Silver Jews: Classic or dud

good analogies and I agree neither have anything to prove

interesting parallel - Berman & Blackwell both have really masterful sense of verbal form & sonics (eg I'm almost disturbed by the way 'Deck quoits with the French trance vets' is just in my brain like a barbed hook, regardless of sense), both brilliant at running syntax over a verse and nailing the rhymes; there's a books thread somewhere with a digression on 'what happened to English light verse' & HMHB were a sort of answer to that iirc - so sometimes there's a touch of class-variant Betjeman to them.

But yeah, Berman's more obviously a *poet* - sense for an image especially.

also something of the music hall/vaudeville with HMHB, what with the pastiche, vignettes etc. There's little ironic distance with Silver Jews I don't think, which is very different to HMHB.

arguably their relationship w/ the country music/Nashville tradition functions in a similar way, ie it's clearly heartfelt but recognises its wealth of cliches

Not as many pop culture references with Silver Jews too

still a fair few though "we saw BB King on General Hospital..." is a favourite line of mine

I praised LMLS pretty highly in a review when it came out, and included on my top ten list for that year. It's not terrible, just pales in comparison to most of the discography (for me Natural Bridge just towers over the rest). "San Francisco B.C." may be in my top 5 Jews tunes though, I could listen to that all day.

Tanglewood Numbers I respect for what it represented (emergence from addiction/nightmare) but I really, really have a hard time listening to it or enjoying it.

don't know how anyone could have a hard time enjoying "I've been working at the airport bar. It's like Christmas in a submarine."

that was a good line, sure. there were good moments on that album! it's just when I'm looking at the various albums TJ is the one i least wanna reach for.

Tanglewood Jumbles

oops

TN track I ride for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb3qkMHhaw

"I'm Getting Back into Getting Back into You" is probably top 5 Silver Jews for me.

xp Sorry, it's Friday, I couldn't help it. :)

I think "Sleeping Is the Only Love" may be the only song on TN that I couldn't see showing up in my personal top 5 at any given moment.

This thread inspired me to put TN on and it's really hitting the spot rn.

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC!

find Sleeping is the Only Love a bit of a plod but that "back of an old tv" line is all-time

very true

I really wish he'd publish a new poetry book. When my friend and I saw the band live in 2006 or whenever the last tour was, Berman signed my friend's copy of Actual Air with "better shit is coming."

The issues with LMLS for me are not that I was let down by the lyrics, just that it represented a side of the band (well, Berman) that did not seem nearly as vital or invested as previous incarnations. It is enjoyable on plenty of levels when taken outside the context of the other work, but as Raymond points out it pales in comparison (to me) to the other records. Of course, it seems somewhat to be a record purposely grappling with/embracing this other side, and maybe represents a happier and healthier Berman, which I would not sacrifice merely to get more great records from him, but it really just does not resonate with me. With some more distance on it maybe, but I still listen to most of the other records but when I continue to try with this one it just doesn't stick.

hold the world to its word

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/archives/2015/01/11/david-berman-on-silver-jews-reunion-bob-pulled-a-prank

;_;

not cool, bob

Lame

actually relieved (and unsurprised) to hear this. one of my favorite bands ever, but I see absolutely no reason for them to reunite. Then again, I'm against reunions in general.

It's not so much that I really want Silver Jews to get back together. I just want to hear some kind of good news from David Berman. Obviously he's comfortable keeping it low key and under the radar and that's cool.

Agreed. But would much rather see an announcement of a new Berman book than a new Jews LP tbh

Yup

does he still have the poetry and paranoid ramblings blog from a few years back

yup

http://mentholmountains.blogspot.com/

this episode has reinforced my belief that you just do not, under any circumstances, trust anyone who drinks Michelob Ultra

I had this friend his name was Marc with a C
his sister was like the heat coming of the back of an old TV

well, that's off, clearly. Damnit.

It's no surprise I come back to this band when I'm drunk, I guess.

menthol mountains hasn't been updated since July. I wonder what he's been up to.

Anyone else ever just worry about Berman?

like, a lot, actually.

There are still a few stragglers on The Silver Jews Bulletin Board. Like 3 of 'em

I think I started that board.

o rly

I could be wrong, the one I started was very basic and barebones, back in...oh god, 1999? 2000? maybe earlier.

disc server, very basic. similar color scheme to this board. it's riddled with ads, but still it was fun to fuck around on in 2002.

the original board for Civil Jar fans to dig

I'm against people who are against reunions in general so I'd welcome their return, if only to enjoy the inevitable UB40 comparisons

hour-long podcast interview with bob, talks a lot about jews: http://vishkhanna.com/2015/02/18/ep-165-bob-nastanovich-of-silver-jews/

apparently berman doesn't have wifi in his house because he believes it inhibits creativity, so he goes to coffee shops in Nashville to get his fix

I read something about how lack of boredom in the post-iPhone era is affecting creativity. He's probably onto something.

he also says berman is looking and feeling well and sounds like all the pieces are in place to make shit happen

oh man, the quote that's basically like "he's discovered that there are a lot of very funny people on the internet these days..."

Having a major Silver Jews phase after "rediscovering" them while drunk. When I say "rediscovering" I mean "seeing a CD on the shelf and happening to play it". But I really, really am enjoying them.

CD-R80: A Silver Jews Compilation

What If Not Could Be If
Night Society
Like Like The The The Death
Inside The Golden Age of Missing You
I Remember Me
Ballad of Reverend War Character
The Frontier Index
How To Rent A Room
People
Dallas
Black and Brown Blues
Albermarle Station
Random Rules
Federal Dust
Send In The Clouds
The Wild Kindness
Pet Politics
Honk If You're Lonely
Smith and Jones, Forever
Strange Victory, Strange Defeat
The Right To Remain Silent

* Compiled from "Bright Flight", "Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea", "The Natural Bridge" and "American Water".

Would anything make it on from "Starlite Walker", "Tanglewood Numbers" or "Early Times"?

Sorely missing New Orleans, Advice to the Graduate, Trains Across the Sea, and Punks in the Beerlight off the top of my head.