Silver Jews, Whelan's, May 16 (1 Viewer)

[Foggy]

Foggy Notions presents

SILVER JEWS

Whelan's, Friday May 16

ticket info to follow

 

[potlatch]

woooOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

[cpr]

CORRECT!

 

[jimmybreeze]

Deadly,thought I was going to have to make the trip to galway

 

[bren_at_xfm]

Deadly... I thought this was the same night as the Battles/Liars/RNM show but thats the day before...

 

[Stan Bowles]

Deadly,thought I was going to have to make the trip to galway

Still can, I'm going to follow poor DC round the country, which really isn't befitting a man my age.

I was hoping this would be in Whelans, nice one foggy!

 

[Wheels]

FINALLY! Great stuff.

 

[Anthony]

may is insane

 

[damien]

there.

 

[jimmybreeze]

Still can, I'm going to follow poor DC round the country, which really isn't befitting a man my age.

I was hoping this would be in Whelans, nice one foggy!

Ya know...that aint a bad idea!
I might just go to the Galway show,and leave out the following him around the country part

 

[Flux]

Oh sweet mother of pearl this is great news! Couldn't make the Galway one in the middle of exams but this is a different story altogether.

 

[cookiemonster]

deadly! might head to galway too...

 

[Cyprus Avenue]

also playing Cyprus Avenue, Cork on Wed 14th May

 

[Anarcho Munk]

Fuck.....Sake.


Every good gig I want to go to is before i'm 18!

 

[rettucs]

Leagues, I :heart: you

thank you

yesssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!! .|..|

 

[Wheels]

Fuck.....Sake.


Every good gig I want to go to is before i'm 18!

Oh grow up.

 

[Anarcho Munk]

Oh grow up.

I am, but just not fast enough.

 

[Stan Bowles]

Tickets are on tickets.ie

 

[Jim A. Morrish]

http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2260558,00.html

 

[Foggy]

Foggy Notions presents:
SILVER JEWS
Whelan’s, May 16th, 2008
[debut Irish tour]

Tickets €20 from WAV, Tickets.ie, City Discs, Road, Ticketmaster

www.silverjews.net

“A timely reminder of how speculative and exciting American alternative rock was before it discovered Duran Duran and money.” - MOJO

The wait for David Berman and co.'s sixth album, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea will end with its June 17 release on Drag City. The follow-up to 2005's Tanglewood Numbers is the first Silver Jews record played by the touring lineup that formed in 2006 in defiance of Berman's previous refusal to tour: Berman, his wife Cassie, Tony Crow, Peyton Pinkerton, and William Tyler. All a-sweat and working hard, rumbling with terror and humility like old Johnny Cash, David Berman is once again our tour guide into the void, pointing out spots where some dreams died and other candy-colored conceits were conceived.
A beautiful mess of indie rock, country-rock and lo-fi with lyrics both witty and profound, the Silver Jews were formed in 1989 by writer/musician David Berman with his friends, guitarist/singer Stephen Malkmus and drummer Bob Nastanovich. The trio performed together as Ectoslavia when they studied at the University of Virginia; after graduation, they moved to New York and shared an apartment. Dubbing themselves the Silver Jews - after the Silver Apples, the Silver Beatles, and slang for blonde-haired Jewish people - they played noisy, often improvised songs, mostly for the sheer enjoyment they got out of playing together after a hard day's work.
At the time, Berman and Malkmus were guards at an art museum and Nastanovich was a bus driver. After work, they would record songs into people's answering machines, but even after the band's sonics improved, the basic idea of friends playing together in a spontaneous way became the Silver Jews' trademark style. Before moving to New York but after finishing his studies, Malkmus founded Pavement with his childhood friend Scott Kannberg. As Pavement's acclaim and visibility grew, the notion arose that the Silver Jews were a "Pavement side-project," despite the fact that Berman's writing, singing, and guitar playing led the band's music.
On the band's initial recordings, Berman tried to protect the Jews' individuality, listing Malkmus and Nastanovich under aliases, but it backfired when people learned who "Hazel Figurine" and "Bobby N." really were. The notion of the Jews as a side project was only reaffirmed when Nastanovich joined Pavement as a second drummer before the release of the group's debut album.
However, the Jews' sometimes frustrating "Pavement connection" did bring some important attention to the band: Dan Koretsky, founder of the Chicago-based indie label Drag City, met Berman at a Pavement show. When he heard of the Jews' tapes, Koretsky offered to release them. On their first EPs for the label, 1990's Dime Map of the Reef and 1993's The Arizona Record, the band held to their ultra lo-fi aesthetic and recorded the majority of both on a walkman.
After the release of the EPs, Berman entered a graduate-level writing program at the University of Massachusetts and met like-minded members of local bands, the indie/country hybrid Scud Mountain Boys and New Radiant Storm King. Writing and teaching at the university left Berman time for songwriting; soon, he had enough material for an album, which became 1994's Starlite Walker. The album reunited Berman with Malkmus and Nastanovich (this time listed by their real names in the credits) in the 24-track Easley Recording studios for a more focused, polished take on the Silver Jews' literate, lyrical, country and noise-inspired rock.
Along with writing and working with other performers like the War Comet and Silver Palace, Berman recorded the Jews' third album, The Natural Bridge, in the summer of 1996 with members of New Radiant Storm King and Drag City artist/producer Rian Murphy. Originally, Berman planned to record this album with Malkmus, Nastanovich, and the Scud Mountain Boys, but both sessions were scrapped after a few days. The Natural Bridge continued to streamline the Silver Jews' sound and let Berman's rich, abstract lyrics and reflective vocals take center stage.
Malkmus returned for 1998's American Water, and his guitar and vocal interplay with Berman makes it some of the Silver Jews' best work. The following year, Berman's first collection of poetry, the critically-acclaimed Actual Air, was published by Open City Press.
The Silver Jews returned in 2001 with Tennessee, which also featured Berman's wife Cassie on a few tracks. After struggling with depression and substance abuse, Berman resurrected the Jews - which, this time around, included Cassie, Malkmus, Nastanovich, Will Oldham and Azita Youseffi among many others - in early 2005 for a new album. Recorded in Nashville, Tanglewood Numbers narrowly avoided being destroyed in the electrical fire that engulfed Memphis' historic Easley-McCain studio, where it was supposed to be mastered. Drag City released the album that autumn.