It is difficult to imagine in 2014, but there was a time when the Japanese industry was technologically not much. In the twentieth century, however, the Japanese made an impressive effort: first by copying, then by improving and then by inventing. The same applies to the music of the Japanese women Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori. Their indie band Cibo Matto has sniffed out all the good pop music and
… thrown it into the blender, with a high-quality and original sound as a result. The group was formed in 1994 and belonged to the New York scene around acts like the Beastie Boys and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Hip-hop was an important building block, but electronics and alternative pop were also part of the recipe. Hotel Valentine is only the duo's third album and follows an absence of more than ten years. The indie hip-hop electro from Cibo Matto's early years is just as hip again twenty years later, so this reunion comes at the right time. Label boss and ex-member Sean Lennon is fortunate with this eclectic and catchy release that builds on previous successes and yet is incredibly innovative. (JE)more
