Josh Rouse Gets Anthologized; Fall Tour

Two-CD set covers his Rykodisc label tenure.

By Blurt Staff

Singer-songwriter Josh Rouse has a two-CD set due in September from Rhino that will cover his seven-year, five-album tenure with Rykodisc. In addition to cherrypicking the best songs from his Rouse’s back catalog, the 32-song collection also includes rarities, outtakes and demos.

See below for the full track listing of Best of the Rykodisc Years — the albums covered include debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska (1998), Home (2000), Under Cold Blue Stars (2002), 1972 (2003), and Nashville (2005), plus Chester, Rouse's 1999 EP collaboration with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, and the 2001 EP Bedroom Classics Vol. 1.

See below also for a list of tour dates scheduled to run through fall into early winter.

Here’s the scoop, courtesy the record label:

Rouse started out on Rykodisc where he released five albums and two EPs of literate and engaging guitar pop. During his early years with the label, the singer/songwriter won a devoted audience with his sharply observed lyrics and melodic pop sensibility. A decade after his debut, Rouse picks his favorites from his Rykodisc years for a two-disc anthology that includes his best songs, rare tracks and seven unreleased demos and outtakes.

Years and musical styles may separate these songs, but ultimately they are linked through the warmth of Rouse's voice, the conversational ease of his singing and his unfailing melodic gift. From the folk-rock of "Late Night Conversation" to the knowing country of "It's The Nighttime," from the smart pop of "Feeling No Pain" to the rhythmically sly white-boy soul of "Comeback (Light Therapy)" -- each bears Rouse's unmistakable musical fingerprint.

 
The collection includes "Directions," a song from Rouse's second album that also appeared on the soundtrack for the Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky and is perhaps Rouse's best-known song. "65" refers to the highway that runs through Nashville, which is where he and Wagner recorded Chester when the two were neighbors. The first disc ends with songs from 1972 and Nashville, a pair of dreamy and playful albums Rouse recorded with producer Brad Jones.

 
The second disc opens with all six songs from Bedroom Classics Vol. 1, and closes with several demos, outtakes, rarities, and never been released songs, including a demo for the 2003 single "Christmas With Jesus," an early version of "Little Know It All" from Home called "Be On The Lookout," an outtake from Dressed Up Like Nebraska ("Cannot Talk") and a rarity from the 1972 sessions ("Princess On The Porch").

 

Track Listing
 
Disc 1

1. "Late Night Conversation"
2. "Dressed Up Like Nebraska"
3. "Invisible"
4. "Laughter"
5. "Directions"
6. "100m Backstroke"
7. "65" (Josh Rouse + Kurt Wagner)
8. "Under Cold Blue Stars"
9. "Nothing Gives Me Pleasure"
10. "Feeling No Pain"
11. "Ugly Stories"
12. "1972"
13. "Love Vibration"
14. "Comeback (Light Therapy)"
15. "Rise"
16. "Winter In The Hamptons"
17. "It's The Nighttime"
18. "My Love Is Gone"
19. "Streetlights"
 
Disc 2

1. "Miserable South"
2. "A Night In"
3. "A Song To Help You Sleep"
4. "Sad Eyes"
5. "Sunshine"
6. "Michigan"
7. "Suburban Sweetheart" (Demo)*
8. "Flair" (Demo)*
9. "Be On The Lookout" (Demo for "Little Know It All")*
10. "Cannot Talk" (Dressed Up Like Nebraska Outtake)*
11. "Christmas With Jesus" (Demo)*
12. "Camping In Copenhagen" (Demo for "Summer Kitchen Ballad")*
13. "Princess On The Porch" (1972 Outtake)*
 
*Previously unreleased

Josh Rouse Tour Dates:

September 17 Joe's Pub         New York, NY          

September 18 Joe's Pub         New York, NY          

September 23 Largo   Los Angeles, CA       

September 24 Largo   Los Angeles, CA       

September 26 Swedish American Hall          San Francisco, CA     

October 10      Old Town School Of Folk Music       Chicago, IL    

October 11      Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee, WI          

October 12      Cedar Cultural Center             Minneapolis, MN       

November 11 Gleis 22           D-Münster, Germany

November 12 Gebäude 9       D-Köln, Germany      

November 13 Centre Culturel Opderschmelz           L-Dudelange, Luxenbourg    

November 14 El Lokal          CH-Zürich, Switzerland        

November 18 E-Werk            D-Erlangen, Germany            

November 19 Beatpol            D-Dresden, Germany

November 20 Moritzbastei    D-Leipzig, Germany  

November 21 Lagerhaus        D-Bremen, Germany  

November 22 Knust D-Hamburg, Germany           

November 23 Maschinenhaus            D-Berlin, Germany    

November 24 Objekt 5          D-Halle, Germany      

November 28 The Black Note           Valencia, Spain          

November 29 The Black Note           Valencia, Spain          

December 3     Union Chapel London, England       

[Photo Credit: Paz Suay]