Audiofiles

April 27, 2006 Vol 28 No.29

freeplay
Soul Coughing
Live at the Fox Theater
By Cory Casciato
casciato@mscd.edu

   There’s one hell of a VH-1 “Behind the Music” waiting in the future for Soul Coughing. All the classic elements are present: bad record deals, betrayal, drug problems, near-death experiences and a breakthrough hit that was followed by a bitter breakup.

   In their prime, Soul Coughing crafted a unique sound from funky upright bass, bizarre, left-field sample-wrangling and frantic hip-hop and jungle inspired drumbeats. Topping off this volatile mix were the “gangadank” guitar rhythms and babbling-beatnik poetry of frontman    Mike Doughty. Those elements made for some of the most impressive records of the ‘90s, but live they were an irresistible force. It was so good it could never last, and of course, it didn’t. Until the inevitable reunion tour (sometime around 2018), plenty of live recordings document the band’s peculiar blend of catchy, crazy and cool.

   One such set, recorded in 1996 at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, features songs from the first two Soul Coughing albums. The set catches the band in fine form, highlighting their ability to flawlessly recreate the improbable song structures of their recorded work and their habit of twisting them just enough to keep things freaky. It’s solid enough to serve as a decent introduction to the uninitiated, but also throws in a couple of rarities for dedicated fans, namely a nice version of “16 Horses” and the never-released “Don’t go Wreck the Car (Got Lost in the Parking Lot).”

   The top-notch performances stick close to the albums, but include enough variation to keep things fresh for fans who have taken the time to memorize every note of the officially released versions. A killer version of “Moon Sammy” and possibly the coolest “Casiotone Nation” the band ever played—in which Doughty name-drops Pitfall, Yar’s Revenge and Missile Command!—are worth the price of admission (that’d be free, y’all) for old-school fans. There’s no “True Dreams of Wichita” or “Janine” but apart from that, it’s just about an ideal set. The recording is top-notch except for being recorded too quietly; but hey, that’s what the volume knob is for. Download it, turn it up and bathe in the majesty of the future’s “best band no one knew.”

   Every week, Freeplay will cover the best free albums and EPs to be found on the World Wide Web

Download it at http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=29683

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