Search - Vic Chesnutt :: Silver Lake

Jimmie D. (Starbuck) from FORT WORTH, TX
Reviewed on 12/5/2006...

If you have heard Vic nothing more needs be said.

Away from his own devices

M. Auerbach | Los Angeles, CA | 04/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I imagine this is the Vic Chesnutt studio album everyone's been waiting for. There are a witches brew of instruments stirred up here, from nylon string guitar and piano to harpsichord, omnichord, mandolin, chamberlin, and the indispensable "goat nails" or rat shells - but mixed and basted with the finesse of Glinda (the Good Witch from the North). Click your heels, but Kansas won't save ya. Still, the songs don't resonate as much as they do on Chesnutt's masterpiece, "The Salesman and Bernadette", a seamless blend of oblique folk and soul with partners-in-crime Lambchop from a few years back. Nor do they have the freewheeling, eccentric charm of his collection of 4-track recordings, "Left to His Own Devices." But if you've never heard a Vic Chesnutt album before, this is a solid introduction.The wit and literate lyrics that transform the Chesnutt dilettante into the rabid fan are intact in gems like "Band Camp" and "Zippy Morocco". There are a couple of gorgeous ballads on display: "Styrofoam" and album closer, "In My Way, Yes". This reviewer's personal fave and the centerpiece of the album, the 8+ minute "Sultan, So Mighty", is lilted in an upper register appropriately befitting the eunuch narrating the song (his advice is solicited, his hot towels in demand). The one dud is "Wren's Nest", which wants to be a straight-ahead rocker but derails early on - it sounds anomalous considering the subtle, more thoughtful arrangements of the songs bracketing it. As is always the case, the main reason to recommend a Vic Chesnutt album is the attention to intelligent songwriting. If B. Dylan, J. Mitchell, L. Cohen & N. Young were the poets for an earlier generation (and still resonate strongly), then Chesnutt with each new release, has been quietly augmenting his own Norton Anthology for the past decade. It's time everyone owned a copy."

"Dragging My Devotion"

M. Auerbach | 03/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing the first track, I knew this was the Vic Chesnutt album I'd been waiting for. SILVER LAKE is his most melodic, ambitious & best produced record to date. Not only that, he seems to have found his George Martin in producer Mark Howard. If SALESMAN & BERNADETTE, ABOUT TO CHOKE & WEST OF ROME rank as his best, SILVER LAKE outshines them all."I'm Through", "Stay Inside" & "Styrofoam" are just what the doctor ordered. Each one casually stumbling upon the profound. If he played them live, I can see the lighters raised in supplication. They stand right up there with past gems like, "Myrtle" & Florida". It would take a hard heart not to find "Band Camp" touching & "Girls Say" hits the funny bone bittersweetly. Chesnutt's bona fide brand of eccentricity keeps "Zippy Morocco" from seeming too epic, while "Sultan So Mighty" has to be the most ambitious track on the record. Clocking in at over 8 minutes, it still manages to haunt & confound. It could be about God, it could be about Satan but you'll never catch him dropping names. In any case, it's set in some kind of metaphorical bordello. "Fa-La-La" may be a twisted little ditty about the subtle joys of hospitalization, but it's capped off by a perfect closer called, "In My Way, Yes". If your friendly with ABOUT TO CHOKE's "See You Around" , this tune surpasses the sentiment.As for the remaing 2 songs ( "2nd Floor & "Wren's Nest"), well...They may be a bit introspective but Mark Howard's deft production salvages them from toe gazing oblivion. In short, this is the best record of Chesnutt's 13 year career. Start here & work your way back."