R&B
January, 1999
The music of Soul Coughing hasn't changed dramatically since 1994, when they were called rapper wannabes on their debut, Ruby Vroom. M. Doughty still declaims rather than sings over a bed of textured polyrhythms. But in a musical landscape suddenly littered with faux swing-hipsters who romanticize a culture and beat they don't understand, Soul Coughing's El Oso (Warner) is the real thing. Their heart is Sebastian Steinberg's unpredictable upright bass, which sets Soul Coughing's beat in motion....
