''The Natural Bridge'' is the second studio album by

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

group the

Silver Jews Silver Jews were an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman alongside Pavement members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman was the only constant band member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berman ...

. Released in 1996 as an LP and CD on Drag City (DC101) in America and

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...

(WIG28) in Europe, ''The Natural Bridge'' was engineered and mixed by Michael Deming and Thom Monahan and features cover art by Mike Flood. Featured musicians include: David Berman; Matt Hunter; Rian Murphy;

Peyton Pinkerton New Radiant Storm King was an American indie rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1990. The group released nine studio albums over its 20-year existence. Biography New Radiant Storm King formed at Hampshire College in 1990, taking its nam ...

; and Michael Deming. Some tracks on the album were originally recorded using members of the Scud Mountain Boys as Berman's backing band, but scrapped. None of these recordings have ever been released, and were rumored to have been destroyed. According to the Scuds' Joe Pernice, the songs sounded "exactly like the Scud Mountain Boys with David Berman singing" and not like previous

recordings. An unreleased cover of Echo and the Bunnymen's "

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" was also recorded with the Scuds. Another 1995 session, with Pavement members

Stephen Malkmus Stephen Joseph Malkmus (born May 30, 1966) is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and as a solo artist. ...

Bob Nastanovich Robert Nastanovich (born August 27, 1967) is an American musician and member of the indie rock band Pavement, as well as a former member of Silver Jews, Ectoslavia, Pale Horse Riders, and Misshapen Lodge. Early life Bob Nastanovich was born i ...

, and Steve West, was aborted when Berman stormed out of the recording studio. The remaining musicians used the paid studio time to record Pavement's '' Pacific Trim'' EP. The name refers to two natural bridges that David Berman was aware of, one of which in Virginia that inspired him to name the album after it. With respect to the album, Berman said "I was living in Charlottesville at the time and spending a lot of time in Lexington with Steve West’s family. I was in the atural Bridge Parkgift shop and realized if I called the album Natural Bridge, everything in the store would be instantly be converted into promotional merchandise. Sort of like my idea for the band Trad. Arr. that would infuriate record collectors and rock critics who would normally never deign to acknowledge 'my work' by covering their most treasured objects into advertisements for my band."

Track listing

All tracks composed by David Berman. # "How to Rent a Room" - 3:03 # "Pet Politics" - 4:05 # "Black and Brown Blues" - 4:05 # "Ballad of Reverend War Character" - 3:47 # "The Right to Remain Silent" - 2:37 # "Dallas" - 4:14 # "Inside the Golden Days of Missing You" - 2:27 # "Albemarle Station" - 3:41 # "The Frontier Index" - 3:38 # "Pretty Eyes" - 4:13

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natural Bridge, The 1996 albums Domino Recording Company albums Drag City (record label) albums Silver Jews albums