Silver Jews - American Water
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Free Music Notes for American Water
Free Music Review: Decent Album, Nice Lyrics
Hit: 4 Stars
This is my favorite of album by the Silver Jews, mostly due to the wonderful interplay of Malkmus's distinctive musical style and Berman's wonderfully rich and dense lyrics. I can't wax effulgent, though as this album does have some significant flaws. Mr. Berman sometimes seems to be trying to condense his verbiage for maximum impact, but unintenionally glosses over his lyrical themes with abstract generalities. Not to detract from his skills, of course; He is a fine poet, but his poetic techniques don't always lend themselves to this medium. Aside from the lyrics, I'm at times frustrated by how weakly constructed some of the harmonies are, and bored by some of the quirky genre omage that creeps in from song to song, and takes some songs over entirely.
I would like to respond to the one low rating on this site for this album:
He's not an accomplished vocalist. We know that, everyone knows that, and every time you complain about it, you look like an ignorant jerk in front of everyone. You can't complain about a lack of virtuoso guitar solos in classical music because that's just not where you find high-speed double taps and pick sweeps. Likewise, a lot of indie music's charm is the content's ability to take front stage over the presentation, and the success of front-men who hate the limelight and tell their psychological war stories through their albums is a testament to the potency of this sort of music.
Free Music Review: Quirky, Understated, Laid Back Folk-Rock
Hit: 4 Stars
This is an odd and highly entertaining amalgam of Lou Reed vocals, twisted lyrics, and laid-back song structures that are married to country-rock and modern rock arrangements, and somehow what comes out of it all is a very relaxed, enjoyable record. I think if you go into this not expecting to be overwhelmed, you will find yourselves pleasantly surprised.
It's clear that all the significant talent that came together to make this cd really enjoy singing and playing with each other. The results are fresh, unique, and at times, memorable. Put this on one Sunday morning, open up the newspaper and sip your coffee, and enjoy.
Free Music Review: Rampant grade inflation... for bad singing...
Hit: 2 Stars
I'm looking at the effusive reviews for this Silver Jews record and they just underscore how unreliable Amazon customer reviews are. Five stars for this album? Ridiculous. The lead "singer" (is it D.C. Berman?) has a determinedly bad voice....I kind of admire his fearlessness, singing in public despite such a glaring lack of talent. And a couple of the tunes are not completely unbearable thanks to decent guitar playing, but I think 2 stars for this CD is more than generous.
If you like music that's raw and offhanded and on the improvisational side I strongly recommend checking out Akron/Family. Akron/Family are far better musically than Silver Jews but are not completely dissimilar.
Free Music Review: Phenomonal Album
Hit: 5 Stars
This is the ultimate in laid back folk rock. The guitars are powerful but relaxed, the lyrics actually mean something, and the vocals are hollow and bold. "Now you know my two middle names are wrong and right" is to this day my favorite song lyric. And there is plenty more included. Listening to this album is like eating a warm turkey sandwich at five in the morning on a winter day. It is filling, wildly impressive, and truly one of the best albums I own. Plus, you really can't beat a name like Silver Jews. Who wouldn't want to add a band name like that to their album collection?Free Music Review: how can.
Hit: 4 Stars
This album is just, nice. And down to earth. Very simplistic, at best.
Berman's poetic lyrics outshine Malkmus and his wails.