UK electronic outfit Fujiya & Miyagi hit La Vitrola this weekend

Fujiya and Miyagi are fans of the throwback. Formed in Brighton at the turn of the millennium, and singed to UK label Full Time Hobby (and Yep Roc in North America) these four (yes, four) men have been around for quite some time, with five studio albums under their synths.

Their legacy draws from an oeuvre extending beyond their own music. F&M pull influences from 1970’s Germany and modern Japan. Steve Lewis (Fujiya), Matt Hainsby (&), David Best (Miyagi) and Lee Adams mimic the methodology of German experimentalist rock groups like Can and Neu! Their Japanese moniker was borrowed from the film The Karate Kid and a brand of Japanese record player. As British men operating under a Japanese sobriquet, their appropriation of multiculturalism is also mimetic of Can’s worldly ethos.

Fujiya & Miyagi take collective, spontaneous compositions, and turn them into controlled, linear tracks. Unlike the Deutsche Elektronische Musik movement, F&M confine their sound within the widely accessible genre of dance-pop. Aside from the Teutonic aspects of the band, F&M’s shiny finished product encapsulates a metropolitan sound – smoothly machined, well oiled, and infinitely reproducible. Their lyrics add an element of cheerful flirtation, with Best often dramatically whispering his vocals, lulling his audience into F&M’s minimalist universe.

Fujiya & Miyagi play La Vitrola (4602 Saint-Laurent) Sunday, August 31st with Zorch. Tickets are $16.50 in advance (available here) and $18 at the door. 8:00pm.