{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox album | name = Instrument Soundtrack | type = Soundtrack | artist = Fugazi | cover = Fugazi - Instrument Soundtrack cover.jpg | alt = | released = March 23, 1999 | recorded = September 1989–March 1997<ref name="liner" /> | venue = | studio = * Guy's parents' basement (Washington, D.C.) * Ian's grandparents' house (Guilford) * Pirate House (Washington, D.C.) * Dischord House (Arlington) * Inner Ear (Arlington)<ref name="liner" /> | genre = <!-- Do not add unsourced genres --> | length = 45:37 | label = Dischord | producer = <!-- No credited producer --> | prev_title = End Hits | prev_year = 1998 | next_title = Furniture | next_year = 2001 }} '''''Instrument Soundtrack''''' is a 1999 (mostly instrumental) soundtrack album by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It serves as the score for Jem Cohen's documentary film ''Instrument'' (1999), which follows the band.
==Background== ''Instrument Soundtrack'' is the soundtrack album to ''Instrument'', a 1999 documentary film about Fugazi directed by Jem Cohen.<ref name="DiCrescenzo 1999" /><ref name="Uncut" /> It consists of various instrumental tracks, demo recordings, and "studio outtakes".<ref name="DiCrescenzo 1999" /><ref name="New Rolling Stone 2004">{{cite book|last1=Welsh |first1=Donald |author-link=Donald Welsh |editor-last1=Brackett|editor-first1=Nathan |editor-link1 = Nathan Brackett |editor-last2= Hoard |editor-first2=Christian |editor-link2=Christian Hoard |date=2004 |chapter=Fugazi |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA315|edition=Completely Revised and Updated 4th |page=315 |publisher=Fireside |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |access-date=January 29, 2024}}</ref> "I'm So Tired", a piano ballad played and sung by Ian MacKaye, was performed on a piano that "just happened to be" in the recording space where the group was working on ''Red Medicine'' (1995).<ref>{{cite web |last1=<!-- No credited author --> |title=Fugazi |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/5840-fugazi/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=January 21, 2026 |date=December 31, 2001}}</ref><ref name="Punknews" />
==Covers== "I'm So Tired" has been covered by Fog Lake,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birp.fm/songoftheday/fog-lake+im-so-tired-fugazi-cover|title=Fog Lake - I'm So Tired (Fugazi Cover)|date=February 3, 2018|website=Birp!|access-date=February 13, 2019}}</ref> Gengahr,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/latest-news/gengahr-share-cover-of-fugazis-im-so-tired|title=Gengahr share cover of Fugazi's "I'm So Tired"|last=Day|first=Laurence|date=June 4, 2015|website=The Line of Best Fit|access-date=February 13, 2019}}</ref> Jennylee,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/warpaint-jennylee-cover-fugazi-classic-im-so-tired-2621797|title=Warpaint's jennylee shares bewitching cover of Fugazi classic 'I'm So Tired'|last=Daly|first=Rhian|date=March 6, 2020|website=NME|access-date=April 22, 2020|quote=I love, admire and respect Fugazi with my whole heart… always have. The sentiment of 'I'm So Tired' is deeply moving and extremely relatable. It was such a pleasure and a pleasant surprise I was able to pull this off. I hope I did it justice, it sure was FUN (and that's the point of it all). Big love and kudos to Fugazi forever.}}</ref> Lala Lala,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2023/11/21/lala-lala-shares-a-crushed-cover-of-fugazis-im-so-tired|title=Lala Lala shares a crushed cover of Fugazi's "I'm So Tired"|date=November 21, 2023|website=The Fader|access-date=January 29, 2024}}</ref> Ultimate Painting,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2014/12/02/the-lagniappe-sessions-ultimate-painting-cover-fugazi-times-new-viking-sheryl-crow-more/|title=The Lagniappe Sessions : Ultimate Painting (Cover Fugazi, Times New Viking, Sheryl Crow & More...)|date=December 2, 2014 |website=Aquarium Drunkard|access-date=April 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211100841/http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2014/12/02/the-lagniappe-sessions-ultimate-painting-cover-fugazi-times-new-viking-sheryl-crow-more/|archive-date=December 11, 2014|url-access=subscription|url-status=live}}</ref> and Eddie Vedder.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1943482/eddie-vedders-amsterdam-tour-opener-was-a-subtle-chris-cornell-tribute/news/|title=Eddie Vedder's Amsterdam Tour Opener Was A Subtle Chris Cornell Tribute|last=Helman|first=Peter|date=May 29, 2017|website=Stereogum|access-date=January 29, 2024}}</ref> The song was also covered by Kiki and Herb in their 2016 cabaret show ''Kiki & Herb: Seeking Asylum!'' at Joe's Pub.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/kiki-and-herb-seeking-asylum_76944.html | title = Kiki and Herb: Seeking Asylum! | last = Stewart | first = Zachary | date = May 3, 2016 | website = TheaterMania | access-date = November 5, 2020 }}</ref>
==Reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|title=Fugazi - ''Instrument''|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r400345|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=AllMusic|author=Modell, Josh|accessdate=March 17, 2010}}</ref> | rev2 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev2score = {{Rating|2|5}}<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Fugazi|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |editor-last1=Larkin |editor-first1=Colin |editor-link1=Colin Larkin|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|pages=567–568|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0000unse_v3u2/page/567/mode/1up|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|url-access=limited}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev3score = 8.0/10<ref name="DiCrescenzo 1999">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3240-instrument-soundtrack/|title=Fugazi: Instrument Soundtrack Album Review|last=DiCrescenzo|first=Brent|date=April 27, 1999|website=Pitchfork|access-date=March 17, 2010}}</ref> | rev4 = ''Punknews.org'' | rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Punknews">{{cite web|url=https://www.punknews.org/review/15673/fugazi-instrument|title=Fugazi - Instrument|last=Massel|first=John|website=Punknews.org|date=May 8, 2018|access-date=July 25, 2025}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Rolling Stone'' | rev5score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="New Rolling Stone 2004" /> | rev6 = ''Uncut'' | rev6score = 7/10<ref name="Uncut">{{cite magazine |last1=Pinnock |first1=Tom |date=April 2021 |title=Storm In the Capitol |magazine=Uncut |location=London |editor-last=Bonner |editor-first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/uncut-april-2021/page/79/mode/1up |page=79}}</ref> }}
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."<ref name="DiCrescenzo 1999" /> 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."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Sciarretto|first=Amy|date=May 24, 1999|title=Reviews {{!}} Fugazi - Instrument (Dischord)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lAG_kLMQAcC&pg=PA26|magazine=CMJ New Music Report|publisher=CMJ|volume=58|issue=9 #619|page=26|issn=0890-0795}}</ref> ''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."<ref name="New Rolling Stone 2004" />
MacKaye later said of the album: <blockquote>''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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gross|first=Joe|date=2018|title=Fugazi's In on the Kill Taker|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PFKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|series=33⅓|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1501321399}}</ref></blockquote>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | extra_column = Lead vocals | total_length = 45:37 | all_writing = Fugazi.<ref name="liner" /> | headline = | title1 = Pink Frosty | note1 = Demo | length1 = 3:47 | title2 = Lusty Scripps | length2 = 3:42 | title3 = Arpeggiator | note3 = Demo | length3 = 2:54 | title4 = Afterthought | length4 = 1:28 | title5 = Trio's | length5 = 2:15 | title6 = Turkish Disco | length6 = 2:34 | title7 = Me and Thumbelina | length7 = 0:45 | extra7 = MacKaye | title8 = Floating Boy | note8 = Demo | length8 = 3:35 | title9 = Link Track | length9 = 1:26 | title10 = Little Debbie | length10 = 1:49 | extra10 = MacKaye | title11 = H.B. | length11 = 1:19 | title12 = I'm So Tired | length12 = 1:59 | extra12 = MacKaye | title13 = Rend It | note13 = Demo | length13 = 3:32 | extra13 = Picciotto | title14 = Closed Captioned | note14 = Demo | length14 = 5:50 | title15 = Guilford Fall | note15 = Demo | length15 = 3:29 | title16 = Swingset | length16 = 1:37 | title17 = Shaken All Over | length17 = 0:58 | title18 = Slo Crostic | length18 = 2:41 }}
===Notes=== * "Pink Frosty Demo", "Arpeggiator Demo", "Floating Boy Demo", "Closed Captioned Demo", and "Guilford Fall Demo" are demo recordings of tracks originally featured on the band's 1998 album ''End Hits''. * "Rend It Demo" is a demo recording of "Rend It", which was originally featured on the band's 1993 album ''In on the Kill Taker''. * "Slo Crostic" is a slowed down version of "Caustic Acrostic", which was originally featured on the band's 1998 album ''End Hits''.
==Personnel== Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name="liner">{{cite AV media notes |title=Instrument Soundtrack |others=Fugazi |date=March 23, 1999 |publisher=Dischord Records}}</ref> ===Fugazi=== * Brendan Canty – engineering (1–5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18), drums (1–4, 6–12, 14–16, 18), mixing (2–4, 6, 7, 9–12, 14, 16, 17); guitar, bass (3, 14); melodica (5), vocals (17), graphic concept * Joe Lally – bass (1, 2, 4–6, 8–10, 15, 16, 18), engineering (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18), mixing (2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 16, 17), graphic concept * Ian MacKaye – guitar (1, 2, 5, 6, 8–10, 15–18), engineering (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18), mixing (2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17), keyboards (4), vocals (7, 10, 12, 17), bass (11), piano (12), graphic concept * Guy Picciotto – mixing (1–6, 8–10, 13, 14, 16–18), engineering (1–5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18), guitar (1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13–16, 18), clarinet (2, 7), drum machine bass drum (3), vocals (13, 17); bass, dehumidifier percussion (13); thumb piano (17), graphic concept, insert stills
===Additional contributors=== * Don Zientara – engineering (9, 17), mixing (9) * Jem Cohen – cover stills * Jason Farrell – cover help
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Fugazi}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Fugazi soundtracks Category:1999 soundtrack albums Category:Albums recorded in a home studio Category:Documentary film soundtracks Category:Dischord Records soundtracks