American Water is the third full-length studio album by indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 group Silver Jews

Silver Jews

Silver Jews was an indie rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by David Berman along with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Berman remained throughout and was the only constant member. During the last few albums, Cassie Berman became a regular member of the band...

. Released in 1998 as an LP and CD on Drag City

Drag City (record label)

Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...

 (DC149) in America and Domino (WIG56) in Europe, American Water was recorded at The Rare Book Room in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 and mastered at Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios

Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...

. The album features musicians Tim Barnes, David Berman, Mike Fellows

Mike Fellows

Mike Fellows AKA Miighty Flashlight is an American musician who has performed and recorded with a variety of groups and artists since the early 1980s...

, Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...

, Chris Stroffolino

Chris Stroffolino

Chris Stroffolino is an American poet, musician, critic, performer, author of 12 books of poetry and prose, and probably best known to the general populace for working alongside Steve Malkmus and David Berman on The Silver Jews “American Water” album...

, and artwork by Chris Kysor.

According to a 1998 article in online zine Addicted to Noise

Addicted to Noise

Addicted to Noise was an online music magazine in the early days of the World Wide Web. Founded by ex-Rolling Stone editor and writer Michael Goldberg and online music pioneer Jon Luini, it published its first issue in January 1995 and was the first online magazine to include audio samples along...

, the working title for this album was The Late, Great Silver Jews -- a reference to the similarly titled 1972 album

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is a 1972 studio album by Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. It was the second album that he recorded in 1972, and a follow-up to High, Low and In Between. The album includes the earliest recorded version of two of his best-known songs, "Pancho and Lefty" and...

 by Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...

. Among the songs recorded for the album, but omitted from the final product, were "Self-Ignition" (released as a B-side on the "Send in the Clouds" single) and "Police Conversation, 1783", which was never released.

Track listing

All tracks composed by David Berman; except where indicated

1. "Random Rules" – 4:00
2. "Smith & Jones Forever" – 3:20
3. "Night Society" – 2:19
4. "Federal Dust" (Berman/Stephen Malkmus
   Stephen Malkmus
   Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
   
   ) – 4:03
5. "People" – 4:45
6. "Blue Arrangements" (Berman/Stephen Malkmus) – 4:40
7. "We Are Real" – 4:24
8. "Send in the Clouds" – 5:26
9. "Like Like the the the Death" – 4:00
10. "Buckingham Rabbit" – 4:58
11. "Honk If You're Lonely" (Berman/Gate Pratt) – 2:49
12. "The Wild Kindness" – 3:54