This poke recipe is full of surprises. For example, it is surprisingly easy to prepare, unexpectedly spicy, and tastes even better that you’d expect. For this reason, even though they are only “pretending to be Japanese,” the British trio Fujiya & Miyagi‘s album Transparent Things works as an excellent pairing for this recipe. Transparent Things is an album of eccentric, upbeat and extremely danceable tracks featuring syncopated rhythms and lead singer David Best’s smooth, rolled vocals.
As previously noted, Fujiya & Miyagi were a three piece when they recorded this album. “Fujiya” is Steve Lewis, who plays keyboards and makes the beats; “Miyagi” is David Best who plays guitars and sings; and “&” is bassist Matt Hainsby. Transparent Things is their third full-length and collects a series of singles and 10″s they’d previously released with a few new cuts prepared for the release. In other words, most of these tracks had been sorta “road-tested” before the album was officially released, which explains why it is such a strong collection of songs. The album opens with the one-two punch of the lively, driving “Ankle Injuries” followed by the extremely catchy album-highlight “Collarbone.” Another standout track is “In One Ear & Out The Other” which also features a simple, rhythmic danceable melody and short, repeated vocals, and stands as an another exemplar of the idea that in both music, as in food, you don’t need to be complicated to be good.
Fujiya & Miyagi – In One Ear & Out The Other
The Hood Internet – The Next Collarbone (Fujiya & Miyagi vs. Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
Head back to eating/sf to read Kasey’s recipe for poke.
Check out this video of Fujiya & Miyagi that I recorded when they opened for Peter, Bjorn & John in 2007 at Bimbo’s 365 in San Francisco:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WWY7CCcrR4&hl=en&fs=1&border=1]
