Up Up Up Up Up Up

CMJ - "...undoubtedly among her most confident and ambitious releases, brimming with burning insights and burning insights and burning question that fuel slowly cooking grooves..." Dirty Linen - "...Di Franco is continuing to evolve in ways that hint at still more experimentation, rather than falling back on a tried-and-true studio formula. As the title suggests, there's no place to go from here but...up." Rolling Stone - "...Her lovely, elastic voice can swing from toffee to burlap within a phrase, and her feel for words is masterful--she pins down both grim and romantic truths with the same accuracy, and the result is always unexpected and vivid..." Q - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...As influenced by the impish convention-teasing and experimentalism of Beck and Laurie Anderson as the are by the great female singer-songwriters, these songs are sprawling, intense, original, wordy beasts which revel in their diversity..." Rolling Stone (2/4/99, p.60) - "...Her lovely, elastic voice can swing from toffee to burlap within a phrase, and her feel for words is masterful--she pins down both grim and romantic truths with the same accuracy, and the result is always unexpected and vivid..." CMJ (1/25/99, p.5) - "...undoubtedly among her most confident and ambitious releases, brimming with burning insights and burning insights and burning question that fuel slowly cooking grooves..." Q (4/99, p.95) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...As influenced by the impish convention-teasing and experimentalism of Beck and Laurie Anderson as the are by the great female singer-songwriters, these songs are sprawling, intense, original, wordy beasts which revel in their diversity..." Dirty Linen (10-11/99, p.61) - "...Di Franco is continuing to evolve in ways that hint at still more experimentation, rather than falling back on a tried-and-true studio formula. As the title suggests, there's no place to go from here but...up."

DiFranco made a name for herself by turning acoustic singer-songwriter conventions inside out and virtually reinventing the genre with her unique, unfettered vision. Throughout her prolific career one of DiFranco's greatest strengths has been her willingness to let it all hang out, both musically and lyrically. On UP UP UP, though, she explores the added dimensions found in the use of sparseness, minimalism and dynamic contrast. While never less than nakedly emotive, many of the songs here have the feeling of a passion or fury that's just barely reigned in.
The socio-political observations of "Tis of Thee" simmer with anger, but the acoustic-based arrangement remains low-key. "Juke Box" is undeniably funky, but there's a sense of control that makes its off-kilter rhythms that much more effective. On the epic-length "Come Away From It", DiFranco tells a heartbroken tale atop a sonic landscape that is a study in the effective use of minimalism, breaking down to near silence for long stretches. The combination of irrepressible energy and tastefulness makes UP UP UP one of DiFranco's most mature, effective recordings.|