"We wanted a title that you have to chew on a little," says Yuka Honda, "not just swallow whole." Stereotypes are something that Yuka and Miho Hatori have encountered ever since Cibo Matto made a splash in the music world with their 1996 debut Viva! La Woman, an album of renegade sampling, off-kilter funk and hardcore. "There are people who think that women can't operate studio equipment," remarks Honda, who produced the new album entirely by herself. "Stereo is also what tells you where you are located. Dolphins can see what is happening with their sense of hearing. In a philosophical way, if you listen, you can also tell where you are, or more importantly, where you're at. We have to learn to listen for ourselves with both our left and right ears, and not just believe everything we're told."
"People always expect you to choose sides between digital or analog, old school or new school, even between Chinese or Italian food," jokes Miho. "Well, we eat everything." Cibo Matto's musical cuisine is a blend of many different styles, with elements of jazz, hip-hop and pop intertwined into a sound entirely their own. From the breakbeat onslaught and Farfisa organ stabs that kickstart the buoyant "Working For Vacation," to the killer groove of "Spoon" and the undulating r&b of "Moonchild," Stereotype A is, at its core, a pop album. "Today kids don't like just one thing!" declares Miho. "That's the new style for the 21st century." Songs like "The Lint of Love," where jazz horns meet funky fuzz bass meet heavy metal guitars, and "Sunday," with its elaborate structure and waltz-time coda, are mini-albums unto themselves. As producer, Yuka envisioned stereo drums, five-part harmonies, and previously unimagined combinations of rhythm sequences and "live" playing.
Another stereotype the band has encountered is that composing with samplers isn't accepted by some as a valid art form. "People are mistaken if they think sampling is just patching together some cool old music." explains Yuka. "I am not interested in re-playing someone else's music." The reality is that making creative music with samples requires heavy musical skills. "On this album, people will hear that we can write in a more traditional form as well." She's not kidding. Working with artists as diverse as Brazil's Caetano Veloso, jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas and no-waver Arto Lindsay, Yuka's musical vocabulary is immense. Combined with Miho's dead-on lyrical gift, Cibo Matto emerge on Stereotype A as gifted musicians with fantastically imaginative songs.
Stereotype A is focused and refined, while still wildly diverse and creative. Yuka explains the band's growth: "Our first songs were written to be played live in tiny places like CBGB's Gallery, and what's on our first record is pretty much what we did live at our first shows. We were kind of test-driving and we didn't know shit. We've learned and evolved. On Stereotype A, we spent time experimenting, taking chances, to think about the album as a whole…to try to achieve our potential. We set much bigger goals."
Meanwhile, Miho has come into her own as a singer. "She's a really talented musician," says Yuka, "She was able to do amazing things from day one." Now, after several years on the road and recording, Miho can effortlessly take a song like "Flowers" into the stratosphere, then turn around and deliver a crazy rap on "Sci-Fi Wasabi." She's taught herself to play guitar and drums and she's now contributing musical ideas (even complex chords inspired by her beloved Brazilian record collection). While Yuka's been busy producing and touring with Sean Lennon, Miho's been guesting with a wide range of artists, including Mitchell Froom, the Automator, Arto Lindsay, Kat Bjelland and the Beastie Boys (singing on their recent album Hello Nasty and two EPs).
"What I'm proudest of on Stereotype A is the collaboration," says Miho. "It's the product of four people listening all the time." The other two, Sean Lennon and Timo Ellis, were picked up as the band starting heavy-duty touring, and have become invaluable hands in all Cibo Matto endeavors. "Sean and Timo can play any instrument and they can sing," praises Miho. "They were there everyday helping out. This is like a family." Also contributing are longtime Cibo Matto friends like guitarist Marc Ribot, John Medeski and Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin & Wood, Soul Coughing's Sebastian Steinberg and Buffalo Daughter's Zak and Yumiko Ohno.
Stereotype A is a broadly ambitious pop album. "You can take a hardcore Indian phrase, set it to a hip-hop beat, have country guitar in the back, and make it work," says Yuka. "I really think that technology, if we think about it positively, can give us a brighter future. One where stereotypes will be obsolete."
