Cibo Matto @ Spaceland Ballroom – Hamden, CT 2/7/14
Not many bands can recover from a 12 year hiatus. Like with any tough break-up, there is often a lot of yelling, stomping of one’s feet, the customary throwing of one’s belongings into the alley below. Don’t forget about the deep-rooted feelings of anger, back-biting, and remorse. But this is not the case with Cibo Matto.
When the band stepped out for the first time together in almost a decade, there were visibly some nerves and anxiousness. That quickly went away when the first couple of trip-hop notes (Yes! It’s back!) from the heavy bass of “Sugar Water” filled the Spaceland Ballroom.
When the band “broke-up” in 2001, both multi-instrumentalist Yuka Honda and lead singer Miho Hatori both went on to successful careers in the solo/collaboration music scene—Honda most recently with Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band, and Hatori as the voice of Noodle on the first Gorillaz album. The dissolving of Cibo Matto seemed to be an amiable and cordial affair. Nothing was thrown into an alley, thankfully.
But Cibo Matto is now reunited and releasing their third studio album on February 14. The album is their first in 15 years. When the band first got their start, releasing Viva! La Woman in 1994, the noisy songs featured a strange, yet albeit universal motif: food. If this doesn’t seem like your cup of tea, all one must do is check out the classic video for the aforementioned “Sugar Water,” directed by the ever fun and creative Michel Gondry. The song is light, palatable, and always goes down smooth.
On their latest studio album, Hotel Valentine, Honda and Hatori keep the food references in the cupboard, but have embraced another thematic shoe-lace of ghosts and hotels. It’s not a concept album per se, but more of an eerie love story that exists entirely within the setting of a haunted hotel. It’s another strong offering from a ground-breaking group in a year already packed with great albums. For Cibo Matto, it’s probably their finest.
Even though they’ve always been influenced by Shubuya-kei, a jazzy form of synth-pop, Cibo Matto has always had their own identity. For those who remember, the band was one of the more popular acid jazz/bossanova pastiche sound bands, among them Bjork and Tricky, just to give you a chance to gather your bearings on the musical sub-genre. What sets Cibo Matto apart is their ability to blend the weird with the comic, the out of this world with the tongue in cheek. Their albums have always had a sense of factitiousness on par with their longtime mentors The Beastie Boys.
To support the album, Cibo Matto has planned a small tour within the next couple of months. Their first show, set in the small, comfy, and intimate Spaceland Ballroom, was the perfect opportunity to not only start the engine a little bit, but also take it around the block once or twice. To dust off the cobwebs, Honda and Hatori took to the stage without their drummer or bass player, reintroducing the audience to the personal and cherished chemistry of the two songwriters who have once again, found their groove together. They walked on, plugged in (Honda a bunch of futuristic and one can only assume intergalactic noisemakers), and laid it all out. As the opening two songs concluded (among them “Sugar Water”), everyone, including Hatori, let out a sigh of relief. Before the full band began the third song, Hatori grinned and thanked the audience for being here and being a part of it.
The performance, which was based in the chill mood of the new album, focused mainly on the new songs, but fans were treated to a few of the older gems, as well. What was keenly noted was how the concept and ideas from the album did not dominate or were ever really pushed on the audience. Artists, especially those who think they are really clever, have a knack for overstatement and calling attention to their album’s heavy-handed themes. Hatori did not call attention to the way the album is structured around the checking in and checking out of a hotel, nor did she reveal any secrets about the inspiration for the album. Not even one mention of “concepts.” Pheww!
For the most part, Cibo Matto let the new music do most of the talking. The band was able to focus on several of their older hits, among them the soft, headphone vibe of “Moonchild.” Fans of 2009’s Stereo Type A were even treated to an extended and extremely jammy “Spoon.” As the performance was based in the three albums, Honda and Hatori demonstrated the wide musical scope the band is known for. One of the best throwbacks of the night was the spunky “Beef Jerky,” the precursor to the Icona Pop chant hit “I Don’t Care,” where the girls scream “Who cares? I don’t care!/A horses ass is better than yours!” If your scratching your head, don’t. Just enjoy the dajare.
On the newer songs, Honda and Hatori focus more on samples of thick and fuzzy synth created loops, mellotrons, and grooveboxes. For most of the performance, Honda controls the vibe and tempo of the show from behind her self-made enclave of keys and beatmakers. Honda still embraces the sounds of the ‘90s (if that’s a thing yet), as heard on the excellent opening track “Check In.” This is probably due to the fact that she is one of the founding mothers of the experimental and avant-garde electronic of that decade. Put it this way—there is no Gnarles Barkley, The Go!Team, or CSS without her.
As for Hatori, her elegant and confident personality, combined with her witty and whimsical raps make for a rambunctious performance. Their drummer, the heavy-handed Yuko Araki, focuses on the sporadic and shrill, and balances the melodic sequences and dreamy circuit bending. The bassist, looking quite similar to former member Sean Lennon, applied thick and heavy groove, giving the new songs a strange, lounge vibe.
In between songs, Honda and Hatori were always modest, sincere, and gracious, not to mention, charming. The audience was receptive and warm to the reunited band, and each person danced to their favorite song, even though most were completely unfamiliar with the newer songs. Even when Hatori’s Performance Pad electronic drum malfunctioned, half the audience waited patiently, while the other half prevented themselves from climbing the stage to assist in its maintenance. The intimacy of the Spaceland allowed Hatori to have a quick impromptu Q and A with the audience in regards to what the town Hamden was known for. Somebody in the back yelled, “Pizza!” to which a wry smile appeared on her face. Remember, this is the band known for their food songs.
As the show started to peak, the band began to comb through some of their deeper tracks on their new album. “Déjà Vu,” one of the strangest but grooviest songs, featuring light and wispy lyrics contrasted by chillout grooves and downtempo beats. The song demonstrates the level of sophistication with which Honda and Hatori have now embraced, while never losing out on the charm and energy of their first two albums. While most of the songs are heavily structured using electronics, Honda is able to create a full and lush sound of a full band—strings, saxophones, and trumpets—using only her digital cabinet, as seen and heard during the band’s rendition of “Emerald Tuesday.”
At the end of their set, two girls in the front let out a collective and dramatic “Nooooooo!” Never fear, because Cibo Matto returned for an extremely energetic encore, featuring the brash “Birthday Cake,” where Hatori shouts “Shut up and eat! Too bad, no bon appétit!” At any moment, a Japanese spray-paint gang could have been roused into storming the place, a la Jet Set Radio. They closed with the never-before-played-live “Maid Song (Housekeeping),” which demonstrates their ability to stretch a joke and explore not only the sexual connotations associated with the word, but also share the exploits of a trickster maid who steels your money and weed when you have left for the evening. Perhaps the best song from the album and the show was the performance of “10th Floor Ghost Girl,” the eccentric cousin of Wang Chung’s “Everyone Have Fun Tonight.” The song embodies the premise for the album, combining imagery and details concerning both ghosts and hotels. But aside from the theme, the song demonstrates how the girls can combine trippy and funky with the closest thing that resembles a straightforward dance track.
The show was a nice addition into Cibo Matto’s legacy as one of the most unique bands to come out of the nineties. They will either will be known for their pioneering of electronic alternative pop, or their ability to grow, change, and rise towards another apex in their career. All this, remember, while overcoming a hiatus, upending conventions, and flouting mainstream expectations. Bon appétit!
– Christopher Carvalho (chriscarvo @bandshirrt)
“Birthday Cake”
“Deja Vu”
“Beef Jerky”