David Berman is the brain and the deep buttery drawl behind the alt-country, Drag City-tastical Silver Jews. He is also a poet (in 1999 he released a book of poetry, Actual Air) and it's clear from the puns and turns of phrases that litter his songs that the man certainly has a way with the words. It's been a rough four years since his 2001 release, Bright Flight (depression, pills, etc.), but Berman, in better spirits, has gloriously returned with Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City). If on his previous albums, there was at times the feeling that Berman was holding something back ("They slowdanced so the needle wouldn't skip," he crooned on 2001's "I Remember Me"), then Tanglewood Numbers arrives as one big exhale. With appearances by original Silver Jew and former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus and his wife Cassie, on Tanglewood Numbers Berman's picked up the pace, added some oomph and created a rock record. We emailed him and he emailed us back from his home in Nashville, TN.
PAPERMAG: How are you celebrating the High Holidays?
David Berman: I was too busy to get to Tashlich [throwing stones, symbolizing sins/faults, into a body of water] on Rosh Hashanah, so I've got to have a major talk with myself between now and Yom Kippur. The main thing I want to repent for is for speaking (e-mailing) harshly to a young girl who asked to illustrate a book of my words last week. I thought I was trying to teach her something, but I was really just releasing frustration on an innocent. I'm sorry, girl illustrator of Somewhere, USA.
PM: For this, your fifth studio album, why did you decide to make a rock record?
DB: I always wanted to before, but I didn't feel it was safe for me to rock out at that time. I felt it was crucial for me to wait. I got the all-clear last summer and I'm pretty much on fire all the time now.
PM: Your wife, Cassie, appears on a number of tracks on "Tanglewood Numbers." She also sang with you on 2001's "Bright Flight." What's it like recording with her?
DB: If I go to the store when she's about to do her part, when I come back she's done something excellent. It makes me proud.
PM: This album sounds notably different from your previous records. Was the process of recording this album notably different? If yes, how so?
DB: It took six months, 15 people and three studios to do. The others were done in eight days with five people in one studio.
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