Josh Rouse Albums (8)
'Country Mouse City House'
Release Date 7/16/2007
Tracks 9
Label Nettwerk
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Like a baseball player who quietly hits 30 home runs every year or a golfer who regularly finishes in the Top Ten, Josh Rouse's continued streak of excellence is easy to ignore and maybe even downplay a little. Beginning with 2003's 1972, he's been cranking out sweet and sophisticated albums influenced by his love of soft rock and filled with lyrical gems, smooth performances and his wonderfully rich and intimate vocals, and Country Mouse City House is no different. Again recorded in his new home country of Spain, this time out Rouse handles the production himself and proves that he learned quite a bit from his former partner Brad Jones as the album is just as lushly layered and as filled with aural candy (like the funky clavinet on "Hollywood Bass Player" or the horns that bolster "God, Please Let Me Go Back") as on the last three albums. The songs on Country are a nice mix of the last three albums, too; some have the lazy, relaxed feel of Subtitulo ("Snowy Night," "Pilgrim"), some have the indie pop glow of Nashville ("God, Please Let Me Go Back," "Sweetie") some have the soft rock groove of 1972 "(Italian Dry Ice," "Hollywood Bass Player"). Whatever it is, the sound they all have in common is Rouse's first-rate songcraft, and there are few modern singer/songwriters who can approach him. While Country Mouse City House isn't a towering home run, it is a stand-up double that drives in a couple runs, and that's often what it takes to win games. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Josh Rouse's seventh album Subtitulo is a warm and relaxed affair, much more so than any of his already quite warm and relaxed previous records. Produced again by Brad Jones, Rouse and a small group (Rouse on acoustic guitar, Jones on bass and pianos, Marc Pisapia on drums and percussion, some pedal steel from Pete Finney, and occasional strings provided by Chris Carmichael) recorded these ten songs in Rouse's new home country of Spain, Puerto de Santa Maria to be exact, and the album that resulted is perfect for dreaming a siesta away. His pure and easy vocals, gently strummed chords that nuzzle up against one another like drowsy lovers, and charmingly introspective lyrics combine to produce an almost cocoon-like listening experience. Whether extolling the easy life in a small town ("Quiet Town"), remembering idyllic summers of his youth ("Summertime"), reveling in new love ("It Looks Like Love"), or in old and lovely love (the truly magnificent "Wonderful" which features strings that will set your heart adrift), Rouse sounds perfectly at ease, as if he were just playing for fun with no tapes rolling. Even the song about kicking the bottle (the disco-fied "Givin' It Up"), and the melancholy narratives about knuckleheads with messed-up lives ("Jersey Clowns"), broken-hearted losers ("The Man Who..." which has some cool, spy music guitar and sweetie-pie vocals from Paz Suay), and boredom ("El Otro Lado") are sun-kissed and mellow. In fact, this record is so laid-back and blissed-out that if he felt like it Rouse could become sort of a Jimmy Buffett for the bedroom set, an inspiration for people who would rather be contemplative than inebriated, people who would rather sit in their bedroom lazily dreaming rather than washing up in the foam at a Key West hangout. It is unlikely that Rouse would allow himself to fall into any kind of repetitive groove, as each record he cuts is pretty different from the last, but if he puts out the occasional album as lovely, quiet, and cozy as Subtitulo, there will be nothing to complain about. Better yet if he did it every six months or so. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Josh Rouse's album from 2003 1972 was hailed by many as a triumph. He cast aside the gloom that pervaded his early records, opened up his sound to include such disparate sources as Memphis soul, '70s soft rock, '60s baroque pop and straight-ahead danceable pop. Easily the equal of any of his contemporary's work, one had the fear that it might have represented a one-time-only peak performance. Not to worry. Nashville reunites Rouse with producer Brad Jones and the two have concocted a sound even bouncier and dreamier than the already impossibly dreamy and bouncy 1972. There are hints of all the styles Rouse references on 1972 but here they are integrated into his sound more smoothly. Jones adds all kinds of varied keyboards, strings, guitar sounds, bits of sonic trickery and atmosphere to that sound which leads to each song sounding similar but also quite different. The production and sound are half the game and Rouse doesn't let his half down, as his songs are incredibly strong on Nashville. "Streetlights," the Smiths-influenced "Winter in the Hamptons," "Carolina," and the heart-broken piano ballad "Sad Eyes"; they are as hooky as anything on 1972 but have more weight and emotional power. By the time each song is through it is stamped into your memory, turning the record into an instantly familiar kind of classic. His lyrics are as sharp and surprising as ever. He is incredibly adept at dropping in lines that shock you in a very pleasant way; the very first song, the sweetly gliding "It's the Nighttime," has the wonderful lines "maybe later on/after the late, late show/we can go to your room/ I can try on your clothes." His storytelling skills are sharp, too, as the teen angst epic "Middle School Frown" amply demonstrates. Apparently his personal life has seen all kinds of upheaval in the last little while but you'd be hard pressed to hear it in the sunny melodies. You can hear hints of it in the lyrics if you listen hard especially on "My Love Has Gone" (unsurprisingly) and "Saturday." You can also hear it in the melancholy catch in Rouse's whispery vocals. Even the jauntiest song on the album is reeled in a little. The contrast between happy melodies and sad lyrics is one of the oldest tricks in the pop book and when it is pulled off as well as Rouse does here, you have to be impressed. In fact the whole record is worthy of any and all accolades you might want to shower upon it. Somebody will really have to pull off a miracle to top Nashville as far as intelligent, honest and entertaining guitar pop goes in 2005. Or any other year. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Josh Rouse's 1972 gives away the game in the first line of the first song, the exquisite title track, when he name-checks Carole King. The record is going back in time and it is going to have fun doing it. Rouse's records have always been highly literate and highly musical, but they have never been fun like this, and make no mistake, 1972 is a fun record. Rouse sounds as loose as a goose and the songs reflect that. Not always lyrically, as some of the songs touch on such non-fun subjects as loneliness, repression, and bitterness, but definitely musically. To that end, Brad Jones' production is spot-on perfect -- not an instrument is out of place and the whole record has a jaunty bounce and a lush dreaminess. 1972 is coated with sonic goodness: fluttering strings, piping horns, cotton-candy sweet flutes, funky percussion, handclaps, and great backing vocals. Rouse and Jones find inspiration in all the right places: in the laid-back groove of Al Green, the California haze of Fleetwood Mac, the dreamy melancholia of Nick Drake, the sexy groove of Marvin Gaye, and the wordy lilt of Jackson Browne or James Taylor. The songs are the strongest batch Rouse has written yet. "Love Vibration" is the hit single; it has everything a hit single needs: musical hooks, lyrical hooks, vocal hooks, a smoldering sax solo (optional), and a groovy video. Other songs that are sure to be in heavy rotation are "James," a funky ballad that shows off Rouse's wonderful falsetto (as does "Comeback [Light Therapy]") and takes time for that most elusive creature, a good flute solo; "Under Your Charms," a sultry, sensual ballad that takes a potentially squirm-inducing subject and actually does it right, Marvin-style; and "Rise," a beautifully orchestrated epic that ends the record on a perfect note. 1972 should vault Rouse to the forefront of intelligent pop alongside kindred spirits like Joe Pernice and Kurt Wagner (of Lambchop). If you say you've heard a better adult pop record this year, you are lying. [Initial pressings of the album came complete with a bonus DVD featuring the video for "Love Vibration" and a short documentary about Josh Rouse and his music. The first 100 copies even came with autographed liner notes.] ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
'Under Cold Blue Stars'
Release Date 2/19/2002
Tracks 11
Label Slow River/Rykodisc
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Anyone who has heard Josh Rouse's work would hardly be surprised to learn that his third album, Under Cold Blue Stars, is dominated by musical snapshots which focus on the darker shadows of human relationships; after all, that's what the man does best. But this time out, Rouse sounds a bit less obsessive about the less cheerful side of life, occasionally finding glimpses of happiness along the way, and Under Cold Blue Stars is certainly his most musically inviting work to date. With producer Roger Moutenot at the controls, Rouse has found a sound that's a good bit warmer and more richly textured than the beautiful but stark surfaces of Dressed Up Like Nebraska, and the songs certainly warm to this more full-bodied approach. "Nothing Gives Me Pleasure" is perhaps the least ambiguous love song Rouse has written to date, and the gentle but yearning arrangement gives the tune just the right amount of lift, while the R&B accent of the title cut is hardly what you'd expect from Rouse, but he brings it off beautifully. Under Cold Blue Stars is a loosely structured song cycle about the lives of a Midwestern couple in the 1950s (based in part on his parents), and while the songs don't quite cohere into a unified narrative (that doesn't appear to have been the intention), together they do add up to more than the sum of their parts, with the journeys and arrivals, joys and sorrows, happy holidays and bittersweet reconciliations transforming themselves into the building blocks of life as most of us live it. Under Cold Blue Ground blazes some new trails for John Rouse, but the quality of his songwriting and the emotional impact of his music hasn't changed a bit; it's a solid and satisfying set from a genuinely gifted artist. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While this follow-up to the excellent Dressed Up Like Nebraska doesn't offer any revelations, it's another dreamy, tuneful effort. Adding more colors to his palette, including horns and strings, Rouse seems intent on beefing up his sound. But he doesn't exactly break out of his trademark ethereal vibe, which causes the album to drag at times. ~ Tim Sheridan, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The follow-up to Josh Rouse's acclaimed debut is even more promising than its predecessor: for the five-song Chester, Rouse sought out lyrics from the great Kurt Wagner, the mastermind behind Nashville freakshow Lambchop, and the result is a gorgeously understated record that plays beautifully to the strengths of both artists. Despite the seeming schism between the two, Rouse's bright, chiming songs fit Wagner's darkly surreal vignettes like a glove, at times (as on the superb opener, "Something You Could Always Tell") even co-opting Lambchop's orchestral touches to stunning effect; here's hoping a full-length collaboration is in their future. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
'Dressed Up Like Nebraska'
Release Date 4/28/1998
Tracks 10
Label Slow River
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Josh Rouse plays it straight like the roads and byways which criss-cross the Great Plains. This music is the no-frills variety that takes a bit of getting used to, but once acclimated, listeners start to feel like they've come across something real. The songs which comprise Dressed Up Like Nebraska sound like they've really happened, if not to the artist, then to those near and dear to him. From "Suburban Sweetheart" to "Late Night Conversation" to "White Trash Period of My Life" to "A Woman Lost in Serious Problems," the thread of real-life experiences weaves the listener through every possible emotion. Dark, but not melancholy, Dressed Up Like Nebraska is the type of record that the Nashville hat squad try to say isn't made any more. This is one of those classic discs one hears about, but seldom hears. ~ James Chrispell, All Music Guide
