Definitions, Explanations

If you're unfamiliar with the phenomenon of "catablogs", or "oeuvre-blogs", they're simply blogs devoted to critically assessing a particular artist's entire recorded work, song by song. Some of the artists that have been covered are well-known (R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Bjork, Pavement, Elton John), others not so much (Guided By Voices, Low, John Cale). Some have been completed, some are in progress, and plenty have been abandoned. It's not an easy task, something akin to the Appalachian Trail of music criticism. However, I've finished one before, and feel like embarking again.

This time I chose Vic Chesnutt, a musician who for 20 years has been crafting albums of (I think) enormous significance not only to popular music, but to the broader realm of American art. Inspired by a host of poets ranging from Emily Dickinson to Stevie Smith, yet highly attuned to and uncomprising in his own idiosyncratic voice, the man's gifts are many and extraordinary. Though at times he has skirted mainstream attention (perhaps closest by way of a tribute album devoted to his songs which featured Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Hootie & the Blowfish, and Madonna (!)), his work remains fairly unknown, though championed by his peers and devoted fans.

All of this means that this blog probably won't be any kind of draw unless for those already familiar with the songs. It's more of a way for me to continue to practice my critical writing, give myself assignments, and reconnect with a lot of amazing music in my collection. But if it does mean that a few more people will get to know Chesnutt's music, that will be the best possible outcome.