What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? More cash on hand. At least one parent is about to die (not suddenly).ĥ. Did anyone close to you die? A friend and bookgroup member, DF, died suddenly. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not very close, but A. If I think of something I want to do or get done, I do it at the time.ģ. (the anesthesioboist) says, one day at a time is more my speed. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Didn’t make any. What did you do in 2009 that you’ve never done before? Owned two houses at once, involuntarily. Sometimes more of the same is just what you need.( Idea from Notes of an Anesthesioboist )ġ. So if you are a fan of Nashville or the aptly named 1972, then Country Mouse will be right up your easy listening alley. Rouse's light touch and easy way with a major 7th chord are becoming hallmarks of his style, and his discipline in structuring his songs in a traditional AABA pop format ensure a non-threatening yet constantly enjoyable listening experience. Nobody does this kind of thing better right now and it's not only because no one else is trying. Fortunately, Rouse liberally peppers his album with these songs, like the great God, Please Let Me Go Back, Sweetie and Domesticated Lovers. Corny people, like their elder statesman Paul McCartney, are overly sweet but usually avoid the trap of self-importance. Cheesiness sets in when you take yourself way too seriously and start seeing profundity in a "horse with no name", and can't help spouting garbled lines like "for there ain't no one for to give you no pain". Josh Rouse is corny, but not cheesy, and there is a difference. But the best are the mid tempo tunes that a band like America might have recorded if they hadn't been so goddamned cheesy. Then there are the upbeat, ready for the previous generation's top 40, stompers like Hollywood Bass Player and Nice to Fit In, which he does particularly well, right down to the thoughtful arrangements and the mild crescendos. I assume these songs are for the chicks, so I kind of let them pass. There are the slow, low key, soulful numbers, like Italian Dry Ice and the closer, Snowy, where he employs a near whisper to convey erotic longing. Listening to the new one, you get the sense that Rouse still has something to say in this format, because while all the songs sound familiar, they still contain some vital spark which keeps you tuned in. When you do something this well, you might as well milk it for all its worth. Hence, Rouse's new cd is a collection of pleasant tunes that could have appeared on any one of his albums, with virtually no attempt to experiment with sounds or rhythms. The Ramones taught us that when the formula works, stick to it.
God please let me go back by josh rouse full#
The formula that worked for him best on Nashville, combining 70s California AM pop with Bill Withers soul grooves, is back in full force, making Country Mouse an utterly unoriginal, nearly redundant and irresistibly charming success.
Then, the soft acoustic breeze that is Josh Rouse gently blows away those notions, and the first thought that pops into my head, one minute into Sweetie, is that whatever spirit inhabited Rouse during his Spanish sojourn on Subtitulo, seems to have been successfully purged from his system. It begins with a lilting mellotron figure, set on "flute", that has me thinking I accidentally called up King Crimson's In the Wake of Poseidon on iTunes. Josh Rouse Country Mouse, City House (RCA Music Group)
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