"They're doing for 70s krautrock and motorik what the DFA did for early 80s electro. Indeed, without even being asked, they've gone and done the unthinkable: They've actually made krautrock fun."- Pitchfork Media. Deaf Dumb & Blind Recordings has signed their very first artist, Fujiya & Miyagi and lucky for us, are releasing their highly acclaimed album Transparent Things in the US on January 23rd. International press and DJs alike have been going nuts for these three boys from Brighton (not a Japanese duo as their name suggests)! Erol Alkan, James Murphy and Optimo are among the celebrated artists/DJs to proclaim their love for the electronic maestros. The album is named for Vladimir Nabokov's novel Transparent Things and is a masterpiece of smooth melodic chorus', idiosyncratic lyrics, disco punk tracks; a clever and charismatic record for 2007.
Fujiya & Miyagi are David Best, Steve Lewis, and Matt Hainsby. The trio met while warming the subs bench during Sunday League football and discovered a mutual hero-worship of world heavy weight wrestler Kendo Nagasaki (from Wolverhampton , and like the boys from F&M, not a Japanese cell in his muscle-bound body), seventies krautrock and early-nineties electronica.
As for Fujiya, it's the name of a record player, and Miyagi, just like you thought, the wise martial arts master in the The Karate Kid.
Following the sell out success of their first three UK 10" vinyl singles (In One Ear & Out The Other/Conductor 71, Collarbone/Cassettesingle, Ankle Injuries/Photocopier), Transparent Things compiles those six tracks, available for the first time on CD, with three previous unreleased scorchers: Sucker Punch, Transparent Things and Cylinders.
David Best is one of the wittiest lyricists in the game. Ankle Injuries is about walking to school as a kid and finding a porno mag in the middle of the road", while Sucker Punch, as you might imagine, is about being sucker punched. By a girl. Musically, songs like Photocopier stand out, a smashing composition of hip-hop, funk and electro, while Cassettesingle is krautrock rooted in rhythmic rock guitar and bass.
Fujiya & Miyagi borrow from some of the best: Can (They supported Damo Suzuki three times in 2006), Kraftwerk and Air, and even Talking Heads. Track 10 is the US exclusive Reeboks in Heaven, which is named for David's grandfather, professor of aerodynamics, golfer, and lover of his trainers.
Look out for the US single, Ankle Injuries, available for purchase on iTunes from November 7th for a sneak peak into what the UK has been well aware of for some time. Fujiya & Miyagi are about to make some major waves on our shores.
More like this story
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
