 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| ||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
by Henry Lipput
“Nashville Cats”
Josh Rouse’s new disc “Nashville” is not a country album. The only musical tip of the hat to the city of the album’s title is the pedal steel guitar in “It’s The Nighttime” and “My Love Has Gone.” But Rouse has lived in Nashville and, like that town, the CD embodies a love of music—that’s why they call it Music City USA, right?
The songs on Nashville are full of references to others songs and the love of music and how it connects to peoples’ lives. The album starts off with the lines “You play your stereo loud/you got your headphones on” and on “Carolina” a young woman listens to her favorite songs on the radio and it’s nearly the only solace that she has in her troubled life.
I first listened to Rouse two years ago when his “1972” album came out. I liked that disc a lot and it turned up at number 3 on my Top Ten for 2003. It’s no coincidence that Rouse’s last album was a salute to the sounds of the 70s. His lyrics and melodies harken back to that decade and he sounds like the guys who sang “Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes” and “Brandy.” There’s not a lot of heft in his voice but it’s sincere.
The second song on the disc, “Winter In The Hamptons,” is pure pop bliss. It starts with a “ba ba ba ba” chorus and moves along with chiming guitars and a terrific melody. The killer line is “Put on your happy because the forecast is rain clouds.” The album’s other highlight is “Sad Eyes.” This song starts out with a solo piano like “Maybe I’m Amazed” or one of Eric Carmen’s Raspberries ballads. A little further in a lone violin plays and then the band kicks in. An orchestra joins the mix and suddenly it’s the Edison Lighthouse. It’s a delight.
There are also two “missing you” songs on the album. “My Love Has Gone” starts off with a plaintive harmonica and has a wonderful arrangement. “Saturday” is about a musician on the road who’s away from the one he loves and looks forward to being home and waiting for her to get off from work so they can go out together. It’s a lovely song.
Conor Oberst and his band Bright Eyes aren’t from Nashville, they’re from Nebraska, but he did go down to that city to record a couple of duets with Emmylou Harris for his new album “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning.” The legendary country chanteuse contributes to three songs on the disc. If the album has any country influences, it’s from the “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo”-era Byrds and when Harris joins in on “Another Travelin’ Song” it sounds like alt-country pioneers the Mekons.
Oberst is in his mid-20s and he’s a combination of Robert Smith of the Cure and Bob Dylan. He can yelp like Smith and his lyrical style and acoustic leanings remind me of the Bob. The Dylan influence is most pronounced on “First Day Of My Life” from the new CD; both lyrically and musically it borrows from “Don’t Think Twice (It’s All Right).”
The best moments on the new disc are when the Bright Eyes ensemble kicks into high gear. When this happens on “At The Bottom Of Everything,” “Train Under Water, ” and “Another Travelin’ Song” the results are joyous. It’s nearly dancing-around-the-living-room music and that’s one of the highest compliments that I can give.
Speaking of joyous, the best song from “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” is not on the album. A CD single for the song “Lua” includes a B-side (I know this is 45-rpm terminology but I still think of things this way): “I Woke Up With This Song In My Head This Morning.” This is one of the best song’s I’ve heard so far this year. It rocks and you will dance around when you play it. I don’t know why it’s not on the album but you won’t be sorry for spending the extra money on it.
