If you haven’t met yet, let me introduce you to Mike Doughty. He’s a musician, a writer, a poet, a photographer and an artist. You may remember him from his band Soul Coughing, who had a couple of alternative hits in the late 90’s, early 00’s with “Super BonBon” and “Circles.” He now goes it solo, and has released several albums of very cool music. Since I’ve been out of the music writing game for a while, I’m finding it hard to come up with those cool-music-reviewer-adjectives to describe his music, so I’ll simply keep telling you what Mike Doughty does on his new album Sad Man Happy Man. He sings the lyrics he wrote, he plays acoustic guitar, he programs drums and samples and he has a friend occasionally add some cello. He makes music that is chill, funky and fresh, all at the same time. With songs like “(I Keep On) Rising Up,” “Lord Lord Help Me Just to Rock Rock On” and “(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified),” the theme seems to be (aside from parentheses), overcoming obstacles like breakups, drug addiction and the economy. Or at least that’s what I can cull from Doughty’s mesmerizing half-spoken, half-sung, half-rapped flow. Yes, that’s three halves, but his unique style warrants it in my book. Sad Man Happy Man is sagacious, dulcet and euphonious (words courtesy of FancyAdjectives.com). Have a listen. - Jay, Masters Of None
4 / 5 Stars
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