''El Oso'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for ''The Bear'') is the third and final studio album by the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

band

Soul Coughing Soul Coughing was an American alternative rock band composed of vocalist/guitarist Mike Doughty (also known as M. Doughty), keyboardist/sampler Mark Degli Antoni, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, and drummer Yuval Gabay. Soul Coughing developed a d ...

, released on September 29, 1998 by

Slash Records Slash Records was an American record label originally specializing in local punk rock bands, active from 1978 to 2000. It was notable as one of the first and most successful independent record labels in alternative music, before its eventual ac ...

and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The album received generally positive critical reception upon release. ''El Oso'' made it to #1 on

KTUH KTUH is a non-commercial, college radio, student-run, listener-supported station in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was Hawaii's first non-commercial FM station, and signed on the air July 7, 1969. Their programming originates from the studios located on th ...

's charts on the week of January 25, 1999.

Background

The album's style takes heavy inspiration from the electronic music style drum and bass, which followed after the band toured with supporting DJs

Krust Kirk Thompson (born 26 July 1968), better known by his stage name Krust, is an English drum and bass producer, DJ and co-owner of the Full Cycle record label. Beyond his roles in the music industry, Thompson is also responsible for two business ...

and Die prior to the album's conceptualization; drum and bass DJ and producer

Optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

was enlisted to co-produce the album. Artist

Jim Woodring James William Woodring (born October 11, 1952) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, writer and toy designer. He is best known for the dream-based comics he published in his magazine '' Jim'', and as the creator of the anthropomorphic cartoo ...

(''Frank'') drew the cartoon "monkey-bear" on the disc's cover. The chorus of the song "$300" is a sample of a Chris Rock joke; singer

Mike Doughty Michael Ross Doughty ( ; born June 10, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and author. He founded the band Soul Coughing in 1992, and as of '' The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns'' (2016), has released 18 studio albums, live albums, and ...

heard the joke which is backmasked on Rock's live standup album ''

Roll with the New ''Roll with the New'' is the second comedy album by Chris Rock. It is a combination of live material (also seen in his special ''Bring the Pain'') and comedy sketches. The album won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album. Tracks # O ...

''. Curious, Doughty recorded it into his ASR-10 sampler with the intention of simply reversing it and seeing what the joke was, and wrote the song around what he found there.

In popular culture

The album contains their biggest hit single, "Circles". Cartoon Network notably aired a music video in which a ''

Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbor ...

'' cartoon was synched to the song as part of their Groovies interstitial. The music video features Fred, Barney and other Hanna-Barbera characters walking in front of the same repeating background, with subtitles showing existential dialogue. The video for the song "Rolling" was also produced, which was synced with a scene from a '' Betty Boop'' cartoon. The song was used in the 2004 remake of '' Walking Tall''. "$300" was used in the '' House'' episode " The Softer Side" in 2009.

Track listing

All music by

. All lyrics written by

unless otherwise noted. #"Rolling" – 3:36 #"Misinformed" – 3:25 #"Circles" – 3:07 #"Blame" – 5:01 #"St. Louise Is Listening" – 4:29 #"Maybe I'll Come Down" – 4:32 #"Houston" – 4:04 #"$300" – 3:08 #"Fully Retractable" – 3:26 #"Monster Man" – 4:16 #"Pensacola" (Doughty/Ava Chin) – 4:16 #"I Miss the Girl" – 4:03 #"So Far I Have Not Found the Science" – 2:53 #"The Incumbent" (Doughty/Mark De Gil Antoni) – 6:46 #"212" (Japanese release bonus track) #"Rare Star Ball" (Japanese release bonus track)

Personnel

Soul Coughing

(billed as "M. Doughty") –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, songwriting,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming *

Sebastian Steinberg Sebastian Steinberg (born February 20, 1959) is an American bass player, best known for his work in the band Soul Coughing. Biography Steinberg played with Soul Coughing throughout the band's entire history, from 1992 to 2000. In 2001, Steinberg ...

– bass,

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

, backing vocals,

, programming *

Mark de Gli Antoni Mark degli Antoni (sometimes credited as Mark De Gli Antoni) is an American composer, known for his work as co-founder and keyboard sampler for the band Soul Coughing from 1992 to 2000.Huey, Steve.Soul Coughing - Biography, AllMusic.com. Since le ...

–

turntables A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, programming, Pro Tools editing, songwriting (14) *Yuval Gabay – drums,

, programming

Other personnel

Tchad Blake Tchad Blake (born 1955) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician. A native of Baytown, Texas, he has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including Al Green, American Music Club, Ani DiFranco, Apartment 26, Arc ...

- producer, mixing,

, programming * Pat Dillett - producer, mixing,

, programming, overdubs (2) *

- producer, mixing,

, programming (1, 4) * Ryoji Hata (2, 9, 13, 14), Husky Huskolds (1 to 3, 5 to 7, 8, 10 to 13) - assistant engineering * Ava Chin - songwriting (10) * Jim Woodring - cover illustrations * John Cutcliffe - management * Bob Ludwig - mastering * Snorri Bros. - photography * STAIN - art Direction, design

References

External links

*
The Making of El Oso (Written by Mike Doughty, December 1997)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oso 1998 albums Albums produced by Tchad Blake Soul Coughing albums Slash Records albums Albums produced by Pat Dillett Albums produced by Optical (musician)