Editorial Reviews There's Plenty More Silver Jews Where This Came From
Music Review:
Music Review
Dancehall Stringbusters!: Crunchy Guitar Instros from the '60s
Grieg & Chopin: Piano Concertos
Music: Only U, Pt. 1 [CD-single] [Import]
I Don't Believe You [CD-single]
Gregg Chambers and Creole Junction
In God We Trust [Explicit Lyrics]
Amazon.com
The first Silver Jews album in four years is a triumph with its throwback '80s-synth ear-candy keyboards, slack guitars, and a sublime hi-fi sound that only a former lo-fi band can get. Breaking the silence, the indie-rock star-studded band (Malkmus and Nastanovich rejoin, the 'Bonnie' Prince, as well as refugees from the Jesus Lizard and Papa M) play fearless off-center rock rooted in Nashville, reminiscent of both Vic Chestnut's realism and Giant Sand's recent innovations. Not to mention that David Berman is a poet, so each song is dense with imagery, the whole record effectively telling a ten-part, 40-minute story that is partly funny, always honest, and often dark. Witness Berman exploring overcoming addiction, ("closed sign swinging in the liquor store" "later I come to find/life is sweeter than Jewish wine") the complete despair that lead to his suicide attempt, "There is a place past the blues I never want to see again" on "There Is a Place," and a uniquely American desolation, "I've been working at the airport bar/it's like Christmas in a submarine" on "Getting Back into Getting Back into You." Fortunately, the Jews sound is big enough to contain Berman's lyrical shadows, and this juxtaposition of opposite elements (happy-sounding rock and introspective lyrics) results in a record that is wholly satisfying: not too overwrought and never self-assuredly slick. --Gabi Knight
Actual Air by David Berman
The Natural Bridge
Starlite Walker
Bright Flight a>
American Water
Tennesee (EP)
Album Description
After a 4 year silence, David Berman returns under his Silver Jews guise with a new long playing album. And the songs are some of his best ever. How is it that one of Drag City's most popular artists has never toured? He is, and will remain, an enigma though his songs will live forever in your mind.