Skittish
Encyclopedia
Skittish is a Mike Doughty
album recorded with indie rock producer Kramer
(Low
, Galaxie 500
, Bongwater
, B.A.L.L., Daniel Johnston
) in one day, July 5, 1996, and mixed on July 6. Frustrated by the acrimonious sessions for Soul Coughing
's Irresistible Bliss
, and attracted to Kramer's signature minimal, reverby sound, Doughty took a batch of songs—some rejected by, some withheld from Soul Coughing—and crossed the river to bang the disc out at Kramer's studio, Noise New Jersey, a gigantic, shag-carpeted room built as an addition to a house by a would-be Disco
musician in the 70s, to which Kramer added huge echo plates running down either side of his garage—the source of his trademark haunting sound.
Though Kramer built up some songs in Doughty's absence, with strings and organ, the disc is mostly a stark affair. Doughty's riff
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.
But the album found its own life. Versions of the songs, often featuring extra instruments as experimental mixes, ended up on Napster
as The Skittish Sessions. When Doughty quit Soul Coughing in 2000 and hit the road as a one-man act, he was astonished to find audiences singing along to these tunes. He quickly printed up white label
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 was re-released as part of a two disc
set along with the electro EP Rockity Roll, on December 7, 2004. See Skittish / Rockity Roll
for details.
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
set.
These versions of the songs are now very hard to come by.
Mike Doughty
Mike Doughty is an American indie and alternative rock singer-songwriter. He led the band Soul Coughing in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, became a solo artist...
album recorded with indie rock producer Kramer
Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer , known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc...
(Low
Low (band)
Low is an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2010, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....
, Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...
, Bongwater
Bongwater
Bongwater may refer to:* Bongwater , a 1997 comedy film* Bongwater , a former college rock band* Bong water, the used fluid from a bong...
, B.A.L.L., Daniel Johnston
Daniel Johnston
Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
) in one day, July 5, 1996, and mixed on July 6. Frustrated by the acrimonious sessions for Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing
Soul Coughing was a popular New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unusual cult...
's Irresistible Bliss
Irresistible Bliss
Irresistible Bliss was Soul Coughing's second album, released in 1996 . The band initially planned for Tchad Blake, producer of their first album, Ruby Vroom, to produce the album, but the death of a family member in a car accident caused Blake to take a hiatus...
, and attracted to Kramer's signature minimal, reverby sound, Doughty took a batch of songs—some rejected by, some withheld from Soul Coughing—and crossed the river to bang the disc out at Kramer's studio, Noise New Jersey, a gigantic, shag-carpeted room built as an addition to a house by a would-be Disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
musician in the 70s, to which Kramer added huge echo plates running down either side of his garage—the source of his trademark haunting sound.
Though Kramer built up some songs in Doughty's absence, with strings and organ, the disc is mostly a stark affair. Doughty's riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
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.
But the album found its own life. Versions of the songs, often featuring extra instruments as experimental mixes, ended up on Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
as The Skittish Sessions. When Doughty quit Soul Coughing in 2000 and hit the road as a one-man act, he was astonished to find audiences singing along to these tunes. He quickly printed up white label
White label
White label records are vinyl records with adhesive plain white labels affixed. Test pressings, usually with Test Pressing written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are produced in small quantities to evaluate the quality of the disc production...
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 was re-released as part of a two disc
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
set along with the electro EP Rockity Roll, on December 7, 2004. See Skittish / Rockity Roll
Skittish / Rockity Roll
Skittish / Rockity Roll is a re-release of Mike Doughty's first two solo studio albums, Skittish and Rockity Roll. It was jointly released on December 7, 2004 by Dave Matthews' label, ATO Records, and Doughty's own Snack Bar. It contains both albums and five bonus tracks, on two CDs.-Disc one:-Disc...
for details.
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. BligeMary J. BligeMary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
/The FeeliesThe FeeliesThe Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
coversCover versionIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
) – 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 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 than the versions on the released Skittish.- The Pink Life
- Real Love/It's Only Life (medley; Mary J. BligeMary J. BligeMary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
/ The FeeliesThe FeeliesThe Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
) - 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
Skittish / Rockity Roll
Skittish / Rockity Roll is a re-release of Mike Doughty's first two solo studio albums, Skittish and Rockity Roll. It was jointly released on December 7, 2004 by Dave Matthews' label, ATO Records, and Doughty's own Snack Bar. It contains both albums and five bonus tracks, on two CDs.-Disc one:-Disc...
set.
These versions of the songs are now very hard to come by.