John Vanderslice Shares EP Dedicated to David Berman and Rarities Compilation

During our interview last year on the Look At My Records! podcast, John Vanderslice shared some memories of his late friend, David Berman. The two musicians originally met in the early aughts, and over the years, exchanged correspondence. Berman would send Vanderslice vintage wrestling photos and postcards, Vaderslice would send him records. The two maintained a healthy back and forth over e-mail about the songwriting process with Berman even providing Vanderslice with a formula for generating song titles, which he utilizing in naming his 2020 track, “Lure Mice Condemn Erase.”

With the third anniversary of Berman’s passing approaching, Vanderslice is sharing an EP dedicated to him called I can’t believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us, Love, DCB. The tracks on the EP are a captivating cross-section of the kind of electronic experimentations heard on his most recent EP, Eeeeeeep!, and some poppier, narrative-driven cuts. Thematically, the songs piece together Vanderslice’s reflections on the impermanence of life and his ruminations on death.

Today, Vanderslice is also sharing a compilation of b-sides, rarities, and covers called ETHICAL JUTE MOUSE: Lost Songs From Tiny Telephone 2001-2021. 

Vanderslice shared the following about the EP and the impact that Berman had on both his personal and professional life:

This EP is dedicated to the radical genius DC Berman. David was the brilliant songwriter behind Silver Jews and Purple Mountains, and a titanic figure and huge mentor in my own life. We started corresponding in 2004, we traded ideas, he gave me tons of titles for songs, taught me crazy writing hacks. We sent each other music, pro wrestler photos, and postcards.

One of those simply said: I can't believe civilization is still going here in 2008! Congratulations to all of us, Love, DCB.

We loved each other. His death fucked me up.

This is a love letter to David and an anti-sucide pact with myself.

Stream the EP below.

You can check out John’s music on your streaming platform of choice or Bandcamp. Check out John’s website and keep up with him by following him on Instagram and liking him on Facebook.