David Berman of Silver Jews and Purple Mountains dies aged 52

David Berman, the songwriter and poet best known for co-founding the indie rock band Silver Jews, has died at the age of 52, his publisher Drag City confirmed. The cause of death is unknown at this time. Last month, Berman released a new album with the band Purple Mountains, after a 10-year hiatus, Billboard reports. NPR has a nice article about Berman. His friends and colleagues have kind words about him (Pitchfork collected those): "Hope death equals peace cuz he could sure use it" - Stephen Malkmus, "Please try to cherish your memories of him and his words and music. I know I will and I’m grateful that the list of good memories and stories is long" - Bob Nastanovich (Pavement).