I typically choose music that I think that people will like, remember fondly, or get a kick out of. There is a place for ABBA, Big Audio and the like.
This week, I am going with one of the artists that I think is really underrated, under listened too, under appreciated. I am going with an artist that is on my personal playlists and I think is amazing….
Mike Doughty was on the fast track to success with his band Soul Coughing. Perhaps you will remember their songs Super Bon Bon and Circles from the 90s. They are a couple of tunes that stop the dial for me and are on more than one playlist on my iPod, iPhone, and multiple computers.
Wikipedia has a pretty good article on them, here is a snip:
Soul Coughing was a New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 90’s. 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 bands of the ’90s … driven by frontman M. Doughty’s stream-of-consciousness poetry, Soul Coughing’s sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip-hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism (described by Doughty as ‘deep slacker jazz’).”[1]
After Soul Coughing, Mike went through a rough patch and emerged an amazing solo performer thanks to a chance encounter with Dave Mathews (if I have the story correct… he is on Dave’s label now).. Mike has put out a few albums with awesome songs like 27 Jennifers and No Peace Los Angeles.
Here is one of his latest and one of his best, I hope that you enjoy it half as much as I do.
Mike, If you ever make it as far as this little blog… I just want to say thanks man… people dig your stuff.
