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Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things [Deaf Dumb & Blind]

| Shrie Bradford

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Rating: 8.2

So now, for the question of the day: (All of you indie rock stalwarts will already have heard this story. Bear with me.) What do old record players and the infamous Karate Kid have in common? You guessed it, (or didn’t): the fab new kraut-electro-straight-outta-1971 (hello Can and Neu!) threesome of David Best, Steve Lewis and Matt Hainsby – Fujiya & Miyagi. Best and company melded Fujiya, the name of a record player, and Miyagi, the all-knowing sage of Karate Kid fame, into a name for themselves and separated the two with an ampersand. Matt Hainsby got the luck of the draw and is cleverly known as “&”. Their new album, Transparent Things, is anything but transparent. And they aren’t Japanese. They’re British.

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mp3 of the Day – Lavender Diamond

| USOUNDS

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Matador recently signed Lavender Diamond for North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Chad.  Here’s the word on the street straight from Matador: “Primarily a vehicle for the astonishing vocals and buoyant worldview of Becky Stark, the Los Angeles-based Lavender Diamond’s take on the dying art of the perfect pop song is as elemental as it is ambitious – though their forthcoming Matador full-length, Imagine Our Love (due May 8th) is more of the latter.”

Well, imagine the EP, The Calvary of Light, coming out tomorrow.  Here’s a track now!

You Broke My Heart mp3

mp3 of the Day – Of Montreal

| USOUNDS

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Of Montreal’s 8th full legnth album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? was released on Tuesday.

Here’s what Polyvinyl has to say about the album, “It’s an irresistible and remarkable album, sounding like a logical extension of the erratic indie-disco sounds of The Sunlandic Twins. However, Hissing Fauna is also the most personal of Montreal album to date, with Kevin Barnes, lead of Montreal songwriter, pouring tremendous amounts of emotion, heartbreak, frustration and elation into its twelve tracks.”

Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse mp3
Stream Album:  Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

 

The Black Lips – Live in Seattle

| Michael Gilbert

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Crocodile Cafe
Seattle, WA
January 19th, 2007

I am relatively certain that the black lips will one day be famous, snorting conspicuous quantities of cocaine off some ecstatic groupie’s ass while everyone from Ira Glass to Lou Barlow congratulate them on their stunning performance at the most recent Grammy awards show. I say this not necessarily because it will happen, or even that the Black Lips think it will happen, but when you have a man who can repeatedly spit four feet in the air and without fail, catch it back in his mouth – well, there’s something about that action that makes me feel like my entire body is suspended in a pool of grandma’s warm oatmeal. I just feel safe despite my fear, and raisins, and my fear of raisins. But grandma was awesome.

Not A Problem mp3
The Black Lips on MySpace

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mp3 of the Day – Rock Plaza Central

| USOUNDS

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Toronto Indie-Folkers Rock Plaza Central just signed to Yep Roc Records, and will release Are We Not Horses April 17th. Here’s a conversation we recently overhead:

Guy A:  Could these guys rip off Neutral Milk Hotel a littler harder? I mean, it may be physically impossible, but maybe they could try. Fuck, Jeff Magnum should sue these nerds.

Guy B:  Really? I’ve never heard of them.

Guy A:  Listen to Neutral Milk Hotel when you least feel like it, and you’ve heard them.

Check it for yourself:
My Children Be Joyful mp3
When we go, how we go, part II mp3