Ani Difranco - Allergic To Water (Vinyl)

Ani DiFranco's extensive catalog boasts records that range from punky folk to funky jazz to electronically appended rock. She has relentlessly and restlessly explored her creative passions and obsessions with a vengeance. Allergic to Water was recorded in two four-day sessions -- one while she was six-and-a-half months pregnant -- at her home in New Orleans and a studio in Treme. Her band includes longtime bassist Todd Sickafoose (who also contributes keyboards) and NOLA drum ace Terence Higgins, with guests Ivan Neville on Wurlitzer and Jenny Scheinman on violin. DiFranco's signature guitar sound is everywhere. She produced and mixed the record through headphones in the nighttime hours while her family slept. More than anything, this is what informs the sound and feel of the record: It's quieter, more mysterious, and unhurried. There is less urgency in these songs, but no less poignancy. The wryly humorous opener "Dithering" is a topical song about information overload and contains a