American Water

Silver Jews

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 20, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B00000AG9W
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,674 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
In the past the Silver Jews were commonly known--and often dismissed--as a Pavement side project. Not anymore. On American Water, D.C. Berman comes into his own as both a poet and a songwriter, effortlessly tossing off lines like the album-opening "In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection" while the band plays on, unimpressed. --Randy Silver

Amazon.com
"All my favorite singers couldn't sing," Dave Berman of the Silver Jews idiosyncratically speak-croons on "Blue Arrangements." To make the point hit hardest, he doesn't sing so well himself, but it's well-taken: from Lou Reed to Bob Dylan, John Cale to Palace, conventionally "good" singing isn't the most necessary element in effective storyteller-troubadour music. Berman is a prose poet by day and rocker by night, and his lazy-sounding, countrified, skeletal, yet invigorating music celebrates the union of word with sound in a manner simultaneously classic and seldom heard. It's hard not to like a record that begins with the line "In 1984 I was hospitalized for reaching perfection." Thankfully, Berman doesn't trade in the wordplay he and collaborator Steve Malkmus are so expert at. If only Pavement's Brighten the Corners were this relaxed, full of melodic hooks, and cagily profound. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars comfortable clothing, April 6, 2000

By	leopold bloom "poldy" (the mighty palouse) - See all my reviews

You've just gotten a stylish, hip, cool new shirt, and you know that when you wear it you ARE the shit. But the shirt is a little uncomfortable, a little tight maybe (like fashionable clothes tend to be), maybe just a tad too trendy. So instead you put on that old beaten up flannel thing that's frayed and faded and falling apart. But it's an instinctive choice, and you make it because this shirt makes you comfortable and happy.

American Water will not blow you away at first listen. It twangs and plods along in an alterna-folky way and takes little day-trips into funk and country. And yes, D.C. Berman's croaks more than sings, but hey, all of my favorite singers couldn't sing, either. But it wears extremely well, especially Berman's stoner-absurdist-yet-compulsively quotable lyrics. I could give many many examples as no doubt other reviewers have, but quoting the lyrics (e.g. "I love your amethyst eyes and your protestant thighs" or "From the digital fountains to the analog mountains, let the mirror express the room") doesn't do justice to their deadpan, cool-as-shit delivery by Berman and his right-hand man (some guy Steve from some other band). Suffice to say that American Water is an extremely comfortable shirt. And you can wear it every day and not smell bad.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthusiastic balderdash of soundz from Old Virginia, March 15, 1999

By A Customer

"American Water" is a great album in the way that it frequently creates that certain syngergy of words and music you only find in the very best rock. Berman and Malkmus crooning uh-huh-HUH in the trailing line on the chorus of "People", the band switching rythmic tactics in the background wah-to-ashuffle, that five note guitar-picked downshift on "Send in the Clouds"- great stuff. Malkmus dominates less than on "Starlite Walker", to the band's benefit, usually teaming with Berman on choruses and the music has finally caught up to Berman's lyrics. On "Walker" and especially "The Natural Bridge" the band seemed to essentially play 12 varations on the same mid-tempo backing bit while Berman panned to great effect. Here he's learned those little tricks of inflection your true Rock God needs, the band doing everything from Pavementesque instra-mentals ("Night Society") to cornpone "country" ("Honk If You're Lonely")to hi-hat Christmastime slouchrock ("Smith & Jones Forever"). Pure Gold, folks. A must for Pavement fans or fans of the unclassifiable stuff that has the masses scratching their heads thinking of categories when you play it publicly- truth be told there is no sort of sortableness to this music- just great songs that're smarter than the average bear and like to remind you of it from time to time, as you sing along, Grinning Wryly.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frontier Index, August 31, 2004

By	Rabbit Krishna "hippie_smell" (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

David Berman is an amazing artist that maintains a really low profile. He's never really been in any spot light, but yet for a 7 year stretch he put out some really amazing stuff. All three of the first Silver Jews albums are worth owning along with his book. Anyway, this album finds David Berman teaming up with college friend and Pavement member Steve Malkmus again. This album is very loose and breazy with a sort of Pavement meets Bob Dylan feel. This album definitely ranks up there with either of the albums Pavement put out after Wowee Zowee, and is far better than 90% of the indie rock I hear coming out anymore. I also think that Steve Malkmus played some incredible guitar on this album, and if you hear it you'll see that he has a more restrained approach on this album. I wish these two would work together more often because the results are often amazing.