Showing posts with label fugazi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fugazi. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Fugazi - The Argument
Possessing few peers in the world of fiery, angular, angry indie-rock, D.C. icon Fugazi holds an unassailable place at or near the top of the DIY aesthetic. THE ARGUMENT, their eighth full-length release, still exhibits the unpredictability of form, jagged edges and impassioned, potent lyrics that carried them through the '90s. However, with its underlying melodic hooks, it hearkens back more to early-'80s art punks like Mission Of Burma or The Fall. On tracks like "Full Disclosure" the sound looks even further back, sounding practically glam.
Despite the element of retrograde, the sound on THE ARGUMENT remains undeniably Fugazi's own, organic and compelling. There is certainly the occasional track, most notably "Ex-Spectator," that would fit seamlessly on MARGIN WALKER or REPEATER, and tracks such as the defiant "Cashout" and "Epic Problem" rant and rage with requisite fury. On the other end of the spectrum is the title track, unadulterated indie-pop practically out of the songbook of a band like Sloan.
Recorded in January & February 2001.-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 2001
Tracklist:
01. Untitled Intro
02. Cashout
03. Full Disclosure
04. Epic Problem
05. Life and Limb
06. The Kill
07. Strangelight
08. Oh
09. Ex-Spectator
10. Nightshop
11. Argument
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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Fugazi - Instrument
18 Songs;Prev.Unrel;From The Vaults-Demos,Studio,Practice
Fugazi: Guy Picciotto, Ian MacKaye (vocals, guitar); Joe Lally (vocals, bass); Brendan Canty (drums).
Spin (8/99, p.155) - 8 (out of 10) - "...they've unexpectedly reconstructed their history to become the rock'n'dub band of their dreams. INSTRUMENT is...the soundtrack to the Fugazi rockumentary....loud and clear as ever."
CMJ (5/24/99, p.26) - "...Collecting 18 surprisingly ambient, previously unreleased Fugazi demos and practice tapes, the record...span[s] the last ten years of the band's existence....INSTRUMENT is Fugazi's most focused attempt at mellowness and subtlety..."
Melody Maker (4/10/99, p.36) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...A wonderful band indeed..."
NME (Magazine) (5/1/99, p.41) - "...Fugazi rework old songs, try out piano ballads and even indulge in the odd joke, emerging sounder than ever..." -cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1999
Tracklist:
01. Pink Frosty (demo)
02. Lusty Scripps
03. Arpeggiator (demo)
04. Afterthought
05. Trio's
06. Turkish Disco
07. Me and Thumbelina
08. Floating Boy (demo)
09. Link Track
10. Little Debbie
11. H.B.
12. I'm So Tired
13. Rend It (demo)
14. Closed Captioned (demo)
15. Guilford Fall (demo)
16. Swingset
17. Shaken All Over
18. Slo Crostic
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Fugazi - End Hits
This doesn't mean they are growing fatter, balder, 20 years older and British, they're just expanding their boundaries. The lyrics still bite and the guitars still sting, but they've thrown something else into the mix. The riffs are no longer just power chord blasts, but melodic lines that could carry the songs as instrumentals. And what's that in the bass? It couldn't be! It is (gasp)! Counterpoint! After 11 years and 7 albums, Fugazi are paying as much attention to the craft of songwriting as political indignation and DIY activism.
What's a bunch of punk icons to do when the times that they helped to define start changing? Do they continue doing what they've always done and become an anachronism, play follow the leader, or strike off in a new direction, blazing trails for others to follow? On END HITS, it seems Fugazi has chosen the latter, continuing the transformation they began on 1995's RED MEDICINE, from DC hardcore's leading light to 21st century art-rock.
13 New Songs Recorded In 1997 Between Tours
Fugazi: Ian MacKaye, Guy Picciotto (vocals, guitar); Joe Lally (vocals, bass); Brendan Canty (drums).
NME (Magazine) (4/11/98, p.41) - 7 (out of 10) - "...Chumbawamba with the sledgehammer emotional subtlety of Henry Rollins....END HITS is a rather good record from a well-meaning bunch who are finally allowing a little colour and tenderness into their slate-grey terrorist cell. At last..."-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1998
Tracklist:
01. Break
02. Place Position
03. Recap Modotti
04. No Surprise
05. Five Corporations
06. Caustic Acrostic
07. Closed Captioned
08. Floating Boy
09. Foreman's Dog
10. Arpeggiator
11. Guilford Fall
12. Pink Frosty
13. F/D
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Fugazi - Red Medicine
Fugazi are as notable for their "political music for the common man" approach as for the stop-start riffing that made their guitars-and-gestalt-therapy sound into an industry buzz. Their 1995 album, RED MEDICINE, reasserts the band's grasp on alterna-angst and charging guitars--enough so to make your jaws lock.
Yet, RED MEDICINE isn't just another exercise in Fugazi-style political manifestos; on it, Fugazi come across more as musicians than politicians. The yelping "I have something to prove" tone of previous releases has relaxed into a more confident approach. The dueling guitars are looser, more melodic. The riffs and vocals don't bark and grate as much--they simmer and, in some cases, even swing. Songs like "Birthday Party" may still rely on the old-school Fugazi approach--the proven shout and power-chord stomp--but "Forensic Scene" sounds almost Beatlesque in its lovely hesitance.
Regardless of that evolution, RED MEDICINE still includes all the things that made REPEATER-era Fugazi so inspiring, their standard ringing guitars and shouted vocals glaring through the mix. But RED MEDICINE also shows a new-found eloquence, a quieter approach for their songwriting craft, and previously unseen musicianship.
Principally recorded at Inner Ear Studios, Arlington, Virginia in January 1995.
Fugazi: Ian Mackaye, Guy Picciotto (vocals, guitar); Joe Lally (bass); Brendan Canty (drums).
Rolling Stone (7/13-7/27/95, p.109) - 3.5 Stars out of 5 - "...Fugazi have branched out musically and chilled out lyrically; they've added jazzy piano, dub-style bass and percussion, psychedelic guitar and even a snaky Middle Eastern-style melody to their palette....RED MEDICINE is rock solid, held together with seductive hooks, hummable melodies and on over-arching continuity..."
Spin (9/95, p.111) - 7 - Flawed Yet Worthy - "...it's hardly a post-hardcore band anymore. Fugazi is turning into groups it likes. RED MEDICINE is full of minimalist Unrest pop strumming, fragmented Shudder To Think art rock, and Jawbox explosions from melody to noise. The album sounds like a D.C. compilation..."
Alternative Press (8/95, p.87) - "...draws lines that are clear and thick, distinctly separating itself from the latest slew of derivative indie-rock records....a complex hybrid of melody, noise, and the sound of guitar strings stroked above the fretboard, Fugazi's trademark leaves you unable to draw comparisons..."
Option (7-8/95, p.89) - "...The band's material has never been better. While even Fugazi's best album, the hard-charging REPEATER, came off as headlong blur, the strongest songs on RED MEDICINE jump out from their intricately varied backdrop..."
Melody Maker (5/6/95, p.38) - Recommended - "...a massive leap--reinventing themselves without losing one notch of the energy and intensity that makes them so damned crucial...they have leapt away from the stifling hardcore straitjacket that could have choked them....Hell, there's even a trumpet in there...surprises everywhere..."
Mojo (Publisher) (7/95, p.114) - "...wild and untamed in the cussed Yank enclosure, Fugazi stamp their hooves and toss their tails as tautly as ever on RED MEDICINE....axes grinding, Mackaye and Picciotto in full cry, the Caucasian answer to Chuck D and Flavor Flav - this band has no peers."
NME (Magazine) (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #49 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "...mix barbed eloquence with passion, pain, frustration and a uniquely warped Fugazi-take on various musical genres."-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1995
Tracklist:
01. Do You Like Me
02. Bed for the Scraping
03. Latest Disgrace
04. Birthday Pony
05. Forensic Scene
06. Combination Lock
07. Fell, Destroyed
08. By You
09. Version
10. Target
11. Back to Base
12. Downed City
13. Long Distance Runner
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Friday, February 20, 2009
Fugazi - In On The Kill Taker
Recorded at Inner Ear Studios, Virginia in December 1992.
Fugazi: Ian Mackaye, Guy Picciotto (vocals, guitars), Joe Lally (bass), Brendan Canty (drums).
Rolling Stone (9/30/93, p.106) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...as Fugazi grow more diverse, their music only becomes more powerful....KILL TAKER explores almost every aspect of Fugazi's roots....even the occasional calm can't hide the rage underneath..."
Melody Maker (6/5/93, p.34) - "...IN ON THE KILL TAKER is [Fugazi's] finest hour yet...they make the most astonishing exhilarating sound....it's Rage Against The Machine for grown-ups--it's a record you simply must possess..."
NME (Magazine) (6/5/93, p.33) - "...[IN ON THE KILL TAKER] is [Fugazi's] densest and most enigmatic yet....it's an intensity that's breathtaking...this is the sort of record that defines what rock music is capable of..."-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1993
Tracklist:
01. Facet Squared
02. Public Witness Program
03. Returning the Screw
04. Smallpox Champion
05. Rend It
06. 23 Beats Off
07. Sweet and Low
08. Cassavetes
09. Great Cop
10. Walken's Syndrome
11. Instrument
12. Last Chance for a Slow Dance
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Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
Fugazi's third album, STEADY DIET OF NOTHING, finds the Washington D.C. quartet in a restless mood. Although the group sticks to its typically incisive political and social commentary with its lyrics, the band's sound here is clearly in transition, with the bouncy grooves of earlier albums being replaced at times by complex rhythms and droning guitars. The latter is prevalent on the opening "Exit Only," which highlights buzzing feedback and Guy Picciotto's raspy vocals, and "Reclamation," which takes anthemic guitar riffs and Ian MacKaye's unmistakable voice and anchors them in dub-like bass and drums, courtesy of Joe Lally and Brendan Canty, respectively.
Elsewhere, the instrumental "Steady Diet" locks into tight, up-tempo rhythms, followed by the spare, melancholy "Long Division." Here MacKaye's almost-shouted monotone singing nearly subverts the song's beautiful melodies, but the whole, oddly enough, works to wonderful effect. For a blazing grand finale, Fugazi unleashes the gloriously fierce "KYEO" (which stands for "keep your eyes open"). When MacKaye screams "We will not be beaten down!" at the song's end, it's one of the band's finest moments, and a fitting conclusion to another bold Fugazi outing. -cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1991
Tracklist:
01. Exit Only
02. Reclamation
03. Nice New Outfit
04. Stacks
05. Latin Roots
06. Steady Diet
07. Long Division
08. Runaway Return
09. Polish
10. Dear Justice Letter
11. KYEO
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Fugazi - Repeater + 3 Songs
For Fugazi's second full-length release, the band unleashed a fierce set that expanded on the strongest elements of 13 SONGS. The ominous, slowly building opener, "Turnover," gets things off to a guitar-heavy start, and other thrillingly aggressive tunes include the groove-laden title track and the punky, lurching "Break-In." This restless energy carries over into Fugazi's lyrics, as sung by co-frontmen Ian MacKaye and/or Guy Piccotto, which hit with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, as exemplified on "Merchandise" ("You are not what you own") and "Greed" ("You wanted everything/You needed everything"). This is where the quartet solidified its well-documented anti-establishment reputation.
REPEATER is also notable for its two instrumentals--the highly rhythmic "Brendan #1" (named after drummer Brendan Canty) and the almost jazzy "Joe #1" (named after bassist Joe Lally). Based on these excellent tracks, it's no surprise that subsequent Fugazi albums consistently featured an instrumental or two, with each one showcasing the group's remarkable sense of unity, melody, and invention.
REPEATER originally released on Dischord (44). 3 SONGS originally released on Dischord (43).
Fugazi: Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, Ian MacKaye, Guy Picciotto.
Alternative Press (7/95, p.89) - Rated #50 in AP's list of the `Top 99 Of '85-'95' - "...This album is another compelling example of the inevitable conflict of desperate everyman values so keenly articulated by Supermen. REPEATER is a sarcastic request. Don't repeat. Do your own thing!..."-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1990
Tracklist:
01. Turnover
02. Repeater
03. Brendan #1
04. Merchandise
05. Blueprint
06. Sieve-Fisted Find
07. Greed
08. Two Beats Off
09. Styrofoam
10. Reprovisional
11. Shut the Door
12. Song #1
13. Joe # 1
14. Break-In
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Fugazi - 13 Songs
13 SONGS combines the eponymous EP and the MARGIN WALKER mini-LP on one CD.
Combining the band's first two EPs, Fugazi's 13 SONGS is nothing less than a landmark hardcore album. From the unmistakable opening bass line of "Waiting Room" to the cathartic finale of "Promises," the record is DIY post-punk at its finest. And though the quartet would become known for its anti-corporate/consumerism stance, 13 SONGS is all about unapologetically intense music.
Founded by ex-Minor Threat and Embrace frontman Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, Guy Picciotto and Brendan Canty (the latter two from Rites of Spring), Fugazi had a remarkably fully formed sound on this set of songs, with alternately fierce and chiming guitars exploding over fluid bass grooves and tight, propulsive rhythms. Already a revered figure on the Washington D.C. hardcore scene at the time of this 1989 release, MacKaye opted to share lyric, vocal, and guitar duties with Picciotto, giving the group an even greater sense of dynamics. "Bad Mouth" boasts an almost ska-like vibe, and "Margin Walker" is angular aggro-rock, while "Provisional" carries elements of atmospheric pop. True, the roots of emo-rock are present, but as Fugazi proves here, they are a band whose music transcends labels.Spin (5/01, p.110) - Ranked #33 in Spin's "50 Most Essential Punk Records" - "...Modernized hardcore overnight....Earnestly explosive."
Alternative Press (3/02, p.96) - Included in AP's "Essential Punk Influences '02 Style" - "...This is the album that first showed a million lesser-known bands it was possible to make it on your own terms..."
New York Times (Publisher) (3/7/91) - "Fugazi has broken free of hard-core's conventions...the music is all muscle and bone; songs riff, blare, riff, pause and crunch, then stop dead, as terse and Apollonian as a string quartet."-cduniverse.com-
Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 1989
Tracklist:
01. Waiting Room
02. Bulldog Front
03. Bad Mouth
04. Burning
05. Give Me the Cure
06. Suggestion
07. Glue Man
08. Margin Walker
09. And the Same
10. Burning Too
11. Provisional
12. Lockdown
13. Promises
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Monday, February 16, 2009
Fugazi - Instrument (DVD)
Documentary collaboration between filmmaker Jem Cohen and the band covering a ten year period from the band's 1987 inception. It has a mixture of various formats showing concert footage, studio sessions, practice, touring, interviews, abd audience member portraits.-interpunk.com-Genre: Hardcore/Punk
Year: 2001
Tracklist:
sorry don't have tracklist
part1
part2
part3
part4
part5
part6
part7
part8
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