Mike Doughty - songwriter and former frontman of Soul Coughing - has recently released Circles, an album of smoothed-out and remixed classics. On Circles Doughty breathes new life into tunes that were slow-and-creeping (think "Sleepless" and "How Many Cans?") and sucks out excess life from tunes that were hard-and-edgy (think "Monster Man" and "Super Bon Bon"). The result is a pleasingly unified album of Soul Coughing classics. Doughty's voice is as excellent as ever, and he sings the formerly-edgy tunes with such articulation that you will be able to clearly understand those lyrics that were just out-of-reach beneath distortion and hard-hitting drums before. Also, the presence of an upright bass on the album is a nice touch that goes a long way to recreating that warm jazzy low-toned aesthetic that Soul Coughing albums are known for. All in all this is a must have for Soul Coughing / Mike Doughty fans and would not be a bad introduction to newcomers as well, since so many great tunes are represented.
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Just so everyone is clear on this, there are at least two Racoons. The more well-known Racoon is the Dutch pop/rock band formed in 1997, and the lesser-known Racoon is Simone Giuliani when he made the album Universal Vibes in 2001. While the overall feeling of "Universal Vibes" is chill, the beats are very driving and will no doubt cause your eyes to turn and your head to bob. The guitar playing is ethereal, tasteful, and conveys a feeling of floating. Throughout all of the tunes there is an electronically-driven vortex-like uplifting atmosphere [especially in "Monkey Business" and "Coyto"]. Even the groovier tunes on the album (tracks 3, 6, 8, and 11) maintain the chill ambience while simultaneously causing your mind to dance. The guest vocalists on the album are great, especially Rose Max on tracks 3 and 8. She has such an effortlessly beautiful tone and unique style. Her voice is hypnotizing. If you are a fan of ambient electronic, lounge, chill out, and/or Latin music, you should definitely give Universal Vibes a listen. There are many moments within it that will transport you to another world, and many others that will make you feel as though you are flying.
Let's face it, we cannot help but compare a band's new releases to their previous releases. But oftentimes such comparisons end up sounding like a call for the band to simply remake their previous releases and to stop changing/evolving at all, which is completely unrealistic. Just as "God Shuffled His Feet" saw Crash Test Dummies depart from the country-sounding music and for-the-most-part realist lyrics of "Ghosts That Haunt Me", A Worm's Life sees CTD depart from the slow, beautiful, and hard-to-classify sound and historico-literary-religious lyrics of "God Shuffled His Feet". With the exception of a few tracks (notably 6, 10, and 12) the overall sound of "A Worm's Life" is much more like a rock album than their debut and sophomore releases. As a result you will hear a lot more hard-hitting drum beats and distorted guitars. However, hovering over it all will be that same phenomenal baritone voice of Brad Roberts (backed up of course by the ethereal vocals of Ellen Reid). Besides the move toward a more rockin' sound, the other thing that you will notice is that the dreamy and metaphysical lyricism of "God Shuffled His Feet" is left behind for a strikingly clever realism. To offer a few examples: track 2 chronicles the different ways a boy likes to have his teeth pulled out, track 3 gives an account from a worm's perspective on the various challenges it faces (i.e. birds trying to eat it, being destined for a tequila bottle, etc.), while track 6 warns us not to put our tongues on frozen stop signs or to put forks into toasters unless we want to deal with the unpleasant consequences. There are many points in this album - every single time I listen to it - where I simply cannot help but laugh out loud. Much of the humor stems from the sarcastic sincerity with which Roberts discusses the oftentimes insipid scenarios. Recall that great lyrical moment of "In the Days of the Caveman" where Roberts comments on the fact that back in prehistoric times there were no pajamas or doctors and you will have a glimpse of what "A Worm's Life" has to offer. This album is a fascinating step in CTD's evolution; one that proves they do not confine themselves to any stylistic or lyrical mold. It is replete with rockin' beats and guitar riffs, beautifully executed vocals/harmonies, and some of the funniest lyrics you will hear anywhere. I highly recommend it! |
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