Bledsoe: Chesnutt ups the ante with two new discs

Vic Chesnutt, who has been unable to walk since a car wreck he had as a teenager, has become renowned as one of music’s most individual songwriters.

Vic Chesnutt, who has been unable to walk since a car wreck he had as a teenager, has become renowned as one of music’s most individual songwriters.

"At the Cut," (Constellation) and "Skitter on Take-Off," both by Vic Chesnutt (Vapor)

It's a little puzzling why Vic Chesnutt and two record companies chose to release two new Chesnutt albums a little more than a month apart, but call it an embarrassment of riches. Chesnutt is one of America's most individual singer-songwriters, penning numbers that can bring blushes, laughs and tears.

"At the Cut" and "Skitter on Take-Off" are equally lovable but different presentations of the artist. "At the Cut" features Chesnutt accompanied by Fugazi guitarist Guy Picciotto and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The musicians augment Chesnutt's meager voice with tasteful, yet often powerful, instrumentation, making the songs "Flirted With You All My Life" (a conversation with death), "Coward" and other tracks all the more powerful. The song "Chinaberry Tree," which on the surface is about nothing more than chopping at a tree with a machete, is given a mysterious drama. Of the two discs, it's "At the Cut" that seems the most poetic and studied, with Chesnutt pulling quotes from everyone from Lawrence Ferlinghetti to "McTeague" author Frank Norris.

The stark "Skitter on Take-Off" is laced more with Chesnutt's peculiar humor. Produced by fellow-quirky-singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman and his longtime drummer Tommy Larkins, "Skitter" is presented with no overdubs and little more than Chesnutt's almost primitive guitar and vocals. Only occasionally do the two add a little harmonium and drums to the recordings.

Opening with "Feast in the Time of Plague" ("you were a beautiful pig"), "Skitter" keeps you a little on edge. It's so bare that it's almost unnerving.

Chesnutt begins "My New Life" with a pained, almost whispered cry of "I am so lonely" before angrily shouting to his ex-lover a positive aspect of the break-up: "I don't have to be with no (expletive) anymore!"

That's followed by a not-a-fan letter to "Dick Cheney" and "Worst Friend," in which over the course of nearly eight minutes Chesnutt languidly gives a litany of less-than-perfect friends ("you got one friend who's really, really into feet - sexually") before revealing that, indeed, the singer is your "worst friend in the world." It's funny and quizzical and classic Chesnutt.

Both discs "At the Cut" and "Skitter on Take-Off" capture the charm and strangeness that makes Chesnutt special, but "At the Cut" may be the easiest entry for newcomers.

Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444 or bledsoe@knews.com. He is also the host of "All Over the Road" midnight Saturdays to 4 a.m. Sundays on WDVX-FM.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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