With thanks to BrooklynVegan for highlighting this – tributes are still coming in for David Berman who died last week (we now know sadly from suicide) and some artists have covered songs from Silver Jews over the weekend, including Phosphorescent who performed ‘Trains Across the Sea’ from the 1994’s album ‘Starlight Walker’ and Hiss Golden Messenger who covered the wonderful ‘Dallas’ from 1996’s ‘The Natural Bridge’ album. You can watch both of those performances below. The Brooklyn band Activity, Pennsylvania’s The Districts and the National have also covered Berman’s songs in recent days. Continue reading “Americana acts cover David Berman songs in tribute – Watch”
After ten years on the sidelines, David Berman has decided to chime in with a new album under a new name. If we take him at his word, ten years ago his biggest fear was that he might accidentally write the answer song to ‘Shiny Happy People’. Depending on what you think that answer is, you might find yourself wondering if this album is the product of Berman facing that fear. After all, who’s to say what the answer is… 
You can finally hear probably the finest lyricist alive today on Spotify (“In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection” – try that Ed Sheeran) and other streaming services in the UK as Drag City have finally released their entire catalogue bar Joanna Newsom (who once said that Spotify is the “banana of the music industry,” and she detests bananas) online to stream. So you can not only stream David Berman’s band but also the likes of Ty Segall and Bill Callahan. If you’ve never heard Silver Jews before today is a good day to plough through their back catalogue.