Heard anything good lately?

By Nick Hornby, author

By Nick Hornby, author

I'm very keen on Ani DiFranco, who's a folky songwriter who plays guitar and piano, and often sounds cross. The album's called Out of Range and it's on Righteous Babe / Haven Records. It's not the kind of thing I'd expect to like. Lesbian separatists with rings through their noses are not usually my cup of tea. But she writes good words and six of the 12 ballads are beautiful - they're the even numbered tracks. The odd-numbered songs are very racketty and off-putting.