Cibo Matto

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 <a href="spotify:artist:21StrITbN3uLjv5OdsLAja">Miho Hatori</a> and keyboardist/sampler Yuka Honda, a pair of expatriate Japanese women who arrived in the U.S. independently. Honda, a onetime member of <a href="spotify:artist:4r4tRC1EUpfUCLjwQXP5EA">Brooklyn Funk Essentials</a>, settled in New York in 1987, and <a href="spotify:artist:21StrITbN3uLjv5OdsLAja">Hatori</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:artist:4pxlntE89zyfL0txVloogM">Boredoms</a>-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 <a href="spotify:artist:4q1q53aTfhk0k63Ob9zdhH">the Lounge Lizards</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:4tNDfdHrSlFe9Ljxwgg1BE">Dougie Bowne</a> (Honda's ex-husband), <a href="spotify:artist:3vB7T6czx1Jh89YEnzM0UF">Bernie Worrell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:119vFqB5OFMzhEGtH7gRU7">Masada</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:3SQrLX0O6RbBjmSIkwCgJb">Dave Douglas</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5KEmcTMN7sZZl1VS2nARVU">Skeleton Key</a>'s Rick Lee. After a pair of acclaimed 1995 independent singles, "Birthday Cake" and "Know Your Chicken," Cibo Matto signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.%22">Warner Bros.</a>, surfacing in 1996 with the <a href="spotify:artist:6nEsI2S68MX6T0dVdLtido">Mitchell Froom</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:0CL5kQ3kBjgge3GQtIJAyp">Tchad Blake</a>-produced Viva! La Woman, a delirious, stunningly inventive record celebrating love, food, and love of food. After touring with guest bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5JUYSPkis2Mk6HUbmMqk1m">Sean Lennon</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2NOhotupwYbKRNJF7LMDPG">Jon Spencer Blues Explosion</a> drummer <a href="spotify:artist:7eNC6QDjA4nOJ20flMhsM6">Russell Simins</a>, the EP Super Relax followed in 1997. <a href="spotify:artist:5JUYSPkis2Mk6HUbmMqk1m">Lennon</a>, percussionist Duma Love, and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6kTgACrg1e0UlRwUL11TfI">Timo Ellis</a> were installed as full-time members for the follow-up, 1999's Stereo Type A. A few years later, the group disbanded, with <a href="spotify:artist:21StrITbN3uLjv5OdsLAja">Hatori</a> going on to collaborate with Smokey Hormel and <a href="spotify:artist:3AA28KZvwAUcZuOKwyblJQ">Gorillaz</a>, while Honda produced <a href="spotify:artist:5JUYSPkis2Mk6HUbmMqk1m">Sean Lennon</a>'s Into the Sun and collaborated with the <a href="spotify:artist:4pxlntE89zyfL0txVloogM">Boredoms</a>' Yoshimi on the album Flower with No Color.

Also during this hiatus, between 2002 and 2011 Honda notched up four solo albums; while in late 2009 she joined a revamped lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:4m2kfAHEnK7Z7qLGxeWtro">Plastic Ono Band</a> before going onto produce <a href="spotify:artist:67pQ8Yr09zDDzzwWw3EG9R">Martha Wainwright</a>'s 2012 release Come Home to Mama. In 2011, Honda and <a href="spotify:artist:21StrITbN3uLjv5OdsLAja">Hatori</a> began to write material together once again, and after a few delays, Hotel Valentine -- Cibo Matto's first album in 15 years -- was appropriately released during Valentine's week in 2014. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi