Vic Chesnutt and Mr. and Mrs. Keneipp:
Merriment

Merriment, a collaboration between Vic Chesnutt (lyrics and vocals) and Kelly and Nikki Keneipp (music) is catalogued as BB008, which strikes me as kind of cute, and indicative of the sound of this record: somewhere between Indie and Label.

Having Vic join up with Backburner Records is a nice coup for Backburner's Big Cheese and number one client Jack Logan, good friend to the Keneipps, and bass player on "Feather."

Vic Chesnutt's lyrics are elegant and crafty here, some among his best. "Merriment" the song is a dark, dark ode to humour

 
	Fella hanging from a clock 
	Someone falling from a dock
	Little ripple showing shock 
	And then we titter

sung as a dirge, with jokes

 	(Chubby kid upon a trike 
		Opened up a dike: 
		She nearly lost her water)

thrown in as mournful cries.

"Bless the idiot," he sings, "Who makes us split a gut: Roses for the butt of all our merriment." Ouch.

"Mighty Monkey," my other favourite, describes a macabre, dying zoo.

	Smell the mighty monkey
	Trainer is a junkie
	And the tightrope walker
	Has one foot in the grave
	The clowns have herpes 
	And hepatitis C
	The chick who runs the pony ride
	We call her Catherine the gross

The accompanying music is extremely folkie, and less grungy than Vic's solo sound. Most notably different is the prominent piano that is the core of many songs. "Preponderance" stands out from this, as a guitar based song with heavy verses and tiny, falsetto choruses.

The production overall is good. From where I sit, though, the record loses steam for the last three songs, which makes for a short album as the whole thing clocks in at about a half an hour. The instrumental reprise of "Merriment" seems a little pointless, as many reprises do.

The vocals, with those couple of genius lyrics, are the album's best feature. Chesnutt's singing continues to grow more accomplished and soulful, and he employs here the sweet, tiny falsetto that he was playing with on his tour earlier this year (with Kristin Hersh).

Overall, this record is certainly worth getting, and: buy it, don't tape it. It's different enough from a Vic album to sound like a collaboration, but true enough to his sound and evolution to fit into his career nicely.

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Vic Chesnutt and Mr. and Mrs. Keneipp: Merriment. Backburner, 2000.
Review by jep clayton, BadMonkeyX. 1st issue, January 2001.

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