Music Preview & Giveaway: Fujiya and Miyagi Bring The Groove to Club DeVille

Brighton, England's Fujiya & Miyagi were one of the darlings of SXSW 2007. Whether playing to a packed house at the Pitchfork Media party or drawing a sizable crowd at their own showcase, the band cut through the clutter of 1,300 acts to draw raves from bloggers and critics. With their cool Asian name (inspired by a vintage record player and, well, Pat Morita), rhythm-section based tunes, and subtle electronics, the band really sounds like nothing else in indie rock these days.

F&M claim to be heavily influenced by groups like Kraftwerk and Can, and one can see small doses of this. But we'd argue a bigger debt is owed to the bass-heavy dance pop of The Stone Roses on the poppier numbers, and to the stylings of Stereolab on the more arty ones. Regardless of influence, one thing is certain: the trio will cause a dance party to break out at Club DeVille this evening. Fujiya and Miyagi will be showcasing songs from their breakout 2006 release Transparent Things, which merited an 8.3 from Pitchfork and near-universal praise elsewhere. A final note of interest is that while the group have been getting lots of attention lately, they've actually been playing together for eight years. This gives one confidence that unlike many of the blog-hyped bands of late, F&M will prove to be a polished and accomplished live act.

Tonight's show at Club DeVille also features support from the Brooklyn duo Project Jenny, Project Jan, who have an silly electronics meets Gonzales-style vocal thing going on. It seems like appropriate warm-up music for the evening.

[Fujiya and Miyagi MySpace]
[Fujiya and Miyagi Official Site]

Fujiya and Miyagi
Tuesday, October 16th
Club DeVille [map]
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm
$10 [tickets]

Image via sndrspk on Flickr.