Sunday 29 March 2020

Vic Chesnutt - Stay Inside


James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, "Little", was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success did not come until 1996 with the release of "Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation", a charity record of alternative artists covering his songs. Chesnutt released 16 albums during his career, including two produced by Michael Stipe. His musical style has been described by Bryan Carroll of allmusic.com as a "skewed, refracted version of Americana that is haunting, funny, poignant, and occasionally mystical, usually all at once". Injuries from a 1983 car accident left him partially paralyzed; he used a wheelchair and had limited use of his hands.
The above quoted from Wikipedia. More info here.

I was a bit of a latecomer to Chesnutt, I'd heard the odd tune by him over the years, but only really started getting into him when I was recommended his 2005 album "Ghetto Bells". It was a good recommendation, as exposure to this album had me delving into his previous work. Some were a bit patchy, but most I found a very rewarding listen. For me his outstanding album was "North Star Deserter", released in 2007, an album I often come back to. It also contains my favourite track by him, "Everything I Say", which I end this anthology with.
For this collection I've taken tracks from 14 of his studio albums covering the years 1990 to 2009, omitting the 2 releases he recorded under the name Brute, a side project of his with members of Widespread Panic. Sadly I don't have those albums...

In these unsettling times with many of us anxious about this worldwide pandemic (plus many of us having to endure a lockdown), choosing the title of this anthology I went with the appropriately named "Stay Inside", which is also the first track on here. As ever, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Take care everyone, hope you enjoy, and stay safe!

  1. Stay Inside (4:43)
  2. Ladle (4:03)
  3. And How (3:04) [with Elf Power and the Amorphous Strums]
  4. Square Room (4:28)
  5. Look at Me (2:22)
  6. Wrong Piano (2:54)
  7. What Do You Mean? (4:54)
  8. Philip Guston (3:25)
  9. Bad Boy Town (2:52)
10. Degenerate (4:21)
11. Marathon (5:32)
12. Preponderance (2:47) [with Mr. and Mrs. Keneipp]
13. My New Life (4:11)
14. Panic Pure (3:04)
15. Fa-La-La (5:14)
16. Little Fucker (4:26) [with Elf Power and the Amorphous Strums]
17. Bakersfield (2:24)
18. Maiden (2:56)
19. Sleeping Man (Syd Version) (4:42)
20. Everything I Say (6:52)



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