🚂
By the Silver Jews.
Or listen at any age, of course. But tomorrow I turn 28 and this past year the song, which references being 27, has held a special role in my life.
… So I wrote about it in my *first* substack post linked^.
But of course, nothing is better than David Berman’s own words.
Feb 28, 2024
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If you love Silver Jews, Purple Mountains, his books "Actual Air" and "The Portable February"
Then you miss Berman as much as I do.
I only caught him live once, in Portland, OR back in 2006 with his friend/fellow Silver Jew/PDX resident Stephen Malkmus accompanying him. It was an amazing evening. I had been a fan a long time by that point and the setlist literally covered the waterfront.
“It was the light in things that made them last,” Berman wrote in his poem “Governors on Sominex.” I'm grateful that David lasted as long as he did. His perfect, specific work will stand the test of time for a long time to come.
You can read Pitchfork's beautifully written tribute here.
Jan 4, 2025
Mar 17, 2024
Last night I attended an annual benefit concert that celebrates the life and work of David Berman. Last week, in preparation, a friend of mine whose obsession does not yet run as deep asked me to make a playlist. So I made this, as a (long) introduction. While it felt impossible to whittle the discography down to essential tracks, it seemed equally impossible to take a wrong turn in choosing, because every song he wrote had some magic in it.
I figured I’d share it here too, so theres the link^
Jan 5, 2025
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