''Skittish'' is a year 2000 album by

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 ...

, and Doughty's first solo album. The album was recorded and took one day only on July 5, 1996, with indie rock producer Kramer, and mixed on July 6. The album was recorded while Doughty was still the frontman for the indie rock 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 ...

, several days before the release of the Soul Coughing album ''

Irresistible Bliss ''Irresistible Bliss'' is the second studio album by the American electronic music group Soul Coughing, released in 1996. The band initially planned for Tchad Blake, producer of their first album ''Ruby Vroom'', to produce the album, but the death ...

''. Some of the songs on the album had been intended as Soul Coughing songs but were rejected by the other band members. The CD was first released with a limited run of 200, which was signed by him and contained a written “Fake Word” on the track list. This limited CD was an online purchase directly from him. Though Kramer built up some songs in Doughty's absence, with strings and organ, the disc is mostly a stark affair. Doughty's

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s—often using a guitar rhythm Doughty calls the "gangadank"—punctuate emotional lyrics on songs such as "The Only Answer" and "The Pink Life". It was extremely different from Soul Coughing, and confused by the sonic departure, his label, Warner Bros., rejected it. Though the album was not officially released, versions of the songs, often featuring extra instruments as experimental mixes, ended up on

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...

as ''The Skittish Sessions''. When Doughty quit Soul Coughing in 2000 and began touring as a one-man act, he was surprised to find audiences singing along to the songs. He quickly printed up

white label A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

versions of the CD and sold them himself at the gigs, selling 20,000, mostly by hand at the front of the stage after the shows. ''Skittish'' finally got an official release in 2004 as part of the

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

''Skittish / Rockity Roll'', which also includes Doughty's electro EP ''

Rockity Roll ''Rockity Roll'' was the third solo recording released by Mike Doughty after the breakup of his former band, Soul Coughing. It is a six-song EP which he recorded in New York City over two days in May 2003 at Pat Dillett's tiny, windowless cubby ...

''.

Track listing

All songs written and performed by Mike Doughty unless otherwise noted. # "The Only Answer" – 2:09 # "The Pink Life" – 2:59 # "Real Love"/"It's Only Life" (medley;

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

The Feelies The Feelies are an American rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008, and released new albums in 2011 and 2017. Although not commercially successful, the ...

covers) – 3:11 # "No Peace Los Angeles" – 3:32 # "Where Have You Gone?" – 3:12 # "Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me the F Train" – 2:43 # "Looks" (

Student Teachers A student teacher or prac teacher (''practice teacher'') is a college, university or graduate student who is teaching under the supervision of a certified teacher in order to qualify for a degree in education. The term is also often used intercha ...

cover) – 2:57 # "Shunned + Falsified" – 2:42 # "All the Dirt" – 2:34 # "Sweet Lord in Heaven" – 1:44 # "Language Barrier" – 2:13 # "Rising Sign" – 2:20

''The Skittish Sessions''

All songs are different from the versions on the released ''Skittish''. # "The Pink Life" # "Real Love/It's Only Life" (medley;

) # "No Peace Los Angeles" # "Mean Curl" * # "Where Have You Gone?" # "All the Dirt" # "Unluckier (I Yearn)" * # "World of Suck" * # "Shunned & Falsified" # "Skittish" * # "Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me The F Train" # "Mr. Bitterness" * # "Laundrytown * # "Looks" (Student Teachers cover) # "Rising Sign" # "Misery Bloom (I Failed to Use It)" * # "Cobain's Sarcoma (Sweet Lord in Heaven)" # "Language Barrier" tracks with * indicate that they are unreleased tracks that were not featured on Skittish. However, "Laundrytown" and "I Failed to Use It" were later remastered and released on ''Skittish / Rockity Roll''.

References

{{Authority control 2000 albums Mike Doughty albums Albums produced by Kramer (musician)