Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs

I was thwarted in my initial attempts to listen to Fujiya & Miyagi's (F&M) Lightbulbs. Their previous album, 2006's Transparent Things, was something of a sleeper hit with me and also, initially at least, avoided my cunning aural attempts. That was an album that fused a whole host of influences into something funky and completely out of tune with what else was coming out of their home town of Brighton. But anyway, back to Lightbulbs. It seems as though in this age of internet leaks and the like, labels are starting to make it difficult for reviewers to actually LISTEN to the music. Put the promo into your computer to rip it for your mp3 player of choice and it crashes. Nice. Stick it in my car to listen to, the stereo goes a bit funny and tells me I'm listening to a CD-ROM. Double nice. So, finally, I've had to set time to listen to it on my stereo at home. And now, after a number of afternoons and evenings with a variety of refreshments, I can write something about it...

Not much has changed since 2006 in the world of F&M. Their Krautrock and electronica inspired music is still here, perhaps with the guitars toned down a touch. David Best seems to be a little happier with his vocals as well, his half-singing / half-spoken lyrics touching all bases from ice-cream to chess. It's in these lyrics where the real hidden gems are to be found. Taking in a huge variety of cultural references, it's like watching an episode of Spaced, spotting all the little nods and winks in each song. From the semi-rap of album opener 'Knickerbocker' with the chants of ice-cream flavours and Hans Christian Andersen to the BBQ drawl of 'Goosebumps' with the very British summertime line of "Stella Artois mixed with beef burgers".

Even though their musical direction hasn't changed that much, there's still some great moments that lift this out of carbon copy territory. The drum beat and underlying rhythm of 'Pterodactyl' smacks of Amerie's 'One Thing', whilst the clipped keyboards of 'Pickpocket' sounds like the Knight Rider theme tune. And there's plenty more, these two just jump out everytime I listen to it.

So, what we have here is a very European influenced British album that sounds like the previous one, but actually sounds different. Right... In the end though, I think it's this conundrum of sound and influences that makes Fujiya & Miyagi such an intriguing and enjoyable listen; you never quite know what you're going to get.
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