Cibo Matto
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| Cibo Matto | ||
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 Left to Right: Duma Love, Miho Hatori, Timo Ellis, Yuka Honda, Sean Lennon
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  New York City, USA |
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| Genre(s) | Acid Jazz Indie Rock Shibuya-kei Samba Trip Hop |
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| Years active | 1994 - 2001 | |
| Label(s) | Warner Brothers | |
| Website | Official website | |
| Former members | ||
| Yuka Honda (1994 - 2001) Miho Hatori (1994 - 2001) Sean Lennon (1997 - 2001) Timo Ellis (1997 - 2001) |
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Cibo Matto (often pronounced "chee-bo mott-o") was a New York City-based band formed by Yuka Honda & Miho Hatori in 1994.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Viva! La Woman : 1994 - 1996
After working together in the noise rock band Leitoh Lychee, Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda formed "Cibo Matto" in 1994. Yuka as the instrumentalist and Miho as the vocalist (although occasionally Yuka would sing and Miho would contribute musically). In 1995, Cibo Matto released a self titled EP on a Japanese recording label known as "Error Records". The EP caught the attention of Warner Brothers Records who signed Cibo later in the year. Under Warner Brothers Yuka & Miho released their first major album, Viva! La Woman. Cibo Matto is an Italian phrase that translates to "Crazy Food" (or "Food Madness") and many of the tracks from Viva! La Woman, 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] This unique presentation would be used in several subsequent videos, including "Closing Time (3 AM)" by the band Semisonic. After the music videos for "Know Your Chicken" and "Sugar Water" enjoyed success on MTV, Cibo Matto appeared on various TV Shows such as Oddville and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
[edit] Stereo Type A : 1997 - 2001
In 1997 Cibo Matto released a new EP entitled Super Relax, which would complete the line-up by introducing new members Sean Lennon & Timo Ellis. Touring followed with help from Duma Love, who although never listed as an official member of Cibo Matto often contributed percussion and vocals to the band. In 1998 Sean released his debut solo album Into the Sun, which featured Miho ("Into The Sun", "Sean's Theme") and Timo ("Mystery Juice", "Home", "Spaceship"). Into the Sun was produced and inspired by Yuka (who Sean was dating at the time). In the music video for Sean's single "Home" Yuka, Miho, Timo and Duma Love appeared in the closing scene. As a foursome 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 Viva! La Woman, Stereo Type A was well received by fans and the music press. The group continued to play live and tour until disbanding in 2001. In an interview Yuka stated, "Cibo Matto broke up, because it was time. We felt the need to move to the next step. It was a healthy decision, though it was sad at the same time. Things just need to grow out of things sometimes."
[edit] Band Info
- Yuka Honda
Sampler & Sequencer, Keyboard, Piano, Organ, Synth, Harpsichord, Backing Vocals - Miho Hatori
Lead Vocals, Percussion, Acoustic Guitar - Sean Lennon
Bass Guitar, (Electric, 12-String and Acoustic) Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Synth, Backing Vocals - Timo Ellis
Drums, Percussion, Bass Guitar, (Electric and Acoustic) Guitar, Backing Vocals
[edit] Grand Royal Involvement
Although Cibo Matto was represented by Warner Brothers Records, they where also considered to be a major part of the Grand Royal Records family.
- Under Grand Royal, Yuka & Miho formed side-project band Butter 08 (1996) with Russell Simins, Rick Lee and Mike Mills.
- Miho collaborated with the Beastie Boys (who founded Grand Royal) on their album 1997 album, Hello Nasty.
- Sean released his debut album, Into the Sun (1998) on Grand Royal (which featured Yuka, Miho and Timo).
- Yumiko Ohno of Buffalo Daughter (a former Grand Royal band) contributed moog synthesizer and backing vocals to Stereo Type A (1999).
- In 2000, Grand Royal released a compilation album entitled "At Home with the Groove Box" in which Sean contributed the song "Winged Elephants" while Yuka & Miho contributed the song "We Love Our Lawyers". The compilation also featured artists such as Beck and Sonic Youth.
[edit] Solo Activity
- Yuka Honda - Yuka has released two solo albums. Memories Are My Only Witness (2002) & Eucademix (2004). She has also collaborated with artists such as Buffalo Daughter and Yoshimi P-We. Yuka continues to collaborate with Sean.
- Miho Hatori - In the years following Cibo Matto's departure from music, Miho joined Smokey Hormel to form Smokey & Miho. In 2001, she became the singing voice of Noodle for the Gorillaz on their debut album and their following EP, G-Sides. In 2005 she released her first solo album, Ecdysis.
- Sean Lennon - After the release of his solo debut Into the Sun (1998) and Cibo Matto's final album Stereo Type A (1999) Sean remained mostly quiet (aside from a few collaborations and minor media attention). Until 2006, when he released his first solo album in eight years, entitled Friendly Fire.
- Timo Ellis - In 2001 Timo released his first solo album entitled The Enchanted Forest of Timo Ellis. In the last eight years he has collaborated with many artists and bands such as Aya, Bonnie Pink and Jamiroquai.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Viva! La Woman (1996)
- Stereo Type A (1999)
[edit] EPs
- Cibo Matto (1995)
- Super Relax (1997)
[edit] Singles
- Know Your Chicken (1996)
- Sugar Water (1996)
- Working For Vacation (1999)
- Moonchild (1999)
[edit] Videos
- "Know Your Chicken" (1996)
- "Sugar Water" (1996)
