The Bard stands with the Reformers of Peterloo, and their shared genius in teaching history with music and song
Album reviews with Ian Sinclair: August 15, 2023
Reviews of Ani DiFranco, The Clientele and Emma Rawicz
SUE TURNER is fascinated by a book that researches who the largely immigrant workforce were that built the Empire State
MARIA DUARTE and MALC McGOOKIN review Sirat, The Testament of Ann Lee, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, and All You Need Is Kill
STEVE ANDREW recommends a Marxist analysis of the long chains of production that global corporations exploit
MARY CONWAY relishes the period detail but misses the drama in this unsatisfactory dramatisation of the subjugated life of George Eliot
IAN SINCLAIR welcomes a mainstream scholar to the ranks of left-wing critique of US foreign policy
PETER MASON is disappointed that the eponymous Count fails to put in an appearance
Ani DiFranco
Little Plastic Castle
(Righteous Babe)
★★★★
THIS 25th anniversary remastered reissue of Ani DiFranco’s album Little Plastic Castle confirms the Buffalo-born left-wing feminist should take her rightful place as one of the greatest living US singer-songwriters.
Her highest charting record, it’s a dazzling fusion of political and personal folk-rock. The talk sung Fuel is an incisive, often humorous late-90s state of the nation address, while live favourite Gravel takes aim at a two-timing lover. There is a real joyousness to the music too – like when the brass kicks in and swings on the title track, and in the emotional comfort and release given by the sweet-sounding As If.
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