Purple Mountains (RIP David Berman, August 2019)

Just saw this pop up on Spotify, haven't listened yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDE6_NUqagE

could not get through more than 10 seconds of that garbage

some old correspondence from DC Berman to Arthurt, 2004

https://arthurmag.com/2021/10/27/you-cannot-underestimate-how-big-a-deal-this-hair-thing-was-at-the-time-david-berman-on-a-certain-shift-in-punk-culture-in-the-1980s/

is that Shakey’s brother or did I conflate some weird ilx dreams w reality

It is.

?

(Arthur Mag’s Jay B.)

Yeah, been going through the old drives and email folders. I also recently posted an Actual Air-era transcript of an interview I did with DCB; only a very small part of it was published. Happy to share it, nice to remember him just riffing and laughing.

https://jaybabcock.wordpress.com/2021/10/25/live-from-mallard-crossing-david-berman-on-actual-air-interviewed-by-jay-babcock-1999/

nice, thank you for posting that!

thanks for posting this archival and new(ish) stuff, it's been a real joy to see this stuff pop up on the Twitter timeline

LONG LIVE ARTHUR MAGAZINE

^^ hell yeah

also i didn't know about the shakey connection, that is cool as well. i miss shakey over here

Silver Jewel.

The pleasure is mine. I wish I had kept more of our correspondence/etc., but I think this is all there is. Always wonderful to hear from David. Such a bright spark.

Purple Mountains is still a gut punch of a listen. Especially that incredible run from All My Happiness is Gone through Nights That Won't Happen. It seems like so many different ways, equally true, of experiencing and expressing grief. "She's Making Friends, I'm Turning Stranger" manages to perfectly capture that kind of long-term dissolution of a relationship, where you can see it coming and the depression just piles on itself. "Margaritas at the Mall", drinking and temporary rallies alternating with sincere laments that god isn't saying anything, even if you're listening. then the devastating Nights That Won't Happen, which has a heartbreak for the future that isn't wild or rash but is instead well-considered. Knowing that his actions would cause such horrible harm to others, and believing it was still the best decision. that is really hard to capture, and somehow he got the words down and the Woods' arrangement was there in the perfect way for it.

All of that makes Snow is Falling in Manhattan hit even harder, in the middle. It's so melancholy, but it's also like a little light, a very humble grasp toward comfort.

Great post KM, thanks for that and a reminder to pull this one out again.

still find it kind of tough to listen to Berman! but I'm sure I'll get back into it.

big credit has to go to Woods for much of the music and arrangements. I've always enjoyed their musical aesthetic but have been mostly indifferent to the singing and lyrics. in my mind they were a great match for berman. they have a natural tendency toward the light in their music, and at times on purple mountains they sound like they're almost pulling berman along with them to get it done. even in the more poppy songs, he sings stuff like "i confess i'm barely hanging on..." and the music, aptly, hangs uneasily there for a bit before the thwops of the snare drum snap him into the first chorus. there are lots of little moments like that. it's hard to listen to at times, but everything is in there for a reason

https://www.stereogum.com/2196025/bonnie-prince-billy-shares-cover-of-the-ramones-outsider-recorded-with-david-berman/music/

xp - yeah, I was glad to see your appreciation for Woods, I think they brought a lot to that record (though I've been a big fan of them for awhile anyway)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XTrz0yvxe0

https://www.creem.com/fresh-creem/david-berman-purple-mountains-final-days-feature

Looks promising, but damn paywall.

Straight forward to join for a month, if you haven't previously done so.

Happy should be 57th birthday. Still miss you.

The bareness and honesty in that Purple Mountains record is extraordinary. There's nothing quite like it. I loved his art.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvogt_5lhkM

incredible

So great

Good candidate for Artist-specific music jokes

Someone apparently asked Gate Pratt about this and he said he had never seen the show when he wrote the original that was sent to Berman. (Berman finished writing it and later arranged it with Woods.) It is amusing how they have a similar vibe though.

Huh, weird that Gate Pratt doesn't get a writing credit on that one. (He does get one on "Maybe I'm the Only One...") Not that I don't believe him, and this was pretty clearly a coincidence in any case.