Fujiya & Miyagi — Transparent Things
Published Feb. 20, 2007
Fujiya & Miyagi hide its smirks under very real veils. They're a Japanese duo, right? Nope, try Brighton, England, and there are three of them. "Ankle Injuries" isn't actually about ankle injuries, right? No. Porn magazines. So then "Photocopier" isn't about photocopies? Well, you've got me there. It is in English, though. I think.
But who, what and why Fujiya & Miyagi is doesn't matter in the slightest to what it does. And what it does is excel in krautrock for the 2000s. They make exceedingly danceable music out of anvil-heavy basslines, lockstep drumming, whispered vocals and the occasional disco synth. Its Myspace profile lists Can, Aphex Twin, Wire and Kraftwerk as influences, which are as right as they are wrong, but I'd go with DFA if the "F" stood for fun.
And fun is exactly why Fujiya & Miyagi is worthy of the praise it has received. Although there is better "dance" music around than this, there is little dance music around that sounds like someone with a sense of humor made it. And I'm not one to pine for Tenacious D, or even Electric Six, but dance music nowadays is so tight-assed that Fujiya & Miyagi comes off as the three kids giggling with each other in the assembly when the principal is speaking. The members probably receive glares from those who are important, but the rest of us can only smirk along.
And so opens "Ankle Injuries," the album's highlight, with the bass and drums bouncing off each other like Super Balls and vocalist David Best ominously whispering "Fujiya and Miyagi" ad nauseam. The rhythm section keeps on rumbling, and frankly, that's all that matters. It's a song that, like the band, is as spectacular as it is unassuming.
It's then followed by "Collarbone," another standout. This time it's the backbeat. Built from what sounds like 50 people simultaneously stomping on a floor, it seizes center stage. It's as if someone is repeatedly trying to clap, but your head keeps getting in the way of the hands every time, and its endlessly enjoyable.
From there the fun doesn't stop until you drop. The only weak spots are instrumentals "Conductor 71" and "Cassettesingle," though they don't suffer from a loss of lyrics but literal loss of voices. Much is made of Fujiya & Miyagi's lyrics, but this is a tried-and-true dance album, and the band's breathless vocals are the perfect mime for what these songs aim to do to you.
Fujiya & Miyagi's image is carefully cultivated and coldly calculated, but Transparent Things is as tastefully fun an album as you'll hear in a while. The whole package seems to be thumbing a nose at dance scenes, and on "In One Ear & Out the Other," it calls out those who do the stand still. Either way, when you're dancing to "Ankle Injuries" for the umpteenth time, it won't matter whom the joke is on.