Irresistible Bliss

Amazon.com
For a group that exudes so much intelligence and sophistication, Soul Coughing make incredibly intuitive music. The New York foursome gets pinned for its downtown neo-beat poetry shtick, but even M. Doughty, the group's acid-tongued lyricist, will tell you it's really all about the vibe, not the verse: the true leaders are the guys bringing up the rear. Sebastian Steinberg's loping upright bass and Yuval Gabay's precision drums, which form a live hip-hop/jazz-rock base, make Soul Coughing's second album, Irresistible Bliss, even sharper and more rhythmically confident than their 1994 debut, Ruby Vroom. Inverting George Clinton's maxim, Soul Coughing's operating principle seems to be "Free your ass and your mind will follow." As on Ruby Vroom, Doughty's vocals (increasingly dynamic) and Mark De Gli Antoni's keyboard sampler (increasingly focused) form the icing on Irresistible Bliss's groove-filled cake. But like the bass and drums, the voice and sampler work on a subconscious level. Neither conveys concrete meaning so much as it regurgitates data. Like a television set that plays down the hall while you drift off to sleep, Soul Coughing transmit repeated and recontextualized cliches as if they were information-age mantras, and collide those with door squeaks, elephant sounds, and Raymond Scott cartoon music to form a blanket of pop-cultural white noise. If Irresistible Bliss is less referentially hip-hop and (therefore) more song-oriented than the previous album, it's just as enthusiastically geometric--not to mention funky. Or, to transpose Clinton again: Who says a rock band can't play funk?--Roni Sarig

Irresistible Bliss,Soul Coughing,Warner Bros / Wea,Alternative Pop/Rock,Indie Pop,Indie Rock,Noise Pop,Pop,Popular Music,Post-Grunge,Punk-Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Irresistible Bliss

Average customer rating:

Need to know another album
Favorite Album Ever
Their best?
If you are a fan of the band Cake, you'll love these guys.
This CD is so good

Irresistible Bliss
Soul Coughing
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Punk-Pop | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ruby Vroom
El Oso
Skittish/Rockity Roll
Haughty Melodic
Lust in Phaze: The Best of Soul Coughing

ASIN: B000002N56
Release Date: 1996-07-09

Tracks:

Super Bon Bon
Soft Serve
White Girl
Soundtrack To Mary
Lazybones
4 Out Of 5
Paint
Disseminated
Collapse
Sleepless
The Idiot Kings
How Many Cans?

Amazon.com

For a group that exudes so much intelligence and sophistication, Soul Coughing make incredibly intuitive music. The New York foursome gets pinned for its downtown neo-beat poetry shtick, but even M. Doughty, the group's acid-tongued lyricist, will tell you it's really all about the vibe, not the verse: the true leaders are the guys bringing up the rear. Sebastian Steinberg's loping upright bass and Yuval Gabay's precision drums, which form a live hip-hop/jazz-rock base, make Soul Coughing's second album, Irresistible Bliss, even sharper and more rhythmically confident than their 1994 debut, Ruby Vroom. Inverting George Clinton's maxim, Soul Coughing's operating principle seems to be "Free your ass and your mind will follow." As on Ruby Vroom, Doughty's vocals (increasingly dynamic) and Mark De Gli Antoni's keyboard sampler (increasingly focused) form the icing on Irresistible Bliss's groove-filled cake. But like the bass and drums, the voice and sampler work on a subconscious level. Neither conveys concrete meaning so much as it regurgitates data. Like a television set that plays down the hall while you drift off to sleep, Soul Coughing transmit repeated and recontextualized cliches as if they were information-age mantras, and collide those with door squeaks, elephant sounds, and Raymond Scott cartoon music to form a blanket of pop-cultural white noise. If Irresistible Bliss is less referentially hip-hop and (therefore) more song-oriented than the previous album, it's just as enthusiastically geometric--not to mention funky. Or, to transpose Clinton again: Who says a rock band can't play funk?--Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews:

Need to know another album.......2006-03-08

I love soul coughing and have for a very long time now, well since 1995 and I thoroughly suggest anyone who truly loves music to own this cd, it's amazing. But I do have a question, does anyone know of a soundtrack (I believe) that has the song soft serve on it and on the actual cd there is an orange/yellow flower that consumes the top of it. Anyway, any help would be surely appreciated! Thanks!

Favorite Album Ever.......2006-02-20

I've never written a review for anything (I'm pretty sure). It's just like: "Whatever" to me, but I read some guy's review of Keep it Like a Secret by Built To Spill (by the way: couldn't recommend that album any more highly. Buy it now.). I lost my train of thought, but

Here's what I'm getting at:

This album changed my life. Not even kidding.

Besides, maybe, Giant Steps, this is the most important piece of music of all time. Of all the time in my life, of course. I don't know about yours.

Do me a favor and pick it up now.

Seriously, I couldn't even quantify or qualify the effect this album has on me with words or numbers or any other means of expression beyond this: This album changed my life.

Seriously, you don't even get it.

God man, I've been listening to this album since I was in second grade. My all time favorite.

Buy Ruby Vroom, too. Stay away from El Oso. And Mike Doughty's solo stuff. I mean, get it if you want. I don't care.

Just go read some Soul Coughing lyrics. Just take like, 2 minutes out of your day. You're not even doing anything important right now. Are you? No.

http://scug.net/, man. Thats all. Just go there. Read some of the words. Look at the pictures.

Seriously, you don't even get it. I took the liner notes out of the case (which I lost) and taped them to my wall. I'm not even kidding.

sigh

aklsjdfl;asjkdfkl;asdj

-wilson

Their best?.......2003-09-12

Maybe, maybe not. Soul Coughing wins the award for quitting while they were ahead. Although their decision to call it quits was unfortunate, they left behind three incredible albums, two of which are among the best albums of the 90s.

This album, their second, is possibly their best...though it's tough to say. The first album, Ruby Vroom, featured dark grooves and bombshells like Screewriter's Blues and Sugar Free Jazz. Irresistible Bliss features a broader range of styles and sounds; and, while not as groove-oriented, the songs seem to show the band coming into itself. Bassist Sebastian Steinberg and drummer Yuval Gabay are locked in here tightly enough to make most jazz band rhythm sections jealous. Mark DeGli Antoni's samples here are fabulous, often quite humorous (Disseminated, for example). While Ruby Vroom featured vocals consisting of repeated phrases, Irresistible Bliss features vocal work more in line with actual lyrics. For some people, this may not be a plus, as the approach of Ruby Vroom allowed for uniterrupted grooving. For me, the lyrics of Irresistible Bliss become just one more fabulous element to pay attention to.

I can't say enough about this album. It's great stuff. Buy it.

If you are a fan of the band Cake, you'll love these guys........2003-04-28

As of late I've been listening online to WOXY (from Oxford, Ohio, the best radio station in the nation) . I heard a couple tunes from Soul Coughing; "Super Bon Bon" (with which I was familiar) and, I believe, "Soft Serve", from Irresistable Bliss. I decided that I had to own it. The only regret that I have is that I had to go for 7 years without owning it. Now I'm hooked.
These guys are technically adept and simple at the same time. Almost every song on the album is catchy. And none could be considered boring. My favorite is the stripped-down "How Many Cans?", which is a true showcase for M. Doughty's amazing voice. Now I'm going to have to pick up the rest of the S.C. catalog.

This CD is so good.......2003-03-23

This CD is great listening, all the way up and down. Super Bon-Bon is the radio hit, but every track's bound to stick in your head after a listen or two. The lyrics are nuts, I don't know what he's getting at exactly but the music is just outrageously good. I'm not usually a huge fan of this genre, whatever genre that is, but this is a top-ten disc for me.

Average customer rating:

Four and a half stars, really.

Nepalese Bliss
Irresistible Force
Manufacturer: Ninja Tune
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Techno | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Indie Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Dance & DJ | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Fish Dances
It's Tomorrow Already

ASIN: B000009Z5A
Release Date: 1998-09-01

Tracks:

Nepalese Bliss (radio edit)
Nepalese Bliss (DJ Food remix)(Nepalese Slack Person)
Nepalese Bliss (Fila Brazillia Remix)(Nepalese Fish Dances)
Nepalese Bliss (Amon Tobin Mix)
Nepalese Bliss

Customer Reviews:

Four and a half stars, really........2001-01-01

Oh boy, the first review for this item! Well, if you're checking this item out, chances are you're a fellow ninja (if not, then you probably have no idea what I meant by that). Anyways, this is a neat little single. It gets half a star less than five because it repeats itself by beginning with an edited album version of "Nepalese Bliss" and then ending with the full album version. BUT, ah, track two just melts like butter and drips from the speakers like hot candle wax. It's a remix by Dj Food, the master, and it does what a great remix should do: it takes a piece of the original and runs with it, creating something distinctly original to the remixer. Though it's a remix, it's definetely a full-on treat from Food. Amon Tobin, another master, takes a stab at the song too, creating a repetative (that not said in a bad way), ominious, and very bassy trip. Fila Brazilia is the other remixer, creating the most up-tempo, funky remix, and closest to the original. The original "Nepalese Bliss", like other Irrisistable Force tracks I've heard, is understated, mellow, and very ambient. I think this single is worth ten bucks, for the Dj Food remix alone. Ninjas, this is one little treat you'll most likely want to indulge in. To the rest of you, do you fancy slow, ambient, tripped out songs about hashish laced with opium, remixed into electro-jams and dark, sinister loops? If so, purchase.

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