Cibo Matto

Cibo Matto was a New York City-based band formed by Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda in 1994. Despite being based in the US rather than Japan, they have strong links with the shibuya-kei scene in their use of sampling and mixture of trip-hop and rock, but stand out amongst other such artist for their particularly strong use of Latin and South American music. Cibo Matto is an Italian phrase that means "crazy food". After working together in the noise rock band Leitoh Lychee, Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda formed Cibo Matto around 1994. While recording tracks for their first album, Viva! La Woman, they collaborated with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Russell Simmons and others, on a side project called Butter 08. Viva! was released in 1996. They later enlisted band members Sean Lennon, Timo Ellis and Duma Love to help record their Super Relax EP and final full-length album, Stereotype A. While Viva! had strong hip-hop and trip-hop elements, Stereotype leaned more more towards their rock, pop and latin side. The group continued to play live concerts until disbanding near the end of 2001. Yuka Honda went on to release solo albums and continued to collaborate with Sean, while Miho Hatori moved onto bossa nova, teaming up with guitarist Smokey Hormel to form Smokey & Miho, then joining the Gorillaz for their self-titled first album and eventually releasing her own solo album. In 1997, the band guest-performed on the television show buffy the vampire slayer's second season premiere in the fictional club The Bronze, performing "Spoon" and "Sugar Water". Since the break-up in 2001, their songs have been played in many different places, including the video game Jet Set Radio Future. "Birthday Cake" was featured in the Kids in the Hall's feature-length film, Brain Candy.