Twenty Years of Silver Jews’ Tanglewood Numbers
Photo: Michael Schmelling
A lot was going on in the weird, whispery world of the Silver Jews between the subliminal 2001 release “Bright Flight” and the band’s long-awaited 2005 follow-up “Tanglewood Numbers,” a title inspired by the prominent Nashville-based builder Robert M. Condra, who erected several homes in the 1920s through the 1940s. Did you know Tanglewood is located at the site of a late 1700s settlement known as Haysborough? Anyway, from the horrendous attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11th, the prolific presidency of George W. Bush, Hurricane Katrina’s devistation on the city of New Orleans, Justin Gage launches Aquarium Drunkard, and infamous players such as Eddie George, Vince Young, and the late Steve McNair’s iconic importance in the Tennessee Titans’ legacy in the early to mid-2000s, a team Berman took serisouly, the SIlver Jews were riding a tumultuous tide here in Tennessee, while the late poet, and musican struggled with substance abuse, a suicide attempt and mental health issues between both albums. Half a decade into the third millennium, and we’re already begging for mercy, but never asking any favors. We needed a band like Silver Jews to fearlessly flick something into the obliterated oasis of the human experience, and Berman seized that opportunity. Most people need trophies and those endless dust-collecting concepts to prove success, or whatever the hell it is you’ve overcome through the critical challenge, but it’s the ones who suffer in silence or bravely smile through the humorous hellscape of the human experience that ultimately win in the end. A merciless expedition into the dysfunctional depths of the painful psyche, Berman called on a staggering number of musicians to help bring the cosmic contents of “Tanglewood Numbers” to life, two of them being old-time friends and collaborators Bob Nastanovich and Steven Malkmus from Pavement.
At the time, it had been over half a decade since Berman and Malkmus shared the same creative curiosity since 1998’s monumental masterpiece “American Water,” and even longer with Nastanovich last appearing on the band’s 1994 debut “Starlite Walker.” With the atmospheric anxiety high and the calming conditions of the mighty Cumberland River to soothe the subconscious seriousness of the soul, it was time to record another Silver Jews album. Carefully conjuring the tonal talents of folks like William Tyler, Will Oldham, The Jesus Lizard’s Duane Denison, Pixies’ Paz Lenchantin, Nashville, TN native Bobby Bare Jr., and several others, the album began its poetic process between January and June before its release in mid-October of 2005. Recorded at local studios, the Beech House, Dragonstone, and Truneton, the album was nearly lost in a fire in Memphis’ harmoniously historic Easley-McCain studio in March during the skillful stages of mastering. Having recorded notable acts like Sonic Youth, Wilco, Townes Van Zandt, who recorded one of his last sessions, and Pavement, the Jews returned to their old stomping grounds where their highly praised debut album was made just shy of a decade prior, but this time as completely different people in a completely different band in a completely different world.
Photo: Michael Schmelling
Marking the group’s 5th studio album, “Tanglewood Numbers” bridges the gap between Berman’s existential excellence and the painful truths faced in previous years. Life makes good art, or some bullshit like that, but the late musician’s atmospheric ability to break out of the cold chains of constraint and into the climate of cumbersome creativity truly makes this iconic installment in the band’s harmonious history, a thorough listen from start to finish. With tracks like the infamous and well-covered opener “Punks in the Beerlight,” “Animal Shapes", “I'm Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You,” and “Sleeping Is The Only Love” all simultaneously swan diving into the sonic stupidity of our self-proclaimed pleasures, the band delivers a groundbreaking rock, and roll reverberation, that continues to echoes into the earth’s ears all these later.
