The Best of the Rykodisc Years

iTunes Review

Wandering troubadour Josh Rouse, born in Nebraska and settled in California, Utah, Wyoming, Nashville, Spain…, spent the beginnings of his recording career with the Slow River and Rykodisc label, issuing five albums and an EP, Chester, a collaboration with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner. Nineteen tracks from those releases are featured on the first disc of this 2-CD collection, summarizing Rouse’s early career while illustrating his growth as a writer and performer, climaxing with the sonically warm ambitions of the AM-radio pop that centered 1972, arguably Rouse’s finest album. “Directions” from Rouse’s second album, Home, is, perhaps, his best known song, as it was included on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky. The final thirteen tracks, the second disc, make this more than an introduction, as it features all six tracks from the limited edition Bedroom Classics, Vol. 1 EP and seven previously unreleased demos and outtakes, including “Princess on the Porch,” an outtake from 1972, as well as impressive early attempts at “Suburban Sweetheart” and “Flair” from his debut album and “Be On the Lookout,” which became “Little Miss Know It All” on Home.