Like a baseball player who quietly hits 30 home runs every year or a golfer who regularly finishes in the Top Ten, Josh Rouses continued streak of excellence is easy to ignore and maybe even downplay a little. Beginning with 2003s 1972, hes been cranking out sweet and sophisticated albums influenced by his love of soft rock and filled with lyrical gems, smooth performances and his wonderfully rich and intimate vocals, and Country Mouse City House is no different. Again recorded in his new home country of Spain, this time out Rouse handles the production himself and proves that he learned quite a bit from his former partner Brad Jones as the album is just as lushly layered and as filled with aural candy (like the funky clavinet on Hollywood Bass Player or the horns that bolster God, Please Let Me Go Back) as on the last three albums. The songs on Country are a nice mix of the last three albums, too; some have the lazy, relaxed feel of Subtitulo (Snowy Night, Pilgrim), some have the indie pop glow of Nashville (God, Please Let Me Go Back, Sweetie) some have the soft rock groove of 1972 (Italian Dry Ice, Hollywood Bass Player). Whatever it is, the sound they all have in common is Rouses first-rate songcraft, and there are few modern singer/songwriters who can approach him. While Country Mouse City House isnt a towering home run, it is a stand-up double that drives in a couple runs, and thats often what it takes to win games.

4 Stars

- allmusicguide

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Since his debut record showcased a youthful Nebraskan with an open road of promise, on through the five albums that followed Josh Rouse has followed that road in dawdling, nomadic spurts across America and the Atlantic to Spain, where he now lives his life and makes his music. Annually, it seems, Rouse re-emerges to say hello, streaming his pop awareness and weaving stories in the simplicity of songs, always with an air of candor and reticence. Thus, there are few bombshells on his seventh release, one flowing with lustrous arrangements and Rouses pacifying voice. Though his guitar serves as the conduit, the music is fused with modest horns and gentle organ fills, with buoyant songs such Hollywood Bass Player, Domesticated Lovers, and London Bridges, along with the jazzy Pilgrim and the splendid rocker Nice To Fit In leading the way. No longer the naïve Midwesterner from a decade ago, this is the globetrotting Rouse who has found a home in Spain--and deserves to find another in your record collection.

- Amazon



Artist: Josh Rouse
Album: Country Mouse, City House
Date Of Release: July 31, 2007
Genre: Indie Rock, Folk Rock, Singer-Songwriter, Americana
Bitrate: VBR --alt-preset extreme