{"id":488844,"date":"2019-08-07T17:14:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T23:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=868824"},"modified":"2019-08-07T17:14:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T23:14:33","slug":"silver-jews-david-berman-dead-at-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/silver-jews-david-berman-dead-at-52\/","title":{"rendered":"Silver Jews\u2019 David Berman Dead at 52"},"content":{"rendered":"
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David Berman, the singer-songwriter best known for leading the long-running band Silver Jews, died Wednesday at the age of 52. Drag City, the Chicago record label that has released all of the group\u2019s albums dating back to 1994\u2019s Starlite Walker<\/em>, confirmed the musician\u2019s death. The label did not immediately reveal the cause of death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more sorry to tell you this. David Berman passed away earlier today,\u201d the label wrote in a statement<\/a>. \u201cA great friend and one of the most inspiring individuals we\u2019ve ever known is gone. Rest easy, David.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berman formed Silver Jews in 1989 with Stephen Malkmus and another future Pavement member, Bob Nastanovich. Starting with Starlite Walker<\/em>, the group released six acclaimed albums, including 1996\u2019s The Natural Bridge,<\/em> 2001\u2019s Bright Flight, <\/em>and 2005\u2019s Tanglewood Numbers<\/em>. The band released their last album, 2008\u2019s Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, <\/em>before Berman retired from making music. Of 1998\u2019s American Water<\/em>, Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s Rob Sheffield wrote, \u201cIt\u2019s torture to pick just one highlight from such a flawless album.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I am moving over to another category. Screenwriting or Muckraking,\u201d Berman wrote on Drag City\u2019s message board<\/a> before his final Silver Jews show in 2009. \u201cI\u2019ve got to move on. Can\u2019t be like all the careerists doncha know. I\u2019m forty two and I know what to do. I\u2019m a writer, see? \u2026 I always said we would stop before we got bad. If I continue to record I might accidentally write the answer song to [R.E.M.\u2019s] \u2018Shiny Happy People.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: 98 Best Songs of 1998<\/a><\/p>\n

Berman also revealed \u201cmy gravest secret. Worse than suicide, worse than crack addiction\u201d: His father, former lobbyist Richard Berman. The two had been estranged for years over the elder\u2019s ties to the gun and alcohol industry. \u201cA couple of years ago I demanded he stop his work. Close down his company or I would sever our relationship. He refused. He has just gotten worse. More evil. More powerful,\u201d Berman wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart was constantly on fire for justice. I could find no relief,\u201d he added. \u201cThis winter, I decided that the SJs were too small of a force to ever come close to undoing a millionth of all the harm he has caused. To you and everyone you know \u2026 Previously I thought, through songs and poems and drawings, I could find and build a refuge away from his world. But there is the matter of Justice. And I\u2019ll tell you it\u2019s not just a metaphor. The desire for it actually burns. It hurts. There needs to be something more. I\u2019ll see what that might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berman returned to music in 2018 to co-produce avant-garde musician Yonatan Gat\u2019s album Universalists<\/em> before releasing \u201cAll My Happiness Is Gone,\u201d the first single as Purple Mountains released this past May. A full-length Purple Mountains, his first album in 11 years, was released in July. \u201cWhat follows is a uniquely grizzly breakup album, depressed but resiliently clinging to a desire to see what possibilities might lurk past the next heartache,\u201d wrote Rolling Stone<\/em>\u2018s Jon Dolan.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s emotionally bare-knuckled.\u201d The group was set to begin a cross-country tour this Saturday in Pine Plains, NY.<\/p>\n

A cult hero due to his poetic lyrics and droll delivery, Berman was also a published author, releasing his first collection of poetry, Actual Air<\/em>, in 1999. \u201cIf I were asked to name a poetry book with a perfect opening, D<\/span>avid Berman<\/span>\u2018s \u2018Actual Air\u2019 would be the first one that comes to mind,\u201d wrote Sadie Dupuis<\/a> of Speedy Ortiz. \u201cI\u2019m always thinking about [the] poem \u2018Snow.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This story is developing<\/em><\/p>\n

Silver Jews \u2013 \u201cRandom Rules\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n