I have a headache. (TEXT MESSAGE) I’m overstressed, every sense in my body on a constant high alert of media updates, electronic noises, and manufactured significance. (PHONE CALL) Granted, it’s an existence I created for myself (TEXT MESSAGE), as we all do to a degree, living in the 21st century (TEXT MESSAGE). Every second and every minute (FACEBOOK NOTICE), every hour and every day is filled to the brim with an endless supply of media demands and notifications (TEXT MESSAGE), our heads becoming eternal spam folders, (COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT) an overstuffed mailbox of flesh and bone (TWITTER NOTICE). I can feel myself (FACEBOOK NOTICE) starting to crack (PHONE CALL) under the weight (TWITTER NOTICE) of it all (FACEBOOK NOTICE). And I do it to myself (COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT). I got a cell phone. I joined Facebook. (FACEBOOK NOTICE) I got a Twitter account. I watch TV, and surf the web (PHONE CALL), and watch the news, and get absorbed by so much media (COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT) everyday. (TWITTER NOTICE) I did this. Me. And I’m about (TEXT MESSAGE) ready to just turn the whole thing off and drop (FACEBOOK NOTICE) out. I need to take a break.
I’m so tired.
This song has absolutely nothing to do with the above diatribe.
It’s kind of funny that for a band known for their DIY, post-hardcore punk aesthetic, it’s Fugazi’s quiet and somber lo-fi piano track, “I’m So Tired,” from 1999’s Instrument Soundtrack, that has really made the greatest impression on me. I’ve always had a thing for audio downers, and Ian Mackaye’s brief but beautiful piano ballad of isolation, surrender, and possibly suicide continually strikes the right nerves. It sounds like the lament of somebody who is already broken, of somebody who cannot be repaired or retrieved from the depths, and of somebody who does not care to be anyway.
And so, I listen to Fugazi as I consider shutting out the media noise for a little while. I probably just need some sleep. This will all start again in the morning.
LA outfit Monde UFO make a cool and exotic blend of lo-fi lounge, jazz, psych, and more. And on their latest EP "4 Songs," they drop a really cool and grooving cover of Fugazi's "I'm So Tired." Check it out below and download the EP here.
When i was a teenager, i considered myself a bit of a connoisseur of all things industrial rock. So imagine the shame i feel now for never having heard of Pailhead, the very short-lived late '80s collaboration between Ministry's Al Jourgensen and Fugazi's Ian MacKaye. The band released an EP and a single on vinyl, without ever issuing either on CD or cassette, so that's going to be my reason for missing out. Anyway, this is not a pairing i would have ever put together, but it's awesome. Check out "Don't Stand in Line" below, our Daily Jam.
The Messthetics are an instrumental group from Washington D.C. featuring Fugazi's rhythm section of Brendan Canty and Joe Lally playing alongside experimental jazz guitarist Anthony Pirog. The result is an aggressive mix of jazz, prog, and punk. Listen to "Serpent Tongue" below and pre-order the band's self-titled debut here from Dischord, out this Friday.
