Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnut has a stellar studio band comprising guitarist Bill Frisell, Van Dyke Parks on keyboard and accordion (which is like a squishy keyboard) and percussion guru Don Heffington, Vic Chesnutt creates another sonic masterwork. Although Ghetto Bells isn't as lush and sweeping as 1998's The Salesman and Bernadette, the songs are more captivating.

With post-jazz guitarist Bill Frisell working up elegant whispers, the twelfth album from
Chesnutt proves alluring even when the tunes are undercooked. Chesnutt hasn't lost his
edge: His harrowing story-songs strike somewhere between a Flannery O'Connor novel
and a junkie's lament.