretty passable (unlike her other swing EP). here's the rundown:



1: just to remind you, the album version of joyful girl doesn't have any drums whatsoever. this version has sort of trip-hoppy drums and diff vocals (smoother and less angsty). i think the guitar was re-recorded also. this mix was to accompany the music video, so the vibe is more torch-y. this also has some spoken samples from a speech by a guy (preacher maybe?), although i don't recognize who.



2: very similar to the first mix. the beats are either extremely similar or the same. the vocals were recorded yet again, though, and are a bit more interesting. this doesn't have the speech samples, although it does include the bits of scratching samples the first mix did.



3: an extended version of track 2. the extended section is mostly a two-minute coda where there are more improvised vocals (nicely layered) of the lyrics "joyful girl". this is prob. my fav mix of the bunch.



4: new vox again and no guitar. the orchestra doesn't do a whole lot here, but in the instrumentals the brass really blooms. the arrangement doesn't really change on each repetition though, but it has a very nice ambience. an enjoyable track.



5: new vox. this is another trip-hoppy beat, and the song is much less raucous than the album version and more coy. think "pixie" from little plastic castle. includes the sample of andy s. singing from the beginning of the album version.



6: better than the version from living in clip. good to have, but again not essential.



overall, as i said, this is entertaining and good for completists and adds another dimension to the force that is ani. def. not essential though."