Silver Jews
David Berman's band, begun as a lo-fi apartment project in Hoboken with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, that made six albums for Drag City, among them American Water in 1998.
- Origin
- Hoboken, New Jersey
- Years active
- 1989-2009
- Genres
- indie rock, country rock, lo-fi, alt-country
- Labels
- Drag City, Domino
Hoboken
Silver Jews formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1989, founded by David Berman with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, University of Virginia friends who shared an apartment and recorded lo-fi tapes at home; the band's formation predates Pavement, though it is often called a Pavement side project. Berman, born on January 4, 1967 in Williamsburg, Virginia, graduated in English from the University of Virginia in 1989, where he met Malkmus, Nastanovich and James McNew; the first three formed Ectoslavia. Berman and Malkmus worked as security guards at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Berman said the idea was to make a record that looks like a record, with song titles, but whose songs, recorded at home, sound terrible.
Berman gave several accounts of the name, a Silver Jewelry billboard joke, a conceptual art pseudonym, a Jewish-identity reading, and in 2019 called it burdensome; others link it to Silver Apples and the Silver Beatles. The Hoboken recordings were released as the EPs Dime Map of the Reef (1992) and The Arizona Record (1993), compiled on Early Times (June 19, 2012). The first live shows on setlist.fm were at Irving Plaza in New York on July 23, 1993 and Lounge Ax in Chicago on July 30. Dan Koretzky of Drag City produced and released the debut after Malkmus passed along Berman's demo, by The Ringer's account.
Albums
Starlite Walker (October 24, 1994) was recorded in June 1994 at Easley Recordings in Memphis, produced by Davis McCain, Doug Easley and the band, 32:46 long, with Malkmus, Steve West and Nastanovich; AllMusic gave it four and a half stars, Record Collector five, and Treble calls it the anti-indie record. The Natural Bridge (October 1, 1996) was mostly a solo endeavor; earlier sessions with members of the Scud Mountain Boys were scrapped, and Pitchfork gave it 9.2. American Water (October 20, 1998) was recorded at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, produced by Nicolas Vernhes and the band and mastered at Abbey Road, with Malkmus, Mike Fellows and Tim Barnes; Pitchfork gave it 9.9 in 1998, Trouser Press called it a low-key masterpiece, and Treble gives it its top score.
Bright Flight (November 20, 2001) was produced by Mark Nevers at Hum Depot in Nashville, with Cassie Berman, William Tyler and Tony Crow. Tanglewood Numbers (October 18, 2005), produced by Berman, with Malkmus and Nastanovich returning and a cover photograph by William Eggleston, had Metacritic's 81; Uncut gave it 9 out of 10. Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (June 17, 2008) was recorded from March to October 2007 at Marble Valley in Lexington, Virginia and Lake Fever Productions in Nashville, and Berman wrote all the songs before entering the studio and recorded the vocals last.
On stage and the end
Berman largely avoided live performance for most of the band's existence. Setlist.fm logs 107 setlists, 41 of them in 2006, when they made their first full tour of North America, Europe and Israel, and 61 in 2008. The documentary Silver Jew, directed by Michael Tully, shot about two days in Israel in July 2006, was released on DVD by Drag City on September 23, 2008. On January 22, 2009 Berman announced he was retiring from music; the final show was on January 31, 2009 at Bluegrass Underground in Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee, 333 feet underground, with 300 tickets, ending with "Smith & Jones Forever". His poetry book Actual Air (1999) sold more than 20,000 copies.
Berman returned in July 2019 as Purple Mountains, with an album backed by Woods on Drag City. He died on August 7, 2019, aged 52. Bill Callahan opened a show at Webster Hall in New York on August 22, 2019 with "Trains Across the Sea" in tribute, and Malkmus played it solo in Glasgow on September 13, 2019.
Members
- David Berman songwriter, vocals, guitar (1989-2009)
- Stephen Malkmus guitar, bass, backing vocals (1989-1995, 1998, 2005)
- Bob Nastanovich drums, percussion, synthesizer (1989-1995, 2005)
- Cassie Berman backing vocals, bass (2001-2009)
- William Tyler guitar (2001-2009)
- Mike Fellows bass (1998-2005)
Records
- Starlite Walker 1994 · Drag City
The debut album, recorded in Memphis in June 1994.
- American Water 1998 · Drag City
The 1998 album that opens with "Random Rules", mastered at Abbey Road.
Songs
- Trains Across the Sea Starlite Walker · 1994
The second track on Starlite Walker, said to be the first song Berman composed, and the Silver Jews song that Bill Callahan opened a tribute show with.
- Random Rules American Water · 1998
The opening track of American Water, 4:00, with a trumpet by Chris Stroffolino.
Related artists
Where to go next
Reference
- Silver Jews on Wikipedia The band's history.
- David Berman on Wikipedia A biography.
Live performance archives
- setlist.fm: Silver Jews 107 setlists.
Labels
- Drag City: Silver Jews The label's page.
Sources
- Silver Jews, Wikipedia
- David Berman (musician), Wikipedia
- The Natural Bridge, Wikipedia
- Silver Jews, Drag City