Joyful Noise: The Lounge Tribute To Ani Difranco

Kudos to the Lounge Brigade for avoiding the easy way out of this cover album. Even though they could have made everything all goofy and wacky for the swing kids, they instead decided to treat Ani Difranco's music with respect and really put some effort into it. They do decide to twist things towards their given talents, but this actually is a great way to handle such unique material. So "In or Out" becomes a blistering torch song, "The Diner" becomes a soulful R&B number, "Names & Dates & Times" becomes a French disco track, "Itch" becomes a moody jazz piece, and so on and so forth. Difranco's music is so forcefully hers to begin with that these new renditions almost need to separate from the folk genre no matter who is covering them. The album may not be up to the standard that Difranco already set for herself, but for a semi-novelty act to pull off such great covers is a testament to her abilities as a songwriter and the band's ability to leave the comedy behind. Fans of Difranco should give this a listen, as these are not the butcherings that one would expect from a lounge cover album.