Cibo Matto

Centered around two female Japanese musicians, Cibo Matto grew out of New York's cultural and musical melting pot in the mid-'90s. Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda met in the East Village in 1994. Hatori had just moved there from Japan (where she was in a group called Kimidori) the previous year, but Honda had been there since 1987, playing with such local luminaries as the Brooklyn Funk Essentials and John Zorn. The two women started working together in the noise combo Laitoh Lychee ("frozen lychee") before switching to Cibo Matto ("food crazy" in Italian). Honda programmed and triggered a small sampler; Hatori wrote lyrics in fractured English and sang. Cibo Matto regularly played New York clubs and in 1995 released a vinyl single, “Birthday Cake” b/w “Know Your Chicken,” the first in a series of songs centered around food that made up the bulk of 1996’s Viva! La Woman. Produced by Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake (Suzanne Vega), the critically acclaimed album was an offbeat, giddy mix of sampled beats, Ennio Morricone–influenced atmospheres, funk, and pop, with songs covering the entire culinary palette from “Artichoke” and “Beef Jerky” to “White Pepper Ice Cream.”

The group did not rest on its laurels and started filling out its sound on the 1997 EP Super Relax, which included a cover of Antonio CarlosJobim’s “Águas de Março.” That evolution continued on Stereotype A (#171, 1999). Honda handled the producing duties, while frequent collaborators such as her then-boyfriend Sean Lennon (on bass and guitar) and drummer Timo Ellis became permanent members. The group’s sound expanded as well, jumping from hip-hop to hard rock, from bossa nova to funk. When performing live, the band’s lineup would often swell with rotating guests like guitarist Marc Ribot or bassist Sebastian Steinberg (formerly of Soul Coughing).

Honda and Hatori have made guest appearances on records by Arto Lindsay and Yoko Ono, and they play with graphic designer Mike Mills, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Russell Simins, and Skeleton Key’s Rick Lee, the latter two occasional Cibo Matto collaborators in the band Butter 08, which released the more rockist Butter in 1996.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)