Last Week’s Jams, Today (9.26 – 9.30)

Hitting our stride last week, or so it seemed. We wrapped up the week streaming tons of records we’d been jamming, plus new stuff out on Friday from Gold Star, Midwestern Medicine, Matching Outfits and more. Personally, I got stuck on that Melby tune, wondering what it would take to make them huge in the US. And, since we got to spin some records, we’ve also got some upbeat numbers sent our way by Fujiya & Miyagi, Certain Times and No Zu. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone, so like us, its all over the place. Happy Monday.

New Music from TOY

toyIt’s time we give some love to our British compatriots, and in this case, we’ll go with tossing some love to Toy. The band is preparing to release Join the Dots on December 10th, and in preparation, they’re unleashing a limited single in the UK.  I think the group’s definitely going to turn some ears, as they’ve created some tunes that remind me of a more exploratory version of Fujiya and Miyagi.  This single has the same propulsive beat to it, though they’re less inclined to to just rely upon the rhythm, filling their negative space with nice walls of noise.  It’s just a short bit of vocals, so hold on while you can.

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The IT Department – v1.1

Going to be a quick one, preparations are in full swing for the annual pilgrimage to Town Lake …erm Lady Bird Lake, to listen to music by bands we already like while standing on the Great Lawn. The IT Department brings an exclusivish track from Fujiya & Miyagi, a new one from Toro Y Moi, mellowness from Geotic and pretty chilly track from The Parish of Little Clifton. The IT Department is back from vacation. Hi.

Update: Ok, adding one more track, new stuff from Jonti.

Welcome to the next edititon, welcome to the IT Department V1.1.

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Fujiya & Miyagi – Ventriloquizzing

Rating: ★½☆☆☆

Fujiya & Miyagi have to be the biggest conundrum in the music world, at least according to my tastes (read: opinion). They make these rhythmically pulsing beats, yet they seem to sort of live on one plane of sound, never really going.  Yet, through the years, people have continuously raved about the group, and now that their latest, Ventriloquizzing, is out, it’s time to take a close look at their work.

This record kicks off as you would expect, “Ventriloquizzing” sort of creating that atmospheric dance vibe fueled by bass work that just grooves and grooves.  But, that’s it, it purely grooves, and doesn’t go much further.  Just because you’re throwing in ambient noises in the background, doesn’t mean the work itself is really going anywhere.  The song, like much of this record, runs in place.

Don’t get me wrong folks, I like a little bit of groove, and I’ve admittedly enjoyed the group when I’ve seen them in the live setting, but it’s hard to really get into the Fujiya & Miyagi recorded material.  For one, when you throw a lyric at me like “you don’t know which side your bread is buttered on” right at me, it’s definitely not going to wow me.  And I know the band has never been one for overly creative lyrical content, but one expects some progression, some step further in the right direction.  It’s becoming increasingly hard to get beyond this point, as they keep throwing things at us like “vanilla, strawberry, knickerbocker glory” from their last effort.

There are some marked improvements that show the band is having a bit of fun with little playful elements like the opening of “Taiwanese Roots.”   But those moments only last for few brief moments, and then you go right back into the same tried and true formulaic approach the band have been utilizing since their inception.  By this point, you would think one would tire of such antics, but the band don’t seem to care.  I have a feeling that it’s all some sort of artistic approach that revolves around a school of thought that, in my mind, remains irrelevant for a reason.  You can give it up to the band, as they are probably tighter than 99.9% of the bands out there, but that’s not going to get me to enjoy their music anymore.

Ventriloquizzing is the fourth LP from the group, and it sounds exactly like all the one’s that came before it.  It’s not necessarily a bad listen, in fact, it’s perfect for the background, most likely at your favorite industrially decorated coffee house.  Still, Fujiya & Miyagi are a band that just tread water when I listen to them.  Lyrically, they never go anywhere, especially with songs like “Minsterone.”  Then, take into account that you could easily put together a best of compilation by this group, remove the lyrics, and everything would sound precisely the same, rendering it one of the worst records of all time.  I guess if you’re looking for a somewhat energetic album to run to while you’re living in an urban environment, then grab this and go.

Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Fujiya & Miyagi have garnered interest all over the world for several years now, and to a certain extent, they’re a band that does deserve some of the accolades that have been thrown to them.  However, they have got to do something to mix it up before they grow entirely stale for music audiences across the globe.

On the opening track of their last album, Transparent Things, they threw “Ankle Injuries” in our face.  It’s throbbing bass line moved your feet, but not too much because, let’s face it, it’s not this band’s style. On Lightbulbs they offer us a very similar tune in “Knickerbocker.”  It’s a clever trick because you immediately think the band will fulfill our fantasies of a danceable album.

Unfortunately for us, we don’t ever get to reap the benefits of their aptitude. The rest of the album comes off extremely mundane, which, in all honesty, is quite along the same lines as their debut release.  Every single beat is enjoyable enough, but not a single one has anything out of the ordinary to offer up, which tends to make the entire album sound seamlessly boring.  For some reason they take the most straightforward approach to writing dance songs, and the more focused they get on this album, the less danceable the songs get.  It’s like we all started dancing together, but everyone got bored and went home with their significant others.

I could speak on the lyrics and their attributes, but it’s extremely hard to find a lot of redeemable qualities about the words across this album.  Each song has little differentiation in the lyrics themselves, and most repeat throughout the album.  It makes everything entirely too redundant, limiting the ability of the song to rise above the music.  For me, it’s hard to even recall a special song because each one ends up sounding like a repeat of its predecessor.

This album is shorter than the previous one, which does make the songs more listenable, if you are into this sort of streamlined dance music.  For all the promise that they have, they rarely come across as a band that has warranted our attention.  Throw out the single, and you would probably find an album that you played once through and then put on your iPod strictly for workout tunes.  It’s an album that easily sinks into the background of your subconscious, where it will likely stay for eternity.