Music Library: The Fugs, Fujiya & Miyagi, Fumio Hayasaka, Fun With Matches, Funkadelic, Fuse, Fushitshusha, Future Bible Heroes

The Fugs - First Album (1965) [aka The Village Fugs Sing Ballads of Contemporary Protest, Points of Views, and General Dissatisfaction]. Dirty-minded poets playing garage-folk! What's not to love? Led by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg and rounded out by the Holy Modal Rounders, the Fugs were hilariously profane and delightfully profound. Although the lyrics are pretty well unforgettable, I had forgotten that Kupferberg is actually a fairly good songwriter, too, capable of great sing-along choruses and hooky verses. Sanders wasn't quite as strong a songwriter, but he sure was fun.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things (2006) and Uh Promo Single (2007). If I didn't know for a fact that this was the work of a contemporary British band, I would swear that it was krautrock of somewhere between vintage 1973 and 1978 (when krautrock went disco). Upon close listening, there is something about the electronics that it distinctly modern, but it is not immediately obvious. I like the silly disco "Uh" single, which came out in late 2007, but I never picked up the 2008 album Lightbulbs.

Fumio Hayasaka - The Seven Samurai: Original Soundtrack (1954). Japanese drums, chanting, horns that would not be out of place in Touch of Evil or a John Ford film, sounds that remind you of your favorite scenes, the annoyance of the same melody repeated ad nauseum.

Fun With Matches - "May Not Tomorrow." My buddy Jeff's band in 2000 playing a song I wrote with the Dexateens' John Smith in 1995, when Jeff, John, and I were all in the same band (with Mike!). And Jeff has a much better voice than me.

Funkadelic - Free Your Mind... (1970), Funkadelic (1970), "The Rat Kissed The Cat," Maggot Brain (1971), America Eats Its Young (1972), Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On (1974), One Nation Under A Groove (1978), and Music For Your Mother: Funkadelic 45s (1993). Q:Who says a funk band can't play rock? A: If you don't like the effects, don't produce the cause. Q: What is soul? A: Fish, chips, and sweat. Q: Can you get to that? A: Standing on the verge of getting it on. Q: I wanna know if it's good to you? A: You hit the nail on the head. Q: Mommy, what's a Funkadelic? A: Free your mind and your ass will follow.

The Fuse - Kid's Can't Go Home 7" and Writing on the Wall 7" (1979). Everly Brothers-ish rock from a Canadian band. I don't know much of anything about them, but my pal in Winnipeg, a certain John T., sent them to me on a disc with a bunch of Canuck rockers.

Fushitsusha - Allegorical Misunderstanding (1993). Led by Japanese avant-noise guitarist Keiji Haino, this is an album of hypnotic repetition and squalling guitars.

Future Bible Heroes - I'm Lonely (And I Love It) EP (2000), Eternal Youth (2002), and "The Lonely Robot." This is Stephin Merritt's disco band with Magnetic Fields drummer Claudia Gonson. It has the signature lyrical cleverness of Merritt's other bands The Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, and the Gothic Archies, although this music is far more dance-oriented than any of those projects.

And that's the end of the Fs! I have a few discs in my catch-up queue, but when I get through those, I will have reviewed 16,692 songs from 1,512 albums or partial albums. If I had listened to them continuously, they would have taken 46 days, 17 hours, 55 minutes and 13 seconds. They take up 98.05 GB of disc space. Remaining in the next 20 letters (and numbers and compilations): 36,917 songs from 3,125 albums or partial albums, which would take 100 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes, and 25 seconds, were I to listen to them continuously. They take up another 217.33 GB of disc space. Which means that I'm a little under a third of the way done. Can you believe it? These statistics are brought to you by the Number Nothing and The Letter [Redacted], The 3rd Letter From An Unspeakable Chthulic Alphabet That Drives Mere Mortals Stark Raving Mad At The Barest Glimpse At Its Eldritch Forms.