Fujiya & Miyagi - Fujiya & Miyagi '2017

Tracks list

Fujiya & Miyagi is the self-titled sixth LP from the band still led by founders
and Krautrock/post-punk aficionados David Best and Steve Lewis. In a slow
reveal, the albums tracks were released piecemeal as three EPs (titled EP1, EP2,
and EP3), with the first two arriving in the spring and fall of 2016 and the
final installment sharing its release day with the full, completely resequenced
album. Best and Lewis are joined on the full set by the rhythm section of Ben
Adamo and Ed Chivers, marking their debut as members of the group. They stick
with the outfits recognizable sound and affinity for wordplay here while seeming
to move a bit later into the club rotation with a pulsing, insistent energy that
makes the whole album more infectious. Best has explained that they were trying
to capture the flow of their live shows on the album, and they do seem
reinvigorated, not that they ever seemed to be waning. Written and recorded
before certain political elections that took place before its release, Fujiya &
Miyagi is uninformed by related anxieties (upon completion, the world went a bit
mental), instead offering deadpan wryness and dance-insistent grooves that, in
context, have an unintended escapist overtone. Featuring songs like Serotonin
Rushes (I cant get you out of my system/I cant get it out of my system) and
Outstripping (The Speed of Light) (Does your day bleed into your night?), the
album concerns itself with targets of affection, moving feet, and occasional
ennui. Thoughts are delivered by Bests conversational half-whisper over a synth
and guitar palette reminiscent of Brotherhood-era New Order and just as
engaging, but with a twist of contemporary effects, as well as a dash of disco,
Kraftwerk, and more. A dance tune with a spoken chorus of Youll get a repetitive
strain injury, album closer R.S.I. sums up the albums spirit, rhyming slip,
slop, and prop over a skittering snare, funky guitar, and melodic bassline. With
a full set that rivals their best songs to date without significant reinvention,
its a must for fans and great place to start for the uninitiated.

Tracks:
1.01 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Magnesium Flares (1:50)
1.02 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Serotonin Rushes (4:17)
1.03 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Solitaire (3:48)
1.04 - Fujiya & Miyagi - To The Last Beat Of My Heart (3:48)
1.05 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Extended Dance Mix (5:51)
1.06 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Outstripping (The Speed Of Light) (2:49)
1.07 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Swoon (3:25)
1.08 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Freudian Slips (4:30)
1.09 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Impossible Objects Of Desire (7:32)
1.10 - Fujiya & Miyagi - Synthetic Symphonies (4:50)
1.11 - Fujiya & Miyagi - R.S.I. (5:17)

Related artists