The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

by

Ani DiFranco and Utah Phillips

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I cannot deny that this CD is one of the best of the decade. Ani's musical skills lend a solid backbeat to many of the stories, creating an interesting mix of contemporary style and old-time stories and concepts. Phillips, of course, is possibly one of the finest storytellers of our century, and is a joy to listen to alone. DiFranco has picked his best told stories, and put brilliant music to them, creating what can only be described as an incredible CD. One caveat, though, if you are primarily an Ani fan, you may want to steer clear of this one. She appears on two tracks, lending her voice only as an instrument, and not to carry any of the tracks. Her role in this CD was purely to produce and mix, not to compose her usual folk songs.

I bought this album after buying "Fellow Workers" another collaboration between Utah and Ani. It has been a drive to work staple for some 9 months. I was expecting more of the same. But I found the only way to actually hear Utah's words which are why I bought this collection was to roll the bass completely off and boost the mid range up. Even so the electronic music seemed to bear no relationship to what Utah was doing.

I would have much preferred Utah doing this material by himself or with perhaps another acoustic musician or two behind him instead of all the synth sounds.