Daily Staff Writer

“Up Up Up Up Up Up”

Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco’s 12th solo album, “Up Up Up Up Up Up” (count ’em kids, that’s six ups), is a showcase of her studio as well as solo prowess, as she explores more traditional recording arrangements.

DiFranco is joined in the studio with her touring band, which includes Jason Mercer on bass, Andy Stochansky on drums and Julie Wolf on keyboards, accordion and back-up vocals.

The album is a compilation of songs that were written and perfected by DiFranco and the band while on tour. Several songs are condensed jams, including the 13-minute track “Hat Shaped Hat,” which was edited down from a 3-hour session.

The album captures the bands’ continuity, with the majority of the instrumental tracks recorded live with only a few overdubs.

Opening track “‘Tis of Thee” sets a precedent that the rest of the album is able to answer to with its thought-provoking lyrics and catchy melodies.

In the song, DiFranco sings “My country ’tis of thee/ To take swings at each other on talk show TV/ Why don’t you just go ahead and turn off the sun.”

The most notable track on “Up Up Up Up Up Up” is also the album’s first single, “Not Angry Anymore.” During the track, DiFranco walks through her days growing up, settles old arguments and makes amends with her parents.

“Up Up Up Up Up Up” proves DiFranco’s ability as an accomplished song writer as well as a studio musician, adding to her legacy as one of rock music’s most unlikely superstars.

4 1/2 stars out of five

— Sam Johnson

“Quantity is Job 1”

Five Iron Frenzy

The randomness and spontaneity that is found on a live album usually can’t be recorded in a studio due to unplanned lyrics and spur-of-the-moment tempo and key changes.

Five Iron Frenzy’s latest release, “Quantity is Job 1,” proves that a spontaneous-sounding album can come from a studio recording if it’s done right.

Impulsive yet tasteful, each track leaves the listener expecting constant wittiness from a band that has been marked for its good humor.

Balancing the band’s constant slapstick, Andrew Verdecchio holds things together with his solid, flexible drum patterns.

The guitars pump flashy rifts left and right during virtually every track, while the brass section dances around chords, adding musical humor to compliment the words.

The shortest and the most sporadic of all the songs is “When I Go Out.” Featuring loud guitars and lots of yelling, the song consists of the words “When I go out, I play in the street, I get hit by cars, I make mashed potatoes, I get hit by cars.”

Another highlight is the last track, “These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera).” Quirkiness at its best, Five Iron makes it clear that “these are not my pants” in as many musical styles as possible. Favorites include the latin beat variation, the reggae variation and the punk variation.

Although the humorous musical style is consistent throughout the CD, a few of the topics discussed actually have serious overtones.

On “My Evil Plan to Save the World,” a determined song driven by off-beat punches of brass, lead vocalist Reese Roper pokes fun at arrogant attitudes people have toward the condition of the world, and “One Girl Army” relates the Christian view of feminism.

The only problem I have with this album is its size. The entire album has only nine songs, with a collective running time of about 35 minutes. I’d bet anyone who has heard the group’s album all the way through would be game for a few more minutes.

4 stars out of five

— Ashley Hassebroek

“Chef Aid: The South Park Album”

Various Artists

Those crazy kids from “South Park” have found time in their busy schedules to put out a hilarious album that joins an entourage of famous musicians to help save the Chef.

“Chef Aid: The South Park Album” features famous recording artists such as Ozzy Ozbourne, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Master P, Mase, Lil’ Kim, Puff Daddy, Wyclef Jean, Elton John, Perry Farrell, Ween, Rick James, Ike Turner, and of course, the Chef himself.

This 21-track record is packed full of a variety of music, and almost every song features funny one-liners from one or more “South Park” characters.

Produced by Rick Rubin, who is known for Beastie Boys’ “Licensed to Ill,” the album also includes a cover of “Come Sail Away” which features the irresistibly funny voice of “South Park’s” Cartman, and the “South Park Theme,” which is performed by Primus.

The last track on “Chef Aid,” a remix called “Mentally Dull,” has about every funny line and voice that has ever been on “South Park.” It, like the rest of the record, leaves you rolling with laughter and makes the album a must-buy.

4 1/2 stars out of five

— Kyle Moss

“Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly”

Geto Boys

For years, just mentioning the trio of Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill meant only one thing — a new Geto Boys album.

Guess it’s true what they say about the more things change, the more they stay the same.

While the newest effort from the Geto Boys is missing Doctor VonBushwickin’ the Funky DollaBillsta, nobody should be disappointed because Mr. Scarface and Willie D were the lyrical masters behind the group, while Bushwick seemed to be around more for his comical representation.

“Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly,” nearly two years removed from the group’s last offering, is sharp in a purely funkadelic way.

Every song has a ’70s feel to it, which seems to be the trend in a lot of hip-hop today. The guitar and synthesizer riffs on songs like “B’s and H’s” and “Why U Playin” are pure and have a southernplayistic, pimptastic feel, which surprisingly fits with the lyrics.

However, just like on most Geto Boys albums, Mr. Scarface rules the show from the forefront of his lead vocals to the overshadowing of his background work.

One of the stereotypes of so-called gangsta rap has been the alleged depiction of men in the music, but the fellas attack men in one particular song called “Like some H’s.”

The only way to understand it is to give it a listen.

3 1/2 stars out of five

— Rhaason Mitchell