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Song of the Day #895: ‘I Will Live on Islands’ – Josh Rouse

Josh Rouse has put out enough wonderful albums by now that he’s earned the right to get away with something experimental. His 2010 album El Turista was a distracting trifle that let him stretch his new Spanish-language skills and blend his laid back pop with some exotic European sounds.

While this could have been a stab at a Graceland-style major work, it was handled more like a side project, a diversion. Despite the ambitious musical melange, the songs themselves are quick pop ditties, high on sugar and low on meat.

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Song of the Day #894: ‘Holy Rollers For Love’ – Jakob Dylan

Best Songs of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Jakob Dylan, who has lived up to his songwriting lineage over several Wallflowers and two solo albums, released a low-key collection of ballads titled Women and Country earlier this year.

I haven’t revisited the album much since I first got to know it because it’s a decidedly somber affair. But song for song it is an assured and meaningful record.

Dylan has settled into a sort of retro folk style that seems influenced more by his father’s influences than by his father’s own music.

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Song of the Day #893: ‘Bed Intruder’ – Antoine Dodson & The Gregory Brothers

Best Songs of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Over the next two weeks I’ll feature ten songs that didn’t make my list of the ten best songs of the year but were initially in the running. These songs will not be presented in any particular order.

If you’ve been anywhere near a computer over the past six months, you’ve no doubt heard of Antoine Dodson and seen his memorable appearance on a local news broadcast. Dodson packed more memorable catchphrases into that 45-second interview than you’ll find in most movies.

“He’s climbing in your windows, he’s snatching your people up.” “Hide your wife, hide your kids.” “Run tell that.” “You are so dumb… you are really dumb, for real.” The man is a natural entertainer.

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Song of the Day #892: ‘The Comedians’ – Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello called Goodbye Cruel World his “worst album” in one reissue, but in a future release he amended that sentiment to call it “the worst record that I could have made of a decent bunch of songs.”

The argument for that perspective is made by the inclusion of demo and alternate versions of almost all of the Goodbye Cruel World tracks in vastly different arrangements, and indeed the album that could have been is far better than the album that eventually was.

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Song of the Day #891: ‘Room With No Number’ – Elvis Costello

Every dog has his day, and every genius has his dog. Elvis Costello’s follow-up to Punch the Clock, 1984’s Goodbye Cruel World, was his first (and by my count, still only) outright dog.

I’ve posted this quote before but it’s a good one, so I’ll post it again. In his liner notes for a re-release of this album, Costello wrote, “Congratulations! You just bought the worst album of my career.”

Funny to think that such an album warranted a re-release in the first place. Actually, like most of Costello’s albums, it’s been released more than a few times with varying selections of bonus tracks and liner notes. It’s nearly impossible, and certainly expensive, to be an Elvis Costello completist.

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