Customer Reviews

El Oso

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Bottom Line: "El Oso" solidifies Soul Coughing's status as true musical geniuses. It is a tribute to their talent that they can change their sound yet their music remains immediately recognizable.

In Soul Coughing first two albums they had five members: Mark De Gil Antoni, Yuval Gabay, Sebastian Steinberg, M. Doughty, and M. Doughty's Otherworldly Muse. Together these five created what they called "deep slacker jazz" - an eclectic collection of hip rifts and rhythms spiced with the bizarrely creative word play of M. Doughty's Muse. The CDs "Ruby Vroom" and "Irresistible Bliss" featured such witticisms as "he flicked an ash like a wild loose comma" and "the people's republic of lemony fresh" -- the type of lyrics with the emotional feel of an X-Files episode.

In Soul Coughing's third album "El Oso," the band seems to have lost its fifth member. Which is not to deny that "El Oso" is a great album, but fans will note with slight disappointment the relative lack of literary wizardly. The lyrics are still much much better than the mindless pablum most bands write today. Still, there are no "buses to Beelzebub," no "white girls raised by the aliens" on "El Oso." The emotional feel is more subdued, but still funky. Doughty has moved on. The message has been received, he has new things to say and he still says them well.

Soul Coughing's third album marks a change for the band. Not just in the departure from coffee house poet lyrics. They move away from their simple four-piece acoustic jazz band sound to an amplified, more electronic sound. It is a tribute to their talent that they can change their sound yet their music remains immediately recognizable. "El Oso" has more of a pop feel than "Ruby Vroom" or "Irresistible Bliss" but is still fresh, hip, and jazzy; probably still too different for most radio stations to play it - and too good for most radio stations to play. The songs "Circles" and "St. Louise is Listening" will get some deserving airplay on true progressive radio formats. Those are the two best songs, but there are no bad songs on the CD.

"El Oso" solidifies Soul Coughing's status as true musical geniuses and is one of the best albums of 1998. While the band may never again attain the sheer virtuosity of "Ruby Vroom" they nevertheless remain one of the best bands going. Soul Coughing fans will delight in the CD and "El Oso" may attract new fans who like their music with more of a rock flavor.
Great

I've been a Soul Coughing fan since 1996, when I purchased "Irresistible Bliss." I loved it. Later I bought "Ruby Vroom." Loved it. I finally broke down and picked up "El Oso" this week and once again, these guys can do no wrong. Their music can be described by the titled of their second album: irresistible bliss. It's difficult music to describe, since it's so unique, but my best description would be Beck meets Devo. M. Doughty has a wonderful gift for creating oddball lyrics that are never cliches and usually hilarious. "El Oso" is a bit more instrumentally spare, less dense, than the band's previous efforts. The bits of unusual sampling are kept more in the background, only to make room for the vocals and those consistently funky SC grooves. "Circles" was apparently the "single" from this disc (I wouldn't know...I never listen to the radio), and it's a great, catchy little number. So far some of my favorite songs are "$300," "So Far I Have Not Found the Science" and "Misinformed," but I'm sure that I will grow to love them all. This is a wonderful disc with grooves, hooks and lyrics that are impossible to get out of your head. A bit more accessible that their previous efforts, but that's certainly not a bad thing. Unfortunately, SC announced their break-up a few months ago. The good thing about that sad news is that they split up LONG before their music became boring. I wish all four members the best of luck. Thanks for the great tunes!

EL OSO is so cool, so groove-worthy, so tripped-out . . . some songs ("Pensacola," "The Incumbant") rank with the weirdest I've ever heard. So rhythmic yet jazzy, so fun to listen to, you'll put it on again and again. Some might find songs like "Blame" or "Houston" to be so infectious they irritate, but I just find them infectious. There's quite a wide range of strange and diverse sounds on this album - SC laid down a lot of layers, many of them pretty subtle. For this reason in particular, EL OSO is an excellent record to groove to while listening with headphones.

Standouts: "Misinformed," "St. Louise is Listening," "$300" and "Miss the Girl" . . . but baby, it's aaaaall good! Didn't always get the warmest reception from critics because Doughty used to be one of them and they're jealous. Overall, Soul Coughing's most driving, upbeat album. I can't decide which I like most, this one or RUBY VROOM.

I first heard Soul Coughing while watching Cartoon Network at 1 o'clock in the morning. They have these things called Groovies, where artists set their songs to cartoons, like a music video. While listening to "Rolling," I noticed that the video was very strange- an old black and white Betty Boop cartoon- and the song was even stranger. i didn't give it much thought until a couple days later, when i heard it again. The I realized that the song might have been very strange but it was extremely cool. The next day I heard "Circles"- another Groovie- and I fell in love with it instantly. I went out and bought the CD and I listen to it almost every day. What is unusual about Soul Coughing's music is that usually I like music because I can think of a good daydream to go with it. But with this music, I just could not think of one daydream. I love it simply because I do, and I would recommend it to anyone!

A couple days ago (March 20, 2000) it was announced on Soul Coughing's official website that one of the greatest bands of the '90s and one of the most original bands i have ever heard was officially ::gasp:: broken up. Now, i'm all choked up as I write this, so let me put it simply: Soul Coughing is/was AWESOME. Mike, Mark, Yuval, Sebastian: THANKS GUYS! As for El Oso: This wasn't exactly Ruby Vroom, but hey, its still about a million levels above most modern music.

...just as a change of pace. I ran across Soul Coughing on the "Songs in the Key of X" collection. "Great rhythms, and a great voice," I thought. Later on, I was visiting some friends and mentioned the song, and they popped in El Oso. I went out and bought myself a copy the next day.

I would not describe their approach as "pop" (remember I'm not a long-time fan). Strong boogie rhythms and dark atmosphere do not a top 40 tune make! Alternately laid back and intense, the songs on this CD are perfect for a late-night howler or a sunny weekend beer-and-brat party.

Sure, I agree with just about everybody else that 'El Oso' is not quite as strong and wonderful as Soul Coughing's other two releases, 'Ruby Vroom' and 'Irresistible Bliss'. But it's unfair to judge a CD on such lofty and sublime standards, so I'm still giving El Oso five stars.

Besides, El Oso is **still** much better than other bands' best efforts.

So There.

El Oso still has the trademark funky beats and inventive lyrics that made the band great. I stress the word 'made', because Soul Coughing recently announced that they were 'amicably' parting ways to pursue solo and other projects.

I guess that these guys are just too restless and imaginative to have stayed together. I look at Soul Coughing as a phenomenon, a short, wild burst of creative energy that just couldn't last as it was. I appreciate the music that they did give to us, and while I look forward to their future work as separate artists, I wonder how they could ever again match what they did as a band.

I would like to thank the members of Soul Coughing for giving their fans and the music world the music of Ruby Vroom, Irresistible Bliss, and El Oso.

M. Doughty and crew have stepped up the ante with their latest release. This CD has been in my changer for a year now, and it becomes better with each listening. In contrast to the previous reviewer's comments, I think the album is tight, without any skippable tracks. The band's sound has grown on each album, but this is the first one that seems cohesive as an entity and with regard to the band's interplay itself.

But I think they may be slipping. Maybe it's me, but this album just didn't grab me the way the others did. It's good, in fact it's really good, but I've noticed I don't listen to it quite as often as either of their previous two discs, and I actually use the track skip button more than once. El Oso shows increased complexity over the other albums, and while that's not a bad thing, I think it's unnecessary. "So Far I Have Not Found the Science" is the best track.

For those who like Soul Coughing, try Morphine and/or Luscious Jackson. They're also quite good at laying down a groove.

Soul Coughing is boiling over!! This band is just about to make it big--I can feel it!! This CD is quite an original--it had me quite engrossed the whole time, actually looking foward to listening to it again to hear the incatracies involved with each tune. Very good layering of sounds--very good choice of words...this is something that will stand out on your CD shelf!!