Our Music
Who will sing
the songs of the revolution? Well, we'll sing some of them. But we can only
sing so many. You're more than welcome to sing some yourself.
Here are some
of the songs we have recorded for your, and our, listening and downloading
pleasure. Of course, you must keep in mind that the autonomous footsoldiers
musical revue is, and always will be, an amorphous collective. Not every song
was conceived of, written, or performed by the same group of footsoldiers.
Nevertheless, footsoldiers we are, and footsoldiers we shall continue to be,
however far apart spatially the whims of autonomy may carry us.
One song in
particular illustrates well the unpredictable genesis and evolution of an
autonomous footsoldiers tune. Its name is Fatcake. Here we have three intermediate
forms of Fatcake, in chronological order.
The first is
a version played by the band in Texas. The second, recorded in the Secret
Room, was arranged by a four man permutation of the footsoldiers during the
heat and humidity of August, 1999. The third, a remix by dj dubl'a forged
from magnetism, ones, and zeros in two Deep South days, came soon after.
Of course, dj dubl'a doesn't
restrict himself to remixing that which he helped create in the first place.
Here's another work of his.
In the early days, the band
was enormous. They were heady times, and they produced the inspiration that
was to kindle the flame of passion that burns still. The band has written originals
right from the start, but also dabbles in the covering of others' music, as
the following songs demonstrate.
The initial joy of being in
an enormous band dwindled, and there was a hiatus. After various footsoldiers
left to heed their respective destinies, the band relocated to the secret room,
took on new personnel, and, through stinging, sweat-soaked eyes, saw to the
recording of four or five new numbers. The exact total eludes the memory.
The autonomous musician can
be a strange beast. One offshoot of the footsoldiers came to be known as NoMan
Is An Island, a one man band. Armed with a drum kit, a sequencer equipped synthesizer,
a baritone saxaphone, and his voice, NoMan Is An Island took the Secret Room
by storm. Here is a sampling of NoMan's efforts.
- 'Said
My Baby' -- a bittersweet tale of love lost and found
- 'Fair
Play' -- a bittersweet tale of love gone wrong, and a drowning
- 'Qripstin'
-- a bittersweet tale of love that wasn't, but could have been, maybe
- 'Justify'
-- Just try to hold back the tears!
- 'Mamath'
-- a loping, sing-songy sort of fellow
- 'Triumphal'
-- Have you ever felt like you could conquer the whole world?
- 'Repainted'
-- a poly-rhythmic and syncopated dance number
- 'Pinhead'
-- A keyboard imitating a flute never sounded better!
- 'Quick
Billy' -- Who's your favorite clown? Quick Billy!
- 'A
Brink' -- sing along, if you dare!
- 'Chestache'
-- a sad, morose music
- 'Reputing'
-- music to inquire to
- 'Doleruewe'
-- If all the names were this weird, you couldn't talk about them at all.
- 'Pequeno'
-- just a little ditty
- 'Pingwine'
-- exciting letter writing music
- 'Sunnyday
Sunshine Sun' -- Just try to hold back the smile!
- 'The
Chase' -- chasing music if I've ever heard it
- 'Mean
Bean' -- a tight groove that only lasts about half a minute
Another side project is djebay
and his sampletron.
- 'djebay'
-- behold the sampletron!
Last, but not least, another
song inspired by love, produced by yet another permutation of footsoldiers.
This isn't your everyday ska.
Home