MUSIC: Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things Album Review (2006)

Okay, I know this is another oldie, but its a goodie. In case you missed these guys the first time round, here's another look at their exceptional second LP. Think Hot Chip mixed with LCD Sound System...

Click below for the full review


Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
Tirk/Word & Sound
4 stars

"We were just pretending to be Japanese," admit this strangely named trio, but Fujiya & Miyagi have managed to pull off another album worthy of adding to the already respectable sized collection of Krautrock-electro albums -and in doing so, push us that much closer to finding a new genre to fuck with. Best described as part Germanic-rock (Kraftwerk / Can / Neu!), part Talking Heads, part 90’s electronica (Aphex Twin / Four Tet / Air), Transparent Things collects all of the tracks from Fujiya & Miyagi's first 3 EPs, along with an exclusive new track, Cylinders.

Combined with eclectic lyrics like: I’ve got a slow, a slow, a slow, metabolism, F & M have gathered a legion of admirers, among whom may be counted DFA, Tiga and Hot Chip. Ankle Injuries turns stumbling across a discarded porn magazine on the way to school into some kind of epiphany, while Collarbone reminisces about wanting to pick up a girl but needing a new pair of shoes first. Fujiya & Miyagi's low profile is unexplainable -herein lie the best Japanese-devotee-krautrockers from the UK -they're up there with Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem and Tiga and if you liked the Hot Chip album, you'll love this.

Best bit: Got to get a new pair of shoes / to kick it with her / not kick it with you