Sunday Sounds: Soul Coughing

Whether you’re driving, biking or walking around in the city, suburbs or in the country, Soul Coughing provides a perfect soundtrack to aimless wandering.

In any other context, singer Mike Doughty’s nasal combination of spoken word and scat would be annoying at best, but in the context of a stand-up bass, a simple drum-kit, his own guitar playing and the warm and outlandish samples of Mark Degli Antoni it’s a perfect compliment.

Mike Doughty created several solo albums following the band’s breakup in 2000, but none have measured up to the creative, dynamic power and cohesion of any Soul Coughing effort.  He’s a good songwriter, great lyricist and knows how to work a crowd in a live environment, but his voice just isn’t meant for a traditional four-piece arrangement.  He’s weird, he’s proudly from New York, NY, so why not embrace it?

This Sunday, embrace yourself, embrace your weird. (Alternately, if you’re like Mike Doughty, try to identify some kind of change you’ve long been resisting, get over yourself, and embrace the change.)