Fingerpointing Friday - Sage Francis Week Pt. 5

Ah, so this wild journey through the musical world of Sage Francis comes to an end today. It's too bad because there's much more than what I've shown here. If you like politics, humor, emotion and fun in your hip-hop, I suggest you pick up all the records I've posted from and the many others that I haven't.
The last four tracks I'm putting up are from Non-Prophets, one of the gropus Sage is a part of. This record dropped a few years back and is, in my mind, is as good as, if not better than, Personal Journals.

Non-Prophets - "Damage"
Non-Prophets - "That Ain't Right"
Non-Prophets - "New World Order"
Non-Prophets - "Tolerance Level"
buy Hope at Insound!

5 songs itunes played while I put this post together:
Nuthin'. I was watching "Beyond The Mat".

Sage looks like the main villain from Hellboy.

No, not the sword guy. The crazy Nazi that gets eaten by the black hole and resurrected in blood. He looks like that guy.
Last night's Sage show was great, regardless of the nearly entirely hipster population. The Solillaquists of Sound opened and they were sick. Very into their music and message. Not unlike some hardcore bands. I picked up their tour CD and, while not nearly as good as their live show, I'll pick up their new LP this summer. I'll probably post a song of theirs soon.
Sage was fantastic, though he played way too many of the new tracks. I picked up a promo copy of the new disc a few weeks back so I was familiar for the new stuff, but most of the crowd seemed to be experiencing it for the first time. He was backed by the Solillaquists and that worked really well. This being my first hip-hop show, I was surprised by how much performing outside of just playing the music there was. Dancing, gesturing, whatever. I'm used to bands bangin' away at their instruments. Nice change. I prattle on. Here's another Sage track.

Sage Francis - "Mullet"

buy Still Sick...Urine Trouble from Sage

5 songs itunes played while I put this post together:
more Sage

Hump Day - Sage Francis Week Pt. 3

Goddamn Firefox had a meltdown right before I was about to post this, so I lost what I initially wrote. Bah. Today's Sage track comes from The Known Unsoldier/Sick of Waging War, a compilation of Sage tracks from 1996 to 2002. It's a little more melancholy and lo-fi than some of his other stuff, but it still kicks out the jams.
And tonight, I'll be heading over to the Bowery Ballroom to catch the Sage show. It should be awesome considering I missed him the last few times he was around.

Sage Francis - "Mourning Aftermath"

buy The Known Unsoldier/Sick of Waging War at The Giant Peach

5 songs itunes played while I put this post together:
Talking Heads "Cities"
Kleenex Girl Wonder "Westmont"
TV on the Radio "Staring At The Sun"
Digital Underground "Kiss You Back"
Das Efx "We Want Efx"

Go Buy "A Healthy Distrust" - Sage Francis Week Pt. 2

Sage's new album, A Healthy Distrust hits today. I advise all of you to go out and buy it. It's admittedly not as good as Personal Journals or the Non-Prophets LP, but it's still a great record. Strangely enough, it's on Epitaph. Not your normal everyday hip-hopper, eh? Here are some tracks from the new album.

Sage Francis - "The Buzz Kill"
Sage Francis - "Escape Artist"
Sage Francis - "Agony In Her Body"
Sage Francis - "Slow Down Gandhi"

buy A Healthy Distrust at Amazon

5 songs itunes played while I put this post together:
Burn - "Shall Be Judged"
Wesley Willis - "Jesus Christ"
Burning Brides - "Arctic Snow"
Hot Water Music - "Dead End Streets"
Beatallica - "A Garage Dayz Nite"

Taking Back Monday - Sage Francis Week Pt. 1

This is a predominantly hardcore/punk/metal mp3 blog, but my favorite hip-hopper (that's what the kids are calling rappers these days, right?) is Sage Francis and not only does his new album drop tomorrow, but I'm venturing out of the sanctity of the 'burbs to see him at Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday. Very excited, am I. With that in mind, I thought I'd keep the whole week flowing with Sage Francis tracks, focusing on a different album every day. Even if you're not into hip-hop, check him out. He's got a great style and flow that blows most mainstream rappers out of the water.

These tracks all come from Personal Journals. It's my favorite Sage album and it was ridiculously hard to pin down the tracks to just these few. I like these songs so much I'm having a rather hard time even writing something down about them. The way the jazzy beats mix with Sage's lyrics, double entendres and witticisms is rare in a genre that's clouded by crunk, bling and sex.

Sage Francis - "Different"
Sage Francis - "Personal Journalist"
Sage Francis - "Inherited Scars"
Sage Francis - "Broken Wings"

buy Personal Journals at Insound!

5 songs itunes played while I put this post together:
just a bunch of Sage and Non-Prophets tracks