(I swear, this week is not about King Gizzard. Yes, the urge to turn this month into a “Gizztoberfest“ was very real, given that the band is in the process of dropping three new albums in 22 days. But let's give someone else a chance. And, for those interested, Laminated Denim just came out and is available here and here, and it's delicious: two tracks (which Stu Mackenzie calls among his favorite the group has ever done), each exactly 15 minutes long, even more jammy than Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava, and it was designed to play over the PA as setbreak music for the band's occasional “marathon“ shows at which they play two sets and about three hours worth of music with a 15-minute break in the middle. Which, by the way, seriously? Two Gizzard sets? Three hours of music? And a clock counting down from 15 minutes to let concert goers know exactly how much time they have left to take a piss and grab a beer while more music from the band plays throughout the venue? Fuck me. Also, more 2023 tour dates announced, and Europe, they're coming back. Well, I guess this was still kind of about the Gizz – they're inescapable at this point. And now for a fraction of the words on the album I was intending to focus on this week...)

While last week's featured artist shows up here on a regular basis, we've got to go back to 2017 since we checked in on Fujiya & Miyagi.

Apt in name, Slight Variations is an extension of what the Brits have done before, their effortless cool running throughout. This one is a little more chill than that excellent self-titled release five years ago, and a notable improvement in top-to-bottom quality over 2019's Flashback. But, as always, it's a dance-oriented affair, featuring catchy beats supplemented with quintessential Fujiya & Miyagi lyrical quirkiness. Slight Variations indeed.