Silver Jews - Early Times Promo [2012]

Silver Jews, the once-mysterious, now-defunct band led by David Berman, just released a collection of out-of-print tracks called Early Times, presumably in a nod to delicious liquor. The earliest incarnation of the band notably included Pavement's Steve Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, and that group is responsible for the indispensable Starlite Walker album. That group is also the star of this VHS-era homage, which features the trio jamming in somebody's living room intercut with a bunch of weird shit. Look how young they are! But beware, Early Times is awfully rough--start with Starlite orThe Natural Bridge instead. cv club

Hardcore Silver Jews fans will be pleased to see this new release from Drag City. Although none of the tracks featured in this new “collection” are all that new, they are all hard to find–these songs appeared on 2 now out-of-print 7″s.  For the first time, “Dime Map of the Reef,” and “The Arizona Record” are here in their entirety together on one LP/CD.  The sound quality on these recordings is questionable, as the songs were more than likely recorded on an answering machine or boombox, but that’s not the point.  This record isn’t about the sound quality.  It’s about the content.  This is more of an artifact in the making of a great band.  This release will please Pavement fans as well to hear a young Steve Malkmus screaming and whaling on his guitar.  Not to mention the packaging, which is great–full of Silver Jews ephemera featuring David Berman’s quirky drawings and hand-written one liners. thendofallmusic