CRITIC'S CHOICE

Ani DiFranco, Wednesday, November 9, at the Mercury Cafe, and Thursday, November 10, at the Fox Theatre, can do more with three chords and a complaint than an entire busload of weekend anarchists--and she does it with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and a stool. On Out of Range, the 23-year-old DiFranco's latest release on her own Righteous Babe imprint, this self-described "alternative/acoustic punk feminist" mixes rage and humor, as well as the disturbing and the sublime, with the uninhibited glee of a homicidal teenager with a key to Dad's gun closet. The Save the Whales crowd may have trouble with DiFranco's blunt wit and biting sarcasm, but for those of us who like a little honesty and integrity with our folk music, she is a godsend.