Ghetto Bells

Amazon.com
Vic Chesnutt has released a dozen albums in 15 years, and there's not many artists operating at that speed. However, Chesnutt warrants it; the pace simply matches his artistic growth. Ghetto Bells has a powerful resonance that reveals itself slowly. A couple of seven-minute pieces are the heart of the album, both moving forward slowly, but ever so purposefully. One of them, "Rambunctious Cloud," is further sweetened by the presence of Van Dyke Parks on accordion (who appears throughout, on various keyboards) and a staggering guitar solo from Bill Frisell. It's a mark of Chesnutt's singular songwriting prowess that such a stellar band of disparate players came together, full of sympathetic invention, confidence and grace. -- David Greenberger

Product Description
Prolific, profound, and ever full of potty-mouthed piss-and-vinegar - Vic Chesnutt is Prometheus in a wheelchair with a battered guitar – a freak-folk trailblazer, spilling his heart and soul and spleen into the microphone, with a sly drawl, dripping humid, Southern gothic imagery in calamitous, sometimes comic songs worthy of a Greek tragedy.

Vic’s new CD (and 12th album to date), Ghetto Bells, matches the poetic power of his words with some of the most elegantly simpatico backing he’s ever been blessed with – including jazz icon Bill Frisell on guitars; legendary writer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Van Dyke Parks on piano, accordion and organ; Don Heffington of Lone Justice and the Jayhawks on drums and percussion; classically trained session-man Dominic Genova on double bass; sweetheart/sidekick/sounding board Tina Chesnutt on electric bass; and newcomer-singer-songwriter Liz Durrett on exquisite backing vocals.

Ghetto Bells,Vic Chesnutt,New West Records,Alternative Pop/Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter,United States of America,Urban Folk

Ghetto Bells

Average customer rating:

This really got to me
If an angel lived in the alley, it would sound like this
Ghetto Bells equals Everybody knows this is knowhere
Chesnutt's Sublime Bells
Masterful fusion of great musicians

Ghetto Bells
Vic Chesnutt
Manufacturer: New West Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Urban Folk | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

West of Rome
Silver Lake
Left to His Own Devices
About to Choke
The Salesman and Bernadette

ASIN: B0007OP144
Release Date: 2005-03-22

Tracks:

Virginia
Little Ceasar
What Do You Mean?
Got To Me
Ignorant
Forthright
To Be With You
Vesuvious
Rambunctious Cloud
The Garden
Gnats

Amazon.com

Vic Chesnutt has released a dozen albums in 15 years, and there's not many artists operating at that speed. However, Chesnutt warrants it; the pace simply matches his artistic growth. Ghetto Bells has a powerful resonance that reveals itself slowly. A couple of seven-minute pieces are the heart of the album, both moving forward slowly, but ever so purposefully. One of them, "Rambunctious Cloud," is further sweetened by the presence of Van Dyke Parks on accordion (who appears throughout, on various keyboards) and a staggering guitar solo from Bill Frisell. It's a mark of Chesnutt's singular songwriting prowess that such a stellar band of disparate players came together, full of sympathetic invention, confidence and grace. -- David Greenberger

Album Description

Prolific, profound, and ever full of potty-mouthed piss-and-vinegar - Vic Chesnutt is Prometheus in a wheelchair with a battered guitar - a freak-folk trailblazer, spilling his heart and soul and spleen into the microphone, with a sly drawl, dripping humid, Southern gothic imagery in calamitous, sometimes comic songs worthy of a Greek tragedy.

Vic's new CD (and 12th album to date), Ghetto Bells, matches the poetic power of his words with some of the most elegantly simpatico backing he's ever been blessed with - including jazz icon Bill Frisell on guitars; legendary writer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Van Dyke Parks on piano, accordion and organ; Don Heffington of Lone Justice and the Jayhawks on drums and percussion; classically trained session-man Dominic Genova on double bass; sweetheart/sidekick/sounding board Tina Chesnutt on electric bass; and newcomer-singer-songwriter Liz Durrett on exquisite backing vocals.

Customer Reviews:

This really got to me.......2007-03-03

Describing this effort I could borrow the line 'like a puppy on a trampoline', but then all I'd hear would be a chorus of 'what do you mean?', so I'll say 'Ghetto Bells' just really got to me. That line (and title) of the fourth song cemented my appreciation for Vic Chesnutt. Much more so than Silver Lake, 'Ghetto Bells' astonished me with a grand combination of eccentric lyrics and gorgeous, deep layering of guitar. From beginning to end, the pace of the record may be a little slow, but it is definitely to be savored that way. It's not meandering, but rather purposeful in delivering raw emotion, like in most songs but especially 'got to me', 'vesuvious', 'forthright','rambunctious cloud' and 'what do you mean'. Those are my favorites, but again, there's no weak song here. It's clear that a lot of attention was paid to every facet of this record, because it shows. I think it's typical of Vic and his band: offbeat and introspective, but from a rock & roll state of mind. Give it some time and it may just get to you too.

If an angel lived in the alley, it would sound like this.......2006-12-29

This album has the anger of an army, the vulnerability of a homeless man asleep on the street, and the innocence of a child at baptism, all funneled through a ragged voice singing before a tin soldier's drum. It sounds almost holy--not like a church choir, but like standing next to a one-room chapel in east Texas's pine forest. A truly unique gem that, alas, is already underappreciated.

Ghetto Bells equals Everybody knows this is knowhere.......2006-03-03

Do you like Everybody Knows this is knowhere or Bopp Till You Drop ? Then listen to Ghetto Bells. Get hooked for a while to this music. Mesmerizing.

Chesnutt's Sublime Bells.......2005-04-01

When people like Michael Stipe -"Top 10 finest songwriters today: Vic Chesnutt"- or Tom Waits -"He's fragile like Neil Young, Daniel Johnston and Aaron Neville, songs like strange things you find on the ground"- have this much praise to offer for a fellow musician, I think it is alright for those among us, who long to be moved by great songs, to stop and listen.
Chesnutt new album, Ghetto Bells, is a fine place to start, perhaps a perfect one. At least to me, it conjures up the bare poetic soul of his early classics -"West Of Rome," "Little," the Stipe-produced, or "Is The Actor Happy"- at the same time that it reminds me of the sophisticated musical vision of his amazing 2003's "Silver Lake."
For those who have already fallen under Chesnutt's spell, saying this much will be sufficient or, perhaps, unnecessary. The man has proven to be such uncompromising talent enough times to justify the purchase of his works "sight-unseen." For those who may not know them well, the rest of these words -I hope- may be useful to convince them of purchasing this album.
First and foremost, his lyrics -at once ironic, deeply emotive and deceptively simple-- deserve a place along the great songwriters of popular music. I'm thinking of people like Jimmy Webb, Springsteen or Leonard Cohen, none of whom are references in style, but a sign of Chesnutt's poetic stature.
Listen to songs like "Virginia" -a moving confession of troubled love for his mother- or "Ignorant People" -in which he expresses such sincere gratitude for the life he gets to live- as fine examples of his depth of feeling. Both particularly poignant when you realize that he has been paralyzed as the result of a car accident in 1983, when he was only 18. Both infused with courageous acceptance, and not a single gram of sentimentality.
Musically speaking, although his songs remain faithful to authentic simplicity, these melodies are utterly moving. In addition to the songs mentioned before, I'm thinking of "Forthright," "Rambunctious Cloud" and the incomparable "Vesuvius."
Of course, it does not hurt to have the assistance of Van Dyke Park on piano, accordion and organ -plus the exquisite strings arrangement in "Virginia" - nor the unpredictable beauty of Bill Frisell's guitar, or the masterful drumming of Don Heffington.
Finally, and perhaps the most impressive surprise of Ghetto Bells, is Vic's voice, which it managed to achieve a vulnerability nothing less than courageous, beautiful in its disregard to be perfect and most interested in connecting deeply with the listener.
As Van Dyke Parks said, "Add Vic Chesnutt to your short-list of great Southern Writers. A true Romantic poet! In his works is an unsparing candor, leaving the casual listener amazed, deluged and wrung out again-refreshed with truly informed optimism and shoots of ironic humor, sprouting up in most unexpected places."
This is an extraordinary album, a work that offers hard-earned joy, humble wisdom and and immense relief amidst the caution and self-consciousness so prevalent in recent recordings from respected and more famous artists today.

Masterful fusion of great musicians.......2005-03-23

This album sounds like a Vic Chesnutt album, with the inimitable vocals and dark-green sounding guitar but it also sounds like a Bill Frisell album as the man's sunsetty guitars perfectly weave through the songs adding dimensions. While Silver Lake had a very good backing band- here the band is not so much backing but adding their own very distinct and musical talents to the mix. Van Dyke Parks accordion (concertina?), string arrangements sound like open spaces or parisian streets. Vic's niece Liz Durrett's layered vocals on "What Do You Mean?" sound like ghosts in a southern forest. The album is well-produced but not over-produced.
Above all- if you like Vic's sparse earlier recordings you should love this as all the musicians add to the songs AND if you like Silver Lake you should love this as the recording is rich sounding. Besides, what other album would have a line about Neopolitan ice cream in a song called "Vesuvius"?

Average customer rating:

Python is going to make history

Ghetto Bells
Python
Manufacturer: The Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00003ZAIR
Release Date: 2000-03-25

Tracks:

Ghetto Bells Wishes
Ghetto Bells
Beautiful Black Woman
Ghetto Bells (Instrumental)
Ghetto Bells 2000
Christmas Tears
Ghetto Bells 2000 (Instrumental)

Customer Reviews:

Python is going to make history.......2000-01-08

This amazing new artist is talented and versatile. I have seen him perform, and this single CD lives up to the live excitement that only Python could deliver.

Rap Music:

Rap Music

rap music

Recommended Music:

Funky People [CD-single]

Mozart and Dvorák: Wind Serenades

M² [Limited Edition] [Import]

Music: Hometown Girl

Let Me Down Easy [CD-single] [Import]

My 40 Ounce

Living Legend

Original Music From GBH [Import]

Isso E Bossa Nova, Vol. 2 [Import]

Noel Renaissance

Plays Charlie Mingus

Make Me a Believer

Latin Affair, Pt. 2 [Import]

Jesus Lives

The Very Best of Larry Carlton