Dave Berman, of the Silver Jews, gets a brief write-up in the Times. Essentially it shows how his initially stalled poetry career led to his rock career. I haven't read his poetry but the lyrics to his songs are certainly poetic. They are often obtuse or impenetrable, but always beautiful. The music varies considerably over each record and it is the lyrics that keep bringing me back. I highly recommend American Water, which came out a few years back. It's not the only good one though. The instrumental "Silver Pageant,"on Starlite Walker, comes closest of any song ever to capturing the mix of regret and longing I feel for my beer-soaked past.
The new record, Tanglewood Numbers, is out and is getting some positive buzz, so go over to Hype Machine and search for some Silver Jews. Word of warning, the only person I know who didn't like the Silver Jews said "Woah, that's really too indie for me." I don't know what that means, but if you have ever said that you may not like them.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
I've been lonely since she found Christ
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6 comments:
Although none of the following three songs do for me what Silver Pageant apparently does for you , i.e. capture how I feel NOW about days gone by, they do take me THEN . . . back to when beer was bought with fake check-cashing cards and usually consumed during the course of elaborate card, dice or rythmic table-thumping games. My faves from back in the day are Come Back, Dog Eat Dog and Fisherman's Blues. Poet factor: Glenn Danzig? Puh-lease. Adam Ant? Not so much.* Mike Scott? Maayyyybe.
B
*Not even with the immortal cry, in trochaic tetrameter (catalectic) mind you, of "Blackfoot, Pony, Cheyenne, CROW . . . AP-a-che, Araphoe!" can confer poetic status on Mr. Ant.
You deny the poetry of Danzig? Then you are a smart person cuz he's a jackass (albeit one capable of some great stuff with Misfits and on Danzig and Lucifuge). Interesting choice with Come Back though. Feeling moody back then B?
Yes that Native American chant is strangely popular with the randomizer on my iPod. I probably can be heard muttering it as I bike about PDX.
Was I moody back then? Ask Neill B about the night he was splayed like a cartoon cat in the shotgun seat of my 320 as I careened around Great Neck, blasting Joy Divison and saying stuff like "do you ever think about just ending it all, man?" Oh yeah, I had the teen brood DOWN. And don't get me started on The Cure.
And can one forget your amusing habit of practicing akido on us all? That was good times.
Yes one can barely stand the Cure these days. Give me the fey posturings of Morrissey any day.
Not that I wasn't a brooder back in the day, mooning over some chick. What a chumpy fool I was.
have you guys seen the vid of noted weightlifter and comic collector Danzig gettin' dropped by some fat dude backstage? THAT is poetry.
guys all I listened to back then was really mopey shit with some slayer thrown in. . . but i have no regrets. . . like i would've had i listened to buffet.
nbk
and yeah brack i remember that night-not fondly.
Yes apparently Danzig wanted to find hell with the North Side Kings...and they showed him what's it like. See the link below
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2644574
Re: Buffett, fuck you very much.
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