Editing Ruby Vroom

{{Infobox album
| name       = Ruby Vroom
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Soul Coughing]]
| cover      = Rubyvroom.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = September 27, 1994
| recorded   = April–June 1994
| studio     = [[The Sound Factory|Sound Factory]], Hollywood
| genre      = [[Alternative rock]], [[jazz fusion]], [[alternative hip hop]]<ref name="EW" />
| length     = 61:27
| label      = [[Slash Records|Slash]]/[[Warner Bros. Records]]<br><small>45752</small>
| producer   = [[Tchad Blake]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title = [[Irresistible Bliss]]
| next_year  = 1996
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Ruby Vroom
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = Down to This
 | single1date = 1994
 | single2     = Sugar Free Jazz
 | single2date = 1995
 | single3     = Screenwriter's Blues
 | single3date = 1995
}}
}}

'''''Ruby Vroom''''' is the debut studio album by American [[rock music|rock]] band [[Soul Coughing]], released in 1994. The album's sound is a mixture of sample-based tunes (loops of [[Raymond Scott]]'s "[[Powerhouse (instrumental)|Powerhouse]]" on "Bus to Beelzebub", [[Toots and the Maytals]], [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[the Andrews Sisters]], and [[the Roches]] on "Down to This", and a loop of sampler player [[Mark Degli Antoni]]'s orchestral horns on "Screenwriter's Blues", among others). It also features guitar-based tunes like "Janine", "Moon Sammy", and "Supra Genius" and jazzy, upright-bass-fueled songs that often slyly quoted other material—the theme from ''[[Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse|Courageous Cat]]'' on "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago", [[Thelonious Monk]]'s "Misterioso" on "[[Casiotone]] Nation", and [[Bobby McFerrin]]'s cover of [[Joan Armatrading]]'s "Opportunity" on "Uh, Zoom Zip". On September 12th 2024, the band announced on [[Jimmy Kimmel Live]] that a remastered 30th anniversary version of the album would be released on CD and vinyl, which includes bonus songs from the era. 

The album sold approximately 70,000 copies, as of April 1996, according to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Olson|first=Catherine Applefeld|title=Soul Coughing Set Promises 'Irrresistable Bliss'|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|volume=18|issue=14|date=April 6, 1996}}</ref>

== Title ==
''Ruby'' was named after a mispronunciation of the name of Ruby Froom, daughter of record producer [[Mitchell Froom]]—a frequent collaborator of ''Ruby Vroom'' producer [[Tchad Blake]]—and singer/songwriter [[Suzanne Vega]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-11-19/features/9611190145_1_babies-rock-shannon-hoon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926202747/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-11-19/features/9611190145_1_babies-rock-shannon-hoon |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |title=Babies Become Newest Rock 'N' Roll Fad |last=Brown |first=Mark |date=1996-11-19 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=2018-04-19 |language=en}}</ref>

== Recording ==
The album was recorded at [[Sunset Sound Factory]] in Hollywood, Blake and Froom's usual haunt—a storage room near the studio's lounge was filled with vintage keyboards and road cases filled with toys—whistles, baby rattles, children's toy xylophones. Many of these ended up in the songs, such as a train whistle played by Doughty on "Uh, Zoom Zip". This was in keeping with Tchad Blake's spirit of maverick experimentation, which included sticking a [[Binaural recording|binaural]] head-shaped microphone in front of Yuval Gabay's drumkit, sticking a mic in a car muffler, called "the Bone" and sticking that in the drum booth as well, and having Doughty improvise wild, yelling ad-libs on "Casiotone Nation", singing into a cheap amplification system called an Ahuja that Blake bought in India. The speaker was essentially a huge bullhorn atop a stick.

The album's lone guest is Rachel Benbow Murdy, band founder [[Mike Doughty]]'s ex-girlfriend, who supplies a vocal on "Janine". Doughty had Murdy go out to a payphone in Sheridan Square in New York and sing a rendition of "[[Lemon Tree (Will Holt song)|Lemon Tree]]" with an improvised melody into their answering machine.<ref name= "playlist">{{cite news |last=Young |first=Simon |url= https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-essential-playlist-mike-doughty |title=The Essential Playlist: Mike Doughty |work=[[Metal Hammer]] |date=October 27, 2015 |accessdate=July 2, 2020}}</ref> Recorded a year before the ''Ruby'' sessions, Doughty and bass player [[Sebastian Steinberg]] recorded the tune at the avant-garde jazz club [[The Knitting Factory]] during the daytime, when the club was closed, with club soundperson James McLean. McLean put a mic on the answering machine, which Doughty had brought to the session.

==Critical reception==
{{Album reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]] 
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ruby-vroom-mw0000119107 |title=Ruby Vroom – Soul Coughing |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=May 28, 2012 |last=Westergaard |first=Sean}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|Christgau's Consumer Guide]]'' 
| rev2score = A<ref name="Christgau">{{cite book |chapter=Soul Coughing: Ruby Vroom |chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=3239 |accessdate=December 5, 2012 |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |title-link=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=[[St. Martin's Griffin]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-24560-2}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Soul Coughing |chapter-url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.001.0001/acref-9780195313734-e-64355 |accessdate=September 8, 2016 |chapter-url-access=subscription |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=4th |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-972636-3}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' 
| rev4score = A<ref name="EW">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1994/09/16/ruby-vroom |title=Ruby Vroom |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=September 16, 1994 |accessdate=October 9, 2016 |last=Mirkin |first=Steven |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119065930/http://www.ew.com/article/1994/09/16/ruby-vroom |archive-date=November 19, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[The Guardian]]'' 
| rev5score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Soul Coughing: Ruby Vroom (Slash/London 9 45752-2) |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=October 14, 1994 |last=Romney |first=Jonathan}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' 
| rev6score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Soul Coughing: Ruby Vroom (Slash/Warner Brothers) |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=October 9, 1994 |last=Warren |first=Bruce}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/soulcoughing/albums/album/102417/review/5943782/ruby_vroom |title=Soul Coughing: Ruby Vroom |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=December 15, 1994 |accessdate=May 28, 2012 |last=Azerrad |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Azerrad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001001716/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/soulcoughing/albums/album/102417/review/5943782/ruby_vroom |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Soul Coughing |last=Sarig |first=Roni |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/760 760]}}</ref>
}}
''Ruby Vroom'' was positively received by critics. ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' described the album as "elegantly spare, dramatic, and danceable",<ref name="EW" /> and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'''s Michael Azerrad applauded Soul Coughing for combining its disparate genre influences into "a compelling and profoundly original sound".<ref name="RS" /> The sampling work of keyboardist [[Mark de Gli Antoni]] was singled out for particular praise: Michael Azerrad stated that Antoni "revolutionize[d] what sampling can do as a rhythmic, harmonic, textural and melodic tool",<ref name="RS" /> while Sean Westergaard of [[AllMusic]] opined that he "set the bar for sampler players in the pop world".<ref name="AM" /> Vocalist Mike Doughty was also praised for his work, with critics noting that he was able to effectively balance wry cynicism against earnest descriptiveness.<ref name="AM" /><ref name="RS" /> [[Robert Christgau]] argued that, on ''Ruby Vroom'', Soul Coughing demonstrated stronger musicianship than other acts who shared the band's "hipster cynicism".<ref name="Christgau" />

In a retrospective review from AllMusic, ''Ruby Vroom'' was labeled "one of the great debut albums of the '90s".<ref name="AM" />

==Track listing==
#"Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago" – 3:48
#"Sugar Free Jazz" – 3:55
#"Casiotone Nation" – 3:50
#"Blueeyed Devil" – 4:12
#"Bus to Beelzebub" – 4:33
#"True Dreams of Wichita" – 5:00
#"Screenwriter's Blues" – 5:08
#"Moon Sammy" – 4:09
#"Supra Genius" – 3:59
#"City of Motors" – 4:38
#"Uh, Zoom Zip" – 3:56
#"Down to This" – 3:49
#"Mr. Bitterness" – 5:32
#"Janine" – 4:58

==Remastered 30th Anniversary Edition track listing==
#"Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago" – 3:47
#"Sugar Free Jazz" – 3:55
#"Casiotone Nation" – 3:50
#"Blueeyed Devil" – 4:12
#"Bus To Beelzebub" – 4:34
#"True Dreams Of Wichita" – 5:00
#"Screenwriter’s Blues" – 5:04
#"Moon Sammy" – 4:09
#"Supra Genius" – 3:59
#"City Of Motors" – 4:39
#"Uh, Zoom Zip" – 3:56
#"Down To This" – 3:50
#"Mr. Bitterness" – 5:29
#"Janine" – 4:58
#"Buddha Rhubarb Butter" – 3:31
#"Murder Of Lawyers" – 7:14
#"Amy Fisher" – 2:35
#"Theme from Rachel's Sitcom" – 1:08
#"Screenwriter’s Blues (Mood Swing Mix)" – 6:29

==Personnel==
*[[Mike Doughty]] (billed as "M. Doughty") – vocals, guitar
*[[Sebastian Steinberg]] – bass guitar, [[Double bass|upright bass]], backing vocals, [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]]
*[[Mark de Gli Antoni]] – keyboards, [[Programming (music)|programming]]
*Yuval Gabay – drums, programming

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Soul Coughing}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1994 debut albums]]
[[Category:Soul Coughing albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Tchad Blake]]
[[Category:Slash Records albums]]