Fujiya & Miyagi tell us about their Top 10 of 2017, announce North American tour
Fujiya & Miyagi, who recently reissued their acclaimed Transparent Things on vinyl for the first time, will be on road in 2018 for a short spring North American tour. Dates include a stop at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere on March 31. Tickets for that will be on sale soon. They’ll also play Philadelphia, DC, Chicago, Seattle, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles, and have dates in Asia this week. All dates are listed below.
Since it’s that time of year, we asked F&M main man David Best about his favorite records of the year. His list include Baxter Dury, Nadia Reid, Mount Eerie (all of which made the BrooklynVegan Top 50 list too), Annie Hart, John Maus, Ian Svenonius, and more. Check out his Top 10, complete with commentary, below.
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FUJIYA & MIYAGI – TOP LPS OF 2017
John Maus – Screen Memories
It’s been a long wait since his last album but it was worth it. Touchdown also has arguably my favourite promotional video since ‘once in a lifetime’. The world is better with John Maus releasing records.
Baxter Dury – Prince of Tears
I’ve been quite late listening to him. Hearing this record sent me back to discover his previous albums which I’ve really enjoyed. I hear Serge Gainsbourg as much as I hear his Dad in his new record, but mostly I just hear him.
Colleen – a flame my love, a frequency
I’ve only just started listening to this record but really love it. It inhabits its own world and feels unique to the person who made it.
Annie Hart – Impossible Accomplice
The combination of stellar songs with stellar synths and live bass is always going to be a winning formula in my eyes.
Snapped Ankles – Come Play The Trees
This record sounds really fresh and exciting. They claim to live in the woods and sound like a motorik suicide on ecstasy.
Golden Teacher – No Luscious Life
I’ve enjoyed their previously released stuff so was pleased to hear the album live up to it. I like hybrid records where there are many disparate ideas and influences mixed together to create something new.
Nadia Reid – Preservation
I saw her play recently in Brighton and thought she was wonderful. I like the fact she has tea towels on her merch stall.
Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me
I can not comprehend the situation that informed this album, especially from a parents point of view. It is a brutally honest and astonishing record.
Terekke – Plant Age
This has an aquatic quality which I always enjoy in music. L.I.E.S. is a label which manages to have its own identity despite all the artists on it being pretty varied.
Ian Svenonius – Escape-ism
The Make-Up were, alongside My Bloody Valentine & Prince, the best live group I have seen. I have taken an interest in everything he has subsequently been involved with. Conceptually as well as musically this record is a winner.
The record I’ve listened to most this year is Tony Visconti’s new mix of David Bowie‘s Lodger. I’ve listened to the original version hundreds of times but with the new mix it feels like hearing it again for the first time. It opens it up and lessens the claustrophobic feel of the original. Other favourite reissues or compilations this year include Funkadelic reworked by Detroiters, Alice Coltrane on Luaka bop, Pauline Anna Strom’s Trans-Millenia Music, Lal & Mike Waterson’s Bright Phoebus and Noir Et Blanc by Zazou/Biyake/CY1.
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FUJIYA & MIYAGI – 2017/2018 TOUR DATES
Fri 29th Dec 2017 Shanghai – China – Bandai Namco Future House
Sat 30th Dec 2017 Hangzhou – China – MAO livehouse
Wed 3rd Jan 2018 Taipei – Taiwan – The Wall
Fri 5th Jan 2018 Istanbul – Turkey – Zorlu
Fri 30th Mar Philadelphia PA Johnny Brenda’s
Sat 31st Mar New York NY Elsewhere
Sun 1st April Washington DC U Street Music Hall
Tue 3rd April Chicago IL Lincoln Music Hall
Wed 4th Apr Seattle WA Chop Suey
Thu 5th Apr Oakland CA New Parish
Fri 6th Apr Los Angeles CA Union (Jewels)
