David Berman Thinks Jim James Has No Clue

The Silver Jews’ David Berman took quite a shot at My Morning Jacket during an interview posted today on Sound of the City [via Pipe2k]:

“My Morning Jacket—love the way it sounds. . . until you’re on the subway, and you can concentrate on what he’s saying, and all of a sudden, you’re like ‘Oh my God, this guy had no idea what he was doing, and he was just hoping to get this stuff by without anyone really noticing.’ And he’s done a wonderful job of it, because if you don’t pay attention, you don’t notice these terribly embarrassing things.”

I’ll give Berman the benefit of the doubt because he created the single greatest opening line to an album I’ve ever heard. (Seriously, does it get better than “In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection”? No, it doesn’t.) But while I guess I understand the point he’s trying to make, I’d love some concrete examples. Better yet, I’d love to listen to Z with him and have him tell me the exact parts he’s describing. I’m sure I can be convinced by a guy who knows music a lot better than I will ever know it. Until then, I guess I’ll just continue to not notice what he’s talking about and let MMJ “get by.”