Fujiya and Miyagi

Transparent Things | Deaf Dumb + Blind

By SUSANNA BOLLE | July 2, 2007

3.0 Stars

With Fujiya & Miyagi, things are not always as they seem. For starters, they’re neither Japanese nor a duo — they’re a trio from Brighton, England who take their name from a Japanese hi-fi manufacturer and the Pat Morita character from The Karate Kid. Their influences, however, are fully transparent: they wear their love of the chugging rhythms of krautrock, the angular funk of post-punk, and the sweet sounds of early-’90s electronica like musical badges of honor. Their second full-length finds them in fine form, combining half-whispered, slyly humorous lyrics and infectious grooves. “Ankle Injuries,” a sweetly dreamy reminiscence of an eight-year-old stumbling onto an eye-opening porn magazine, and the jittery, Talking Heads–inspired “Photocopier,” a stream-of-consciousness tale of daydreaming at work, could be too clever by half if singer David Best didn’t manage to sound at once cunning and sincere. There are only a few minor lulls (among them the snoozy US bonus track, “Reeboks in Heaven”) on this danceable disc.

Fujiya & Miyagi + Project Jenny, Project Jan | Middle East downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | July 9 | 617.864.EAST

Topics: CD Reviews , Fujiya & Miyagi, Fujiya & Miyagi, David Best, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY SUSANNA BOLLE

ASSAULT AND BATTERIES | February 20, 2009
After a brief stint in Pittsburgh, guitarist and electronic musician GEOFF MULLEN is back in his native Rhode Island, and the New England music scene is so much the better for it.

SO MUCH IN STORE | February 10, 2009
Australia's the NECKS are the sort of band who thwart classification.

A COMPROVISATIONAL WHAT? | February 02, 2009
Local saxophonist and electronic-musician JORRIT DIJKSTRA combines a variety of styles ranging from jazz to electro-acoustic improv and noise to create his own emotive and often idiosyncratic music.

WINTRY MIX | January 26, 2009
There are so many interesting and unusual musical happenings this week, it's almost more than this little column can bear.

RARE FREQUENCIES: CALLITHUMPIAN CONSORT, THURSTON MOORE AND BILL NACE | January 20, 2009
Although composer JOHN CAGE is best known for 4'33" of silence, he could raise a ruckus when the mood struck.