Josh Rouse - The Best of the Rykodisc Years (2CD) (2008)

ARTiST....: Josh Rouse
TiTLE.....: The Best of the Rykodisc Years
LABEL.....: Rhino
GENRE.....: folk-rock
QUALiTY...: 210 kbps VBR / joint-stereo
SiZE......: 171,1 MB
REL.DATE..: September 9, 2008

Nebraska-born Josh Rouse started out on Rykodisc where he released five albums and two EPs of literate and engaging guitar pop, which garnered him both critical raves and a devoted following. Now, a decade after his debut, The Best Of The Rykodisc Years collects together highlights from those Rykodisc albums as well as treasures from Josh's own personal vaults, including 7 previously unreleased tracks, to produce over 2 hours of sublime music spanning 1998-2005. The Best Of The Rykodisc Years distills the essence of what Rouse calls his "first stage". Years and musical styles may separate these songs, but ultimately they are linked through the warmth of Rouse's vioce, 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. Disc 1 features 19 favourites from Rykodisc releases - debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska (1998), EP collaboration with Lambchop's Kurt Wagner Chester (1999), Home (2000), Under Cold Blue Stars (2002), 1972 (2003) and Nashville (2005). Included are 'Directions', a song from Rouse's second album that also appeared on the soundtrack for the Cameron Crowe film Vanilla Sky and '65', referring to the highway that runs through Nashville, which is where he and Wagner recorded Chester when the two were neighbours. Disc 2 opens with the six songs that comprised Rouse's 2001 EP Bedroom Classics, Vol. 1, (pressed in a limited edition of only 750 copies and now an impossible-to-find collectable) and continues with 7 previously unreleased recordings including the demos for "Suburban Sweetheart" and "Christmas With Jesus" and outtake for "Cannot Talk"

Track Listings

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. Come Back (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. Night In
3. Song to Help You Sleep
4. Sad Eyes
5. Sunshine
6. Michigan
7. Suburban Sweetheart [#][Demo Version]
8. Flair [#][Demo Version]
9. Be on the Lookout [Demo for "Little Know It All"] [#]
10. Cannot Talk [Dressed Up Like Nebraska Outtake] [#]
11. Christmas with Jesus [#][Demo Version]
12. Camping in Copenhagen [Demo for Summer Kitchen Ballad] [#]
13. Princess on the Porch [1972 Outtake]