Search - Silver Jews :: Tanglewood Numbers

Putting the flannel back in Indie!!!!

Scutch | Dago, Ca | 10/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mr. Berman is back!!! And Mr. Malkmus is with him again!!! American Water is probably one of my favorite albums of all time, so I was eager for this latest from the Jews. No dissapointment here. "Punks in the Beerlight" is a great dirty rocker, but the second track ("Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed")is where it becomes obvious that the magic is back. If track four - "Animal Shapes" doesnt get you reaching to turn up the volume you are probably dead. There are great, lazy weird strummers - like all Silver Jew records - as well. The final track, about Dave Bermans attempted suicide, is amazing and manages to be uplifting. All in all, one of the best of 2005 so far. With My Morning Jacket going all "Wilco-ey" - Silver Jews may the last refuge for good southern tinged country rock."

Love it to the Max!

Arch Stanton | Bondurant, WY USA | 05/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If any of my frivolous nuisance lawsuits against Fortune 500 companies ever bear financial fruit, I would take some of my proceeds and hire David Berman to be "artist-in-residence" at my garlic farm / spiritual retreat. This is a tremendous record, noisy and accessible, with poetic lyrics and crisp production. The Eggleston photo of Martin, Bobby, and John on the front cover does an excellent job of getting this record started. Highly recommended and the perfect length for a recording - in and out in 35 minutes!"

I Saw God's Shadow on this World

Mark Hansen | Des Moines, Iowa | 01/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We all experience this. You find the perfect bar, you frequent it every chance you get, start to soak in its character, invite friends to experience it with you and question the strength of your friendship when they don't react the same, then as soon you're worried it'll lose its charm, you find another perfect bar. The Silver Jews are like that. Dave Berman doesn't release records on a regular basis, which works to his advantage, as it allows listeners to live in the worlds of the songs, decompose the lyrics for hidden meanings and memorize each chord progression. Then, just in time, a new one is presented to the world, and a new obsession is begun. The bar comparison is a tad inappropriate this time out, Tanglewood Numbers is an attempt by Berman to document the last years of drug and alcohol addiction, and subsequent rehabilitation. What's fascinating about it is how different it sounds from the last Jews album, and how rocking it is. This is due in no small part to the aforementioned Malkmus on guitar and his Pavement bandmate Bob Nastanovich on drums (both were members of the original SJ incarnation and record off and on with Berman.) Still intact are the lyrics that are the real draw to any Jews album. Sadly, I don't have the liner notes in front of me to quote, but suffice it to say that song titles include Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed and How Can I Love You if You Won't Lie Down?

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