what is the point of conor oberst when there's josh rouse?

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seriously

― gloucesterman, Thursday, 10 March 2005 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Ask Emmylou Harris. Why didnt she sing with Josh?

― dmun, Thursday, 10 March 2005 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

what is the point of conor's o burst when there's josh's house?

― Don't Ever Antagonize The Horny (AaronHz), Thursday, 10 March 2005 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i thought josh rouse was more boring than annoying

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 10 March 2005 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Josh Rouse recently said that John Mayer ripped him off. John Mayer, so often written off as "boring," is infinitely more interesting than Rouse.

Wait, what was that about Oberst again?

― marc h., Thursday, 10 March 2005 19:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Josh Rouse doesn't bother me near as much as John Mayer. I don't think he's ever written a lyric as bad as "Wonderland." Rouse is kinda boring, but in an inoffensively tuneful way. Mayer is actively aggravating.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Touche. On the other hand, at least "Wonderland" is memorable (or at least hard to forget!), a huge advantage over Rouse's entire catalogue. And stuff like "Clarity" is actually really good. I think if Mayer weren't so damn concerned with everyone liking him, or if he could get a little more living under his belt, or both, he'd be pretty interesting.

And anyway, I'm not sure how even the lyrics for "Wonderland" are worse than the lyrics for half the crappy pop songs many ILM posters take pride in espousing. Maybe there's no cred in liking cheesy mainstream white guys? Like, how PFM's top albums lists include tons of indie stuff and tons of mainstream hip-hop, but no mainstream rock?

― marc h., Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd rephrase the question: What's the point of Conor Oberst?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

pain.

"Clarity" is fucking godly.

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 10 March 2005 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

John Mayer better than Josh Rouse? Put down the crack pipe.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Sunday, 19 March 2006 15:17 (twenty years ago)

I don't see the correlation between Conor Oberst and Josh Rouse - at all - but I definitely think Josh Rouse vs. John Mayer is pretty much a matter of "indie cred."

Altho I will say, since I was working at Slow River at the time, that the song that got Rouse signed was actually the slightly-less-MOR "The White Trash Period Of My Life," rather than any of his more candy-country pop stuff. I think they went for the gloss later because Ryko was so concerned with making a big unit-shifting "Name" for its roster. This was right around the time of the Palm Pictures buyout, after all, when those numbers were of paramount importance. They needed some kind of savior to conquer the NPR airwaves.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 19 March 2006 16:33 (twenty years ago)

His last album aside (and I've not heard the new one), Josh Rouse is totally great MOR. He's totally aware of his genre, so it's not like that's a slur; and the songwriting chops are first-rate. 1979 is wonderful.

Is John Mayer really that good? I didn't like "Wonderland" very much; should I go back and listen to the record?

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Sunday, 19 March 2006 16:41 (twenty years ago)

No. You should, however, watch his show where he heckles his fans while dressed in a bear suit.

― js (honestengine), Sunday, 19 March 2006 17:39 (twenty years ago)

I like Josh Rouse a lot but his best album is the 1st one Dressed Up Like Nebraska.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy (Kerr), Sunday, 19 March 2006 17:42 (twenty years ago)

I agree, Nebraska is the real classic. I thought he got too smooth after that - his melodic palette is too limited to withstand such consistently homogeneous arrangements. But I sure love that first album.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 19 March 2006 18:31 (twenty years ago)

Josh Rouse does a really kind of haunted/haunting version of the Clash's "Straight to Hell" which I like quite a lot. Don't know anything else by him.

― David A. (Davant), Sunday, 19 March 2006 23:42 (twenty years ago)

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