BUZZ BANDS

The voice of a different experience

Brother Ali doesn’t believe his rising prominence in the hip-hop world represents a victory for the underground over the mainstream.

“A lot of people don’t feel represented by what’s in the mainstream because they feel the mainstream is terrible and it’s holding them back,” the Minneapolis rapper says. “I don’t necessarily feel that way. But maybe people do want voices that are a little closer to where they’re coming from.”

It’s called Everyman appeal, and Brother Ali exudes plenty of it. An albino Muslim who overcame a hardscrabble upbringing, Ali mines his personal experiences on “The Undisputed Truth,” his second album for Rhymesayers Entertainment. The breakup of his marriage, being homeless, life as a single dad, his working-class frustration with the government -- all are fodder for his deft flow and wordplay, which got a warm reception during an afternoon set three weeks ago at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

It’s a deeper -- and, thanks to the soulful backdrop by producer Ant (Atmosphere), more tuneful -- excursion into a world Ali first shared with listeners in the song “Forest Whitiker,” off 2003’s “Shadows on the Sun.” “I listed a lot of personal stuff, a lot of details, but that’s the song people respect,” Ali says. “It shows you don’t have to have the exact same experience as somebody to relate to what they’re doing.”

His current tour, with DJ BK One, host Toki Wright and Chicago rapper Psalm One, visits the Troubadour on Wednesday.

Trio uses brains and computers

There’s more than a little subterfuge about Fujiya & Miyagi, whose name suggests a Japanese duo and whose electronica implies nerds with laptops. They are a trio from Brighton, England (named, arbitrarily, for a record player and the character from “The Karate Kid”), and, yes, laptops were involved in the making of “Transparent Things,” even though to see them you’d hardly notice.

“Getting the live act together took some time,” singer-guitarist David Best says of his work with bandmates Matt Hainsby and Steve Lewis. “We didn’t want to stand behind laptops and look scared.”

Instead, they dispense their electro with a detached cool that is almost hypnotic. The music, a wry and funky take on krautrock that is derived from the likes of Kraftwerk, Can and Air, tickles your dance instincts as well as your brain -- Best waxes witty on topics such as shoes, office machines and body parts. So far, it has resounded more with American audiences than in Fujiya & Miyagi’s native land.

(What’s up with the English? “How much time do you have?” Best wisecracks.)

Wherever the trio finds an audience, the appeal is not unlike the current wave of dance acts who pack their beats with lyrical smarts.

“In the ‘90s there was such a big club thing with DJs and their laptops, and on the other side there was what was considered serious music coming out of indie bands,” Best says. “Now I think we’re seeing a combination of things -- people making music of substance you can dance to.”

Fujiya & Miyagi perform tonight at the Echo.

Fast forward

* Touts: The web radio station and DJ collective Dublab throws its annual Community Record Fair starting at 2 p.m. Sunday. Some 20 independent record labels, as well as visual artists, clothing designers and booksellers, will be hawking their wares at the Echoplex.... Behind their latest sublimely beautiful indie-pop release, “Everybody,” the Sea and Cake start a two-night stand at the Troubadour on Saturday.... Albert Hammond Jr. visits the House of Blues on Monday.... Whitestarr headlines the VH1 Rock Honors party tonight at the Roxy.... Some strong shows featuring local bands too: Ozma plays the Troubadour tonight; the Autumns and the Sugarplastic continue their string of Friday nights at Spaceland; Eskimohunter and Mezzanine Owls join LoveLikeFire’s residency Friday at El Cid; Castledoor and the Monolators play Tuesday at the Echo; and Low Stars continue a Tuesday residency at the Hotel Cafe.

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Recommended downloads

Download Brother Ali’s “Truth Is” at www.rhymesayers.com/assets/audio/truthis_clean.mp3.

* Watch the video for Fujiya & Miyagi’s “Ankle Injuries” at deafdumbandblind.imeem.com/video/Vk4B_6sv/fujiya_miyagi_ankle_injurie s.