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I am shocked, SHOCKED, that no thread exists for Soul Coughing. I guess it must be up to me. I'm working under the assumption that you, dear reader, are entirely unfamiliar with this subject.
1994
A man
Drives a plane
Into the
Chrysler Building
In the midst of teh Grunge, Soul Coughing quietly slipped onto the scene with an album that is simply unmatched to this day. 'Ruby Vroom', fourteen tracks of guitar, keyboard/sampler, upright bass and spot-fucking-on drumming rocked my ripped-jeans-wearing ass like nothing before or since. Lyrically, the album is a revelation. 'Story' gets equal billing with 'Sound', so that words are chosen and combined as much for feeling as for coherence. The samples chosen for the album follow the bands particular taste and excesses. 'Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else But Me) gets thrown in the mix as well as a heaping helping of Raymond Scott. I picked it up after seeing the video for the second single on a local alterna-MTV show and have loved it ever since. It's not music to listen to, so much as music to move to. It demands movement of the listener. Tap your toes. Shake your ass. Get on the "Bus to Beelzebub"
1996
Some kind of verb.
Some kind of moving thing.
Something unseen.
Some hand is motioning
to rise, to rise, to rise.
The Soul Coughing release 'Irresistible Bliss' gives the band their first US radio exposure with the single "Soundtrack to Mary". Many SG fans will tell you that this album is their masterpiece. I tend to disagree, but whadooIknow? Again, same line-up, same instruments, totally different from every album that surrounded it on the racks. Again, heaps of Raymond Scott samples. Again, you must bounce with the beat. Somewhere in the midst of this cycle, I learn that lead singer M. Doughty is a Beat poetry enthusiast. I immediately procure a copy of 'On the Road' and become similarly enamored. I sport a black beret on and off for the next 5 years.
1998
I'm rolling I'm rolling I'm rolling.
It had to happen. The release of 'El Oso' brings a major stylistic change for the band, exacerbation of various drug habits, and their eventual dissolution. After hanging with Roni Size and Reprazent, SG tries it's hand at a drum 'n bass album. It, in my estimation, is average where the previous albums had been mind-blowing. "Meh" where previous efforts were "Yeeeaaahh!" I did manage to get to a show of theirs while they were touring for this album. Amazing, amazing show at a small art house movie theater. A few months later the band was no more and M. Doughty was in rehab ridding himself of a nasty smack habit.
2000
oh i have felt
cobain’s sarcoma
growing on
this will of mine
to drag me down
into the water
the joy i feel
before i drown
During his time in rehab, Mike Doughty finds God and picks up a guitar once again. He begins recording and finds in himself enough material for another album. 'Skittish' is the result. The initial pressing is 300 copies with no album art or packaging. Each disc is personalized by Doughty with words he makes up specially for each CD. ("Slanky" is the word for my brother's copy which he showed me on the condition that my hands were "absolutely without dirt".) The album is quiet and reflective. Many tracks consist of only vocals and acoustic guitar. It is an album of redemption from an artist learning to be an artist and a person again.
2003
Smoke in the mouth
Stick in a candy apple
So luminous-
Skinned, but the face is awful
Some cloud unknown
This pinkness creeping as the sun comes low
That long haul, wow,
Don’t go ‘round mocking on the cash cow now
Sometimes it takes a step back to move forward. Doughty releases 'Rockity Roll' on his own, selling it only through his website. On hearing it the first time, I almost fall out of my chair. It may as well be a "lost" SG album. Hearty beats, funky, full of fun. I am in heaven once more. Doughty seems to rediscover the SG sound and all it meant to him. He's having fun again. He's firing on all cylinders. I believe he plays all the instruments and runs the sampler on this album (maybe), but now he's touring with a band in tow.
2004
and i will drift back to the slope
some face unlit, there, stuck into the incline
where i will sleep off all the noise
the soot accumulated, all my trials
i thank you
lord almighty up above
just for sending out the F train to me
Doughty becomes the first artist to sign with ATO Records. This is a sublabel of Sony records and is controlled by Dave Matthews (yes, that Dave Matthews). Doughty and Matthews have been friends since around the time of 'Ruby Vroom' and SG opened for DMB on the 'Under the Table and Dreaming' tour. ATO re-releases 'Skittish' and 'Rockity Roll' as a double album and includes four new tracks in the release. A fabulous first exposure for the n00b IMHO.
2005
My circus train pulls through the night
Full of lions and trapeze artists
I'm done with elephants and clowns
I want to
Run away and join the office
2005 sees the release of 'Haughty Melodic', Doughty's first all-new, full-length ATO release. It is a different animal yet again. For the casual or the first-time listener, it may very well seem an interesting if average album. For this long-time fan, it is a signpost of growth and maturation for Mike Doughty. The sampling and lyrical play are still there, but reigned in and utilized for maximum benefit. It is also much poppier than any previous Doughty or SG release. This is an artist melding his artistic freedom with his business and pop-rock sensibilities to create something he's never done before. I was put off at first, but found the songs making recurrent rounds in my head despite that. On subsequent listens, I began to appreciate just what had been done: 10 years of experience and misadventure had formed the bedrock for this album and will for all subsequent releases. There is more for Mike Doughty to do, and more places for his music to go.
Your best bet for any kind of Soul Coughing information is probably Soul Coughing Underground. I'm not seeing any mp3s available there, but I'm sure they're out there. I'll post links if I come across any. The site also contains links to Amazon where you may purchase Soul Coughing albums.
Mike Doughty has a site of his own, thanks for asking. Again, everything you need to know 'bout him is there. The 'Music' section has a discography with attendant links to lyrics and a few mp3s. Grab 'em all. You won't be sorry.
And No, I am not Mike Doughty. |
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