Posts Tagged ‘Vic Chesnutt’

CD Review: Vic Chesnutt, “Skitter on Take-Off”

41yjsf3R7zL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]How much do you know about Vic Chesnutt? You might know that he currently resides in Athens, GA, and that his first two albums were produced by that city’s most famous citizen, Michael Stipe of R.E.M. You might also know that Chesnutt was left partially paralyzed following a car accident in 1983, and that 1996 saw the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute to Chesnutt. The album featured covers of Chesnutt’s songs by the likes of Madonna, Garbage, REM, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Live. Chesnutt has collaborated with Widespread Panic, Lambchop, Bill Frisell, among others, and he’s released over a dozen albums on various labels over the years.

Skitter On Take-Off is Chesnutt’s first album for Vapor Records. It was produced by indie legend Jonathan Richman and his drummer Tommy Larkin, and they had a very definite idea of how they wanted the album to sound. According to Richman, “We were both thinking that the way to get the feeling for Vic as a listener was to hear just Vic — no arrangements, no guest guitar solos, no “ironic” touches or anything else to cloud his voice or his poetry.” The end result is an album that features Chesnutt on guitar and vocals, Richman on guitar and harmonium, and Larkin on drums. It was recorded completely live, and there were no overdubs. (more…)

New Music: Vic Chesnutt, “Philip Guston”

atthecutImagine how maddening it must be to find out that, for the past 20 years, you’ve been ignoring a major voice in the indie universe. And he was right under your nose in ‘96 when that second Sweet Relief compilation, Gravity of the Situation – The Songs of Vic Chesnutt, hit the shelves. Sure, you can be forgiven for allowing the bigger names on the first Sweet Relief (like Pearl Jam and Soul Asylum) cause you to forget that the second one even came out.

But when you keep hearing the name “Vic Chesnutt” pop up in conversation and appear in print pretty regularly over the years, and still you can’t remember whether you’ve even heard the guy before… what kind of insanity is that?

Forget the fact that he’s from Athens, GA. Or that he’s been bound to a wheelchair since an accident he suffered at the age of 18. Or that it was the girl with the guano-covered back who turned you on to this dude’s quietly biting, ironic lyrical sensibility that expresses pain without any need or desire for pity. Or that he’s probably more vital than you are at this very moment. (If you think I’m talking to myself right now, you might be right. But I’ll never tell you one way or the other. Admit it, you love a mystery.) (more…)