Instrument Soundtrack

Instrument Soundtrack is a 1999 soundtrack album by American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It serves as the score for Jem Cohen’s documentary film Instrument, which follows the band.

Instrument Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Fugazi
Released	March 23, 1999
Recorded	1989–1997
Genre	Post-hardcore experimental rock lo-fi instrumental rock
Length	45:37
Label	Dischord
Producer	Fugazi
Fugazi chronology
End Hits (1998) Instrument Soundtrack (1999) Furniture (2001)

Background

It is a mainly instrumental soundtrack for Instrument, the documentary film about the band produced by the band and filmmaker Jem Cohen.

The soundtrack mostly consists of previously unreleased songs and studio outtakes culled from Fugazi's history to that point, as well as seven demo versions of songs from their proper albums (six from 1998's End Hits and one from 1993's In on the Kill Taker).

Of particular note is the song "I'm So Tired", a piano ballad played and sung by Ian MacKaye, which is a significant departure from Fugazi's usual post-hardcore sound.

"Shaken All Over" features the bassline of Johnny Kidd & the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over", as well as MacKaye briefly singing the chorus line with heavy dub echo.

The riff from "Lusty Scripps" was played in Fugazi's final live show, in the break between the main set and the encore.^[1]

Covers

"I'm So Tired" has been covered by Fog Lake,^[2] Gengahr,^[3] Jennylee,^[4] Lala Lala,^[5] Ultimate Painting,^[6] and Eddie Vedder.^[7][8][9] The song was also covered by Kiki and Herb in their 2016 cabaret show Kiki & Herb: Seeking Asylum! at Joe's Pub.^[10]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[12]
Pitchfork Media	8.0/10[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Uncut	7/10[15]

Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork gave the album a positive review, describing it as "sound[ing] remarkably playful" and concluding: "For all those who worry that the Fugazi story may be coming to an end, both Instrument and its soundtrack show a band still growing and, in some ways, just getting started."^[13] Amy Sciarretto of CMJ New Music Report wrote: "Collecting 18 surprisingly ambient, previously unreleased Fugazi demos and practice tapes, [...] Instrument is Fugazi's most focused attempt at mellowness and subtlety."^[16] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called the album "mostly ragged and unformed, but for confirmed Fugaziphiles, it's a solidly interesting peek into the band's creative process."^[14]

MacKaye later said of the album:

Instrument is sort of my favorite record, because those were recorded for us. So none of it was for public consumption. So when you listen back, it's just us practicing, us playing together, and it just sounds relaxed.^[17]

Track listing

No.	Title	Notes	Length
1.	"Pink Frosty"	(demo)	3:47
2.	"Lusty Scripps"		3:42
3.	"Arpeggiator"	(demo)	2:54
4.	"Afterthought"		1:28
5.	"Trio's"		2:15
6.	"Turkish Disco"	(Features as part of "Number 5")	2:34
7.	"Me and Thumbelina"		0:45
8.	"Floating Boy"	(demo)	3:35
9.	"Link Track"		1:26
10.	"Little Debbie"		1:49
11.	"H.B."		1:19
12.	"I'm So Tired"		1:59
13.	"Rend It"	(demo)	3:32
14.	"Closed Captioned"	(demo)	5:50
15.	"Guilford Fall"	(demo)	3:29
16.	"Swingset"		1:37
17.	"Shaken All Over"		0:58
18.	"Slo Crostic"	(Slow version of "Caustic Acrostic")	2:41

Personnel

Fugazi

• Ian MacKaye – guitar (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 15–18), keyboards (4), bass (11), piano (12), vocals (7, 10, 12, 17)
• Guy Picciotto – guitar (1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13–16, 18), clarinet (2, 7), drum machine & bass drum (3), bass & dehumidifier percussion (13), thumb piano (17), vocals (13, 17)
• Joe Lally – bass (1, 2, 4–6, 8–10, 15, 16, 18)
• Brendan Canty – drums (1–4, 6–11, 14–16, 18), guitar & bass (3, 14), melodica (5), vocals (17)

Technical personnel

• Engineer: Fugazi (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18), Brendan Canty & Guy Picciotto (3, 14), Don Zientara (9, 17)
• Mixing: Fugazi (2, 4, 6, 10, 16, 17), Guy Picciotto (1, 5, 8, 13, 15, 18), Brendan Canty & Guy Picciotto (3, 14), Brendan Canty & Ian MacKaye (7, 12), Fugazi & Don Zientara (9), Brendan Canty (11)
• Graphic design: Fugazi, Jason Farrell (cover help)
• Photography: Jem Cohen (cover), Guy Picciotto (insert)