silver jews: can the balloon get any higher?

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american water: among the greatest albums ever?

― ruth, Friday, 31 January 2003 21:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"Won't soul music change/Now that our souls have turned strange?"

(Not among the "greatest albums ever," but still a really good listen.)

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't know, for me 'american water' is slowly creeping into 'greatest album ever' category. it's one of those albums i keep coming back to and it never gets old. how does bright flight compare, by the way? still haven't gotten around to picking that one up.

― arjun (arjun), Friday, 31 January 2003 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)

bright flight: required. simpler/more subdued than american water, if only cause dcb 'goes it alone'

there are moments during early listens of bright flight that literally killed me (time will break the world is terrifying)

it grows though, & the album IS a complete work like A.W., a thoughtful walk through dark nashville.

the tennessee single (4 songs) is essential.

― sandy, Friday, 31 January 2003 22:45 (twenty-three years ago)

American Water is lovely. Makes you wonder why you ever bothered with that Pavement outfit.

― cybele, Friday, 31 January 2003 23:16 (twenty-three years ago)

I guess I bothered with Pavement cause I wanted to hear all that feedback and edginess. There was a time I thought Pavement was difficult and edgy. Local newspapers used those words in describing the SM solo record and I was "like whoa." Getting into Pavement I also once thought Malkmus's voice was such a teriffic match to the way I felt at the time, lazy and jerked-out and totally Duchamp, man. Now I find Berman's is much more appropriate, it's confident and strong and intelligent where Stephen's is smarmy and dodgy and sly and cute. Stephen smokes bowls in the frathouse and blows his brothers minds by quoting Camus and Kikkegard while Berman's outside taking a piss on their lawn and painting portraits of Henry Rollins on the gate with his own turds.

Yeah anyways American Water is classique, it is barely flawed but as 10 as an album can get in my book. Problem is I have hardcore problems seperating the man from the music when it comes to David Berman and the Silver Jews. I keep finding myself idolizing the guy and I just know I should get a punch in the gut for things like that.

― karl in california, Saturday, 1 February 2003 01:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I wish people would quit using the word "essential" to describe music. Water is essential. American Water is not.

― charlie va (charlie va), Saturday, 1 February 2003 01:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Water is pretentious and overrated. And breathing air is cliché.

― Famous Athlete, Saturday, 1 February 2003 01:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Quit crapping on my joke, Athlete.

― charlie va (charlie va), Saturday, 1 February 2003 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I was only crapping on Jonathan Williams's remarks about Digipaks. Was yours really a "joke?"

― Famous Athlete, Saturday, 1 February 2003 02:34 (twenty-three years ago)

b-b-b-ut what about "the natural bridge"?

― di smith (lucylurex), Saturday, 1 February 2003 02:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Lyrics Bands C/D? (Ned to thread!)

As much as I like every SJ album, I'd say they are classic for Starlite Walker alone. "Search Party!"

― Aaron A., Saturday, 1 February 2003 03:17 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

I like "American Water", but I don't know how anyone can say it is better than Pavement. Apart from anything else it is necessarily uneven as a result of having some Malkmus tracks on it. Berman's voice is never part of the ensemble as Malkmus's is in Pavement; also, it has no range life. Once I start playing a pavement album I can't stop, but I can only take a few tracks of American Water before needing a change.

― Bunged Out (Jake Proudlock), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 11:57 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

I got this recently having been on a total Pavement binge of late. Okay, from the outset, I realise it is definitely not to be compared to Pavement, but on it's own merit I'd say quite overrated. Not awful at all and there are some excellent "bits" to it. But something about American Water just rubs me the wrong way. It's like a really really good mid-90s AOR album - which means "meh". I can't help thinking of the Rembrandts when I hear Berman's voice and the lyrics, though pretty good, are sub-par compared to the majority of Pavement songs.

This is just on initial listens of course (it took me about two years to appreciate the full greatness of wowee zowee), but I can imagine myself getting a bit sick of this album. What other stuff should I check by the SJ's?

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 26 April 2004 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

it's all very good, and it's very very hard to think of many instances where pave lyrics succeed on the level that berman is operating at. not that they're really even generally doing the same thing... you shouldn't listen to the silver jews expecting to hear pavement. i think people can have trouble getting past that.

― andrew s (andrew s), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't help thinking of the Rembrandts when I hear Berman's voice and the lyrics, though pretty good, are sub-par compared to the majority of Pavement songs.

I love Pavement, but wrong. Dead wrong.

― David Allen (David Allen), Tuesday, 27 April 2004 02:16 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

pulled out American Water to use as the soundtrack to the start of my day. what a fantastic album.

― frankE (frankE), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh I did that yesterday! And it was brilliant, better than I remembered even.

"Nobody cares about a dead hooker"

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

"People ask people to watch their scotch".

― tk, Tuesday, 8 June 2004 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I would have to chime in that American Water is one of the finest records I have heard. Whats wrong with being smarter than everybody else and knowing it?

― Francisco Monar (fmonar), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 17:10 (twenty-two years ago)

WHY CAN'T MONSTERS
GET ALONG WITH OTHER MONSTERS?

― 57 7th (calstars), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 17:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I pray every day for a new Silver Jews record.

― Neb Reyob (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

"There are moments during early listens of bright flight that literally killed me" - It obviously didn't LITERALLY kill you or you wouldn't be writing that. Although I agree that it's a great album.

― queenbee (queenbee), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

"Dude, that was so funny I LITERALLY shit my pants."

"Oh, gross, man... did you get it cleaned up? Nasty."

David Cross is funny, damn it.

― Neb Reyob (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 8 June 2004 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

it is autumn and my camoflage is dying

― employee #8, Monday, 20 September 2004 06:56 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

http://static.flickr.com/31/63699159_072fee1393.jpg

― Lowell N. Behold'n, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 06:52 (eighteen years ago)

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