Winter in the Hamptons, springtime somewhere in Barcelona
Watching Josh Rouse strum his guitar on a hidden-away Barcelona sidestreet while I ate a Cara Cara orange for breakfast (I accidentally grabbed this variety at the market; it’s rosy pink inside and tastes like sunrises) made today feel like a decadent moment of defiance in wintry February.
I love the new Blogotheque footage by Vincent Moon of Rouse out and about in his (now native) Spain. Rouse blends two songs from his forthcoming El Turista album with one from his 2004 gem Nashville
I’ve always thought that “Winter in the Hamptons” (ba da da ba da…) also went especially nicely when paired with “Princess on the Porch,” another one from Rouse that I listen to a lot.
I’m always taken by the line, “And baby it’s not you I was searching for, it’s only me…”
Princess on the Porch – Josh Rouse (rarity from Smooth Sounds of Josh Rouse
Winter In The Hamptons – Josh Rouse (from Nashville)
…and this one is still my utter favorite. Four minutes of sublime perfection.
Saturday – Josh Rouse (also from Nashville)
Rouse’s new album El Turista is coming out on March 9th on Yep Roc, and if you head over to this site now, you can stream tracks from the new release, and download a free mp3 of “I Will Live On Islands.” The album just got a 4-star review in Q Magazine, where they call it “a glorious cross-cultural hopscotch game that lands on Spanish lyrics, Brazilian samba, and Cuban beats.”
He mightily impressed me that one time I saw him at the Bluebird with Jason Collett; you should try and catch him on this tour.
Name: Heather Browne
In my humble opinion, Josh Rouse is the most under rated musician of the last ten years.
Scott Jennings — February 5, 2010 @ 6:03 am
Gotta give it up to the kids for trying to get their 15 seconds.
Adam Export — February 5, 2010 @ 8:10 am
Funny, as I´m reading this it´s actually sunny & kinda like false spring here in Barcelona…
Ramone666 — February 5, 2010 @ 8:39 am
so lovely
thanks for commenting.
browneheather — February 5, 2010 @ 10:44 am
I thought 1972 would get some love of best of the decade blog posts but didn’t see it mentioned anywhere. Looking forward to the new one.
Justin — February 7, 2010 @ 1:10 pm
thumbs up, as always, for the josh rouse coverage, heather. to commenter justin — i thought the same thing — but i could also see “votes”/opinions getting split between 1972 and nashville (and maybe home?) as his best, unfortunately leaving him out of the decade-end discussions all together… all great records, though!
marc c — February 8, 2010 @ 9:33 am
I hope you didn’t miss out on his other project: She’s Spanish, I’m American. If you missed it, check out his catchier-than-heck song “car crash”. On a pop level it reminds me of Thao’s Bag of Hammers for some reason.
Carlos — February 8, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
Thanks for Princess on the Porch, I couldn’t agree more about how well it plays with Winter in the Hamptons. This song managed to sneak past me so thanks for this little glimpse of sunshine on a wintery day.
Liz — February 8, 2010 @ 8:11 pm
Wow, perfect post. Just the other night I was trying to remember the name of this fabulous and forgotten Nebraskan musician I once discovered in a $2 CD bin in San Francisco. I love how music comes and goes and transcends time, just like this beautiful video. Thanks.
jewel — February 9, 2010 @ 12:00 am
I really like “Winter in the Hamptons.” Reminds me of a friend of mine who lives in Long Island. I’d love to see Josh on tour, but it looks like most of his current dates are places in Europe.
Hope he makes it back around here sometime.
Jeff McQ — February 9, 2010 @ 9:06 pm
[...] Will Live on Islands.” And I really, really enjoyed it. I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has some interesting thoughts on Rouse (plus some more MP3s), obviously exhibiting more patience and worldiness than myself on the [...]
Take Five « Safe Digression — June 11, 2010 @ 7:05 am