Cibo Matto

All Music Guide:

A Japanese-born duo relocated to New York and christened with an Italian band name, Cibo Matto's music mirrored the melting-pot aesthetics of their origins, resulting in a heady brew of funk samples, hip-hop rhythms, tape loops, and fractured pop melodies all topped off by surreal narratives sung in a combination of French and broken English. Cibo Matto comprised vocalist Miho Hatori and keyboardist/sampler Yuka Honda, a pair of expatriate Japanese women who arrived in the U.S. independently. Honda, a onetime member of Brooklyn Funk Essentials, settled in New York in 1987, and Hatori, an alum of the Tokyo rap unit Kimidori and a former club DJ, followed six years later. After meeting in 1994, they first teamed in the Boredoms-inspired noise outfit Leitoh Lychee (translated as "frozen lychee nut"); after that band's breakup, the duo formed Cibo Matto, Italian for "food madness" (their love of culinary delights quickly becoming the stuff of legend).

The group soon emerged as a sensation among the Lower Manhattan hipster elite, gaining fame for their incendiary live shows backed by guests including the Lounge Lizards' Dougie Bowne (Honda's ex-husband), Bernie Worrell, Masada's Dave Douglas, and Skeleton Key's Rick Lee. After a pair of acclaimed 1995 independent singles, "Birthday Cake" and "Know Your Chicken," Cibo Matto signed to Warner Bros., surfacing in 1996 with the Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake-produced Viva! La Woman, a delirious, stunningly inventive record celebrating love, food, and love of food. After touring with guest bassist Sean Lennon and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer Russell Simins, the EP Super Relax followed in 1997. Lennon, percussionist Duma Love, and drummer Timo Ellis were installed as full-time members for the follow-up, 1999's Stereo Type A. A few years later, the group disbanded, with Hatori collaborating with Smokey Hormel and the Gorillaz, and Honda producing Sean Lennon's Into The Sun; working on her solo albums; and collaborating with the Boredoms' Yoshimi on the album Flower With No Color.

Wikipedia:

Cibo Matto (meaning crazy food in Italian, and pronounced [ˈtʃiːbo ˈmatto]) are a New York City-based band formed by two Japanese women, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, in 1994. Initially, the lyrics in their songs were primarily concerned with food, before expanding into broader subject matter following the addition of Sean Lennon, Timo Ellis and Duma Love to the band, showcased on their second studio album.

While the two founding members of the group are Japanese expatriates, they are not especially popular in Japan; the group did not gain nearly as large a following in Japan as it did in the United States. According to Billboard, their first album Viva! La Woman sold only 20,000 copies in Japan but over 74,000 copies in the U.S. Japanese producers did not understand the appeal of the group.

History [edit]

Viva! La Woman: 1994–1996 [edit]

After working together in the noise rock band Leitoh Lychee, Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda formed Cibo Matto in 1994 with Honda as the instrumentalist and Hatori as the vocalist (although occasionally Honda sang and Hatori contributed instrumentally). In 1995, Cibo Matto released a self titled EP on El Diablo Records. The EP caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records who signed Cibo Matto later in the year. Under Warner Bros. the duo released their first major album, Viva! La Woman. Cibo Matto is an Italian phrase that translates to "Crazy Food" and many of the tracks from Viva! La Woman, produced by Mitchell Froom, featured lyrics related to food, including "Know Your Chicken", "Apple", and "Birthday Cake". Their single, "Sugar Water" was a modest college radio and dance hit. The song was accompanied by an innovative split screen music video directed by Michel Gondry, where each side showed the same footage—one side going forward, and one backwards, meeting mid-song. [1] After the music videos for "Know Your Chicken" and "Sugar Water" enjoyed success on MTV, Cibo Matto made appearances on various television shows such as Oddville, Viva Variety and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "Birthday Cake" was heavily featured in the video game Jet Set Radio Future. in 1996, Cibo Matto contributed "Águas De Março (Waters of March)" to the AIDS benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin produced by the Red Hot Organization.

Stereo ★ Type A: 1997–2001 [edit]

In 1997 Cibo Matto released a new EP entitled Super Relax, which would complete the line-up by introducing new members Sean Lennon and Timo Ellis with Duma Love joining soon thereafter. In 1998 Lennon released his debut solo album Into the Sun, which featured Hatori ("Into the Sun", "Sean's Theme") and Ellis ("Mystery Juice", "Home", "Spaceship"). Into the Sun was produced and inspired by Honda (whom Lennon was dating at the time). In the music video for Lennon's single "Home" Honda, Hatori, Ellis and Love appeared in the closing scene. Cibo Matto went on to release their second (and final) album Stereo ★ Type A in 1999. Although it was a departure from the much loved sound of Viva! La Woman, Stereo ★ Type A was well received by fans and the music critics alike.

Disbandment [edit]

The group continued to play live and tour until disbanding in 2001. In an interview Honda stated,

All of the members of Cibo Matto have gone on to release solo material and have on occasion collaborated with each other.

Reunion 2011-Present [edit]

Cibo Matto announced their reunion on March 18, 2011 to perform as part of a benefit concert for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The concert, which took place on March 27 at Columbia University in New York City, also included Yoko Ono, John Zorn, Sonic Youth and Mike Patton. Following the success of this show, a second was added, this time featuring the Plastic Ono Band and Patti Smith along with Cibo Matto. [1]

The group appeared at the Hollywood Bowl on June 26, 2011 for another benefit, alongside Yellow Magic Orchestra. [2]

On May 16, 2011, Cibo Matto announced their US reunion tour titled "Yeah Basically Cibo Matto" with a tour website [3] and promotional video [4]. During the concerts, the band reportedly spoke about a new studio album being released in 2012.

The current live lineup adds Yuko Araki on drums.

On July 17, 2012, the band announced they would be opening for Wilco at one of their shows.

Band Members [edit]

Timeline [edit]

Grand Royal involvement [edit]

Although Cibo Matto was represented by Warner Bros. Records, they were also considered to be a major part of the Grand Royal Records family.

Works featuring Cibo Matto music [edit]