Reprieve (album)
Encyclopedia
Reprieve is the fifteenth studio album by singer-songwriter
Ani DiFranco
, released on August 8, 2006.
Righteous Babe Records
' website notes that only DiFranco's bassist Todd Sickafoose
, who had accompanied her on her recent tours, would be performing on the album. The album has a dark, mournful, mellow sound reminiscent of 1999's To the Teeth
and 2004's Educated Guess
and features experimental arrangements with synthesizers, electronics and tape manipulation.
As the recording of the album was briefly interrupted due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina
, the album has a heavily political and vaguely conceptual undercurrent that "paints a haunting portrait of New Orleans as the water retreats and the natives continue to rebuild their lives."
The album cover was inspired by a picture of a real tree in Nagasaki which was partially destroyed by the atomic bomb. While the city around it lay in ruin, this one tree stood, half of it destroyed, the other untouched. DiFranco also references the eucalyptus tree in the title track about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
While the official release date of Reprieve was August 8, the album was made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store between June 24 and June 27, 2006, possibly in error, as the album date on the site was listed as 2002.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
, released on August 8, 2006.
Righteous Babe Records
Righteous Babe Records
Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label. It was created by progressive folksinger Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company.-History:...
' website notes that only DiFranco's bassist Todd Sickafoose
Todd Sickafoose
Todd Sickafoose is an American jazz and rock bassist originally from the San Francisco Bay Area who now lives in Brooklyn, New York.He is best known for playing bass with Ani DiFranco, but he has also led his own group called, "Todd Sickafoose's Blood Orange".Sickafoose has been a member of the...
, who had accompanied her on her recent tours, would be performing on the album. The album has a dark, mournful, mellow sound reminiscent of 1999's To the Teeth
To the Teeth
To the Teeth is singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco's tenth studio album , released in November 1999.To the Teeth has a more political and self-questioning edge than many of her earlier works...
and 2004's Educated Guess
Educated Guess
Educated Guess is the thirteenth album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released January 20, 2004 . It was recorded alone at her homes in Buffalo, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana.-Track listing:All songs by Ani DiFranco....
and features experimental arrangements with synthesizers, electronics and tape manipulation.
As the recording of the album was briefly interrupted due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, the album has a heavily political and vaguely conceptual undercurrent that "paints a haunting portrait of New Orleans as the water retreats and the natives continue to rebuild their lives."
The album cover was inspired by a picture of a real tree in Nagasaki which was partially destroyed by the atomic bomb. While the city around it lay in ruin, this one tree stood, half of it destroyed, the other untouched. DiFranco also references the eucalyptus tree in the title track about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
While the official release date of Reprieve was August 8, the album was made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store between June 24 and June 27, 2006, possibly in error, as the album date on the site was listed as 2002.
Track listing
- "Hypnotized" – 4:11
- "Subconscious" – 3:32
- "In the Margins" – 3:13
- "Nicotine" – 4:06
- "Decree" – 3:43
- "78% H2O" – 3:30
- "Millennium Theater" – 3:14
- "Half-Assed" – 3:30
- "Reprieve" – 2:45
- "A Spade" – 4:24
- "Unrequited" – 4:06
- "Shroud" – 4:48
- "Reprise" – 1:34
Personnel
- Ani DiFranco – acoustic guitar, keyboards/synthsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, programming, samples - Todd Sickafoose – double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, WurlitzerWurlitzerThe Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
, pump organ, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
Production
- Ani DiFranco – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineer, artworkVisual artsThe visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Mike Napolitano – engineer, mixing
- Todd Sickafoose – engineer
- Brent Lambert – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Brian Grunert – artwork, design
- Danny Clinch – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Billboard 200 | 46 |
| 2006 | Top Independent Albums | 3 |