El Oso
Encyclopedia
El Oso released in 1998 (see 1998 in music
) is the third and final album
by the New York City
band Soul Coughing
. The disc is marked by a deep drum and bass
influence. Before starting work on the album, the band toured with Full Cycle
DJs Krust
and Die
(in fact, their band with Roni Size
, Reprazent
, won the Mercury Prize
in 1997 and thus put the kibosh on a notion to have them produce)--and by a scattershot approach to production: Tchad Blake
(Soul C's Ruby Vroom
, Latin Playboys
, Sheryl Crow
) Pat Dillett (They Might Be Giants
, Doveman
, Mary J. Blige
), and British drum and bass DJ Optical (Goldie
, Grooverider
, Ed Rush
.)
Artist Jim Woodring
(Frank) drew the cartoon "monkey-bear" on the disc's cover.
The chorus of the song "$300" is a sample of a Chris Rock
joke; singer Mike Doughty
heard the joke which is backmasked
on Rock's Roll With the New
. Curious, Doughty recorded it into his ASR-10 sampler with the intention of simply reversing it and seeing what the joke was, and wrote the song around what he found there. The song was used in the House
episode "The Softer Side" in 2009.
Some consider El Oso to be a marked deviation from their previous albums, Ruby Vroom
and Irresistible Bliss
, particularly in its departure from jazz
and continuation of the melodicism
of Bliss in an overall darker mood.
The disc yielded Soul Coughing's biggest hit single, "Circles". Tchad Blake, who produced the tune, hated it, and told them it would be a mistake to release it. Cartoon Network gave it a music video in which a Flintstones cartoon was synched to the track as part of the Cartoon Network Groovies. A Cartoon Network video for the song "Rolling," was also produced which was synced with a Betty Boop
cartoon.
El Oso made #1 on KTUH
's charts on the week of January 25, 1999.
. All lyrics written by Mike Doughty
unless otherwise noted.
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
) is the third and final album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
band Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...
. The disc is marked by a deep drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
influence. Before starting work on the album, the band toured with Full Cycle
Full Cycle Recordings
Full Cycle Recordings was a record label based in Bristol, England specialising in drum and bass. The label was a sister label of V Recordings and is owned and run by Daniel Kausman , Paul Southey , Keith Thompson and Ryan Williams...
DJs Krust
Krust
Krust or DJ Krust is an English drum and bass producer and DJ who is part of the Bristol based Reprazent collective, as well as releasing his own solo material such as "Burnin" which was released on Kickin Records.Krust was interested in hip hop, acid house and rave music as a youth, and was a...
and Die
DJ Die
DJ Die , is a British music producer and DJ. He was a founder of drum and bass label Full Cycle Recordings and a member of acts Reprazent and Breakbeat Era....
(in fact, their band with Roni Size
Roni Size
Roni Size is a British record producer and DJ, who came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and leader of Reprazent, a drum and bass collective...
, Reprazent
Reprazent
Reprazent is a British drum and bass act formed by Roni Size. Their debut album New Forms won the Mercury Music Prize in 1997. Their follow-up album In The Mode featured artists including Rahzel, Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Method Man.Roni Size resurrected Reprazent in 2008...
, won the Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
in 1997 and thus put the kibosh on a notion to have them produce)--and by a scattershot approach to production: Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...
(Soul C's Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom was Soul Coughing's 1994 debut album. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes , guitar based tunes like...
, Latin Playboys
Latin Playboys
Latin Playboys is a musical group comprising David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, active in the 1990s.-History:The band began with a series of demo recordings made by Hidalgo on a home cassette tape 4-track machine...
, Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
) Pat Dillett (They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
, Doveman
Doveman
Doveman is a band founded by Thomas Bartlett. Originally from Vermont, Bartlett studied piano in London with Maria Curcio before moving to New York City to attend Columbia University. He attended Columbia for one year, when he left to focus on his studies of classical music. After leaving Columbia,...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
), and British drum and bass DJ Optical (Goldie
Goldie
Clifford Joseph Price, better known as Goldie is an English electronic music artist, disc jockey, visual artist and actor. He is well known for his innovations in the jungle and drum and bass music genres, having previously gained exposure for his work as a graffiti artist...
, Grooverider
Grooverider
Grooverider is a British drum and bass DJ.-Biography:Grooverider began his DJing at illegal raves and warehouse parties in the UK in the late 1980s, and rose to prominence with partner Fabio through his sets at nightclub nights such as 'Rage'. Grooverider was also on the London pirate radio...
, Ed Rush
Ed Rush
Ed Rush is the recording name of Ben Settle; a prominent jungle/techstep/neurofunk DJ, who often produces tracks in collaboration with Optical. Hailing from west London, he came to prominence with the release of the track Bludclot Artattack in 1993...
.)
Artist Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring
Jim Woodring is a Seattle-based cartoonist, comic book author, artist and toy designer. He also produces fine art works in a variety of other media, including painting and charcoal....
(Frank) drew the cartoon "monkey-bear" on the disc's cover.
The chorus of the song "$300" is a sample of a Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
joke; singer Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
heard the joke which is backmasked
Backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
on Rock's Roll With the New
Roll with the New
Roll with the New is the second comedy album by Chris Rock. It is a combination of live material and comedy sketches...
. Curious, Doughty recorded it into his ASR-10 sampler with the intention of simply reversing it and seeing what the joke was, and wrote the song around what he found there. The song was used in the House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
episode "The Softer Side" in 2009.
Some consider El Oso to be a marked deviation from their previous albums, Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom
Ruby Vroom was Soul Coughing's 1994 debut album. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes , guitar based tunes like...
and Irresistible Bliss
Irresistible Bliss
Irresistible Bliss was Soul Coughing's second album, released in 1996 . The band initially planned for Tchad Blake, producer of their first album, Ruby Vroom, to produce the album, but the death of a family member in a car accident caused Blake to take a hiatus...
, particularly in its departure from jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and continuation of the melodicism
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
of Bliss in an overall darker mood.
The disc yielded Soul Coughing's biggest hit single, "Circles". Tchad Blake, who produced the tune, hated it, and told them it would be a mistake to release it. Cartoon Network gave it a music video in which a Flintstones cartoon was synched to the track as part of the Cartoon Network Groovies. A Cartoon Network video for the song "Rolling," was also produced which was synced with a Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
cartoon.
El Oso made #1 on KTUH
KTUH
KTUH is a non-commercial, student-run, listener-supported station in Honolulu, Hawaii. The station originate from the studios located on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The station runs 24 hours a day all year round and there is always a live DJ producing their program...
's charts on the week of January 25, 1999.
Track listing
All music by Soul CoughingSoul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...
. All lyrics written by Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
unless otherwise noted.
- "Rolling" – 3:36
- "Misinformed" – 3:25
- "Circles" – 3:07
- "Blame" – 5:01
- "St. Louise Is Listening" – 4:29
- "Maybe I'll Come Down" – 4:32
- "Houston" – 4:04
- "$300" – 3:08
- "Fully Retractable" – 3:26
- "Monster Man" – 4:16
- "Pensacola" (Doughty/Ava Chin) – 4:16
- "I Miss the Girl" – 4:03
- "So Far I Have Not Found the Science" – 2:53
- "The Incumbent" (Doughty/Mark De Gil Antoni) – 6:46
- "212" (Japanese Release Bonus Track)
- "Rare Star Ball" (Japanese Release Bonus Track)
Personnel
- Mike DoughtyMike DoughtyMike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
(billed as "M. Doughty") – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Yuval GabayYuval GabayYuval Gabay is a Jerusalem-born hip-hop Drummer who currently lives and works in the United States. Gabay is most well known for his work with the Jazz/hip-hop quartet Soul Coughing from 1993 to 2000. He also played drums on Firewater's 1996 Debut Album Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Mark de Gli AntoniMark De Gli AntoniMark degli Antoni , often credited as Horse Tricks, is a New York / Los Angeles composer, known for his work as keyboard and sampler player for the band Soul Coughing from 1992 to 2000....
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, samplerSampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, editing - Sebastian SteinbergSebastian SteinbergSebastian Steinberg is an American bass player, best known for his work in the band Soul Coughing.- Biography :Steinberg played with Soul Coughing throughout the band's entire history, from 1992–2000. He also recorded and performed with guitarist Marc Ribot and appeared on William Shatner's 2004...
– double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...