A Japanese-born duo relocated to New York and christened with an Italian band name, Cibo Matto's music mirrored the melting-pot aesthetics of their origins, resulting in a heady brew of funk samples, hip-hop rhythms, tape loops, and fractured pop melodies all topped off by surreal narratives sung in a combination of French and broken English.... [+] Read More

A Japanese-born duo relocated to New York and christened with an Italian band name, Cibo Matto's music mirrored the melting-pot aesthetics of their origins, resulting in a heady brew of funk samples, hip-hop rhythms, tape loops, and fractured pop melodies all topped off by surreal narratives sung in a combination of French and broken English. Cibo Matto comprised vocalist Miho Hatori and keyboardist/sampler Yuka Honda, a pair of expatriate Japanese women who arrived in the U.S. independently. Honda, a onetime member of Brooklyn Funk Essentials, settled in New York in 1987, and Hatori, an alum of the Tokyo rap unit Kimidori and a former club DJ, followed six years later. After meeting in 1994, they first teamed in the Boredoms-inspired noise outfit Leitoh Lychee (translated as "frozen lychee nut"); after that band's breakup, the duo formed Cibo Matto, Italian for "food madness" (their love of culinary delights quickly becoming the stuff of legend).

The group soon emerged as a sensation among the Lower Manhattan hipster elite, gaining fame for their incendiary live shows backed by guests including the Lounge Lizards' Dougie Bowne (Honda's ex-husband), Bernie Worrell, Masada's Dave Douglas, and Skeleton Key's Rick Lee. After a pair of acclaimed 1995 independent singles, "Birthday Cake" and "Know Your Chicken," Cibo Matto signed to Warner Bros., surfacing in 1996 with the Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake-produced Viva! La Woman, a delirious, stunningly inventive record celebrating love, food, and love of food. After touring with guest bassist Sean Lennon and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer Russell Simins, the EP Super Relax followed in 1997. Lennon, percussionist Duma Love, and drummer Timo Ellis were installed as full-time members for the follow-up, 1999's Stereo Type A. A few years later, the group disbanded, with Hatori collaborating with Smokey Hormel and the Gorillaz, and Honda producing Sean Lennon's Into The Sun; working on her solo albums; and collaborating with the Boredoms' Yoshimi on the album Flower With No Color. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Japanese pop-noise savant Cornelius was born Keigo Oyamada in 1971; a self-taught guitarist inspired early on by Kiss and Black Sabbath, his musical alias was later chosen as an homage to the Planet of the Apes film series. A product of the same Shibuya-kei bubblegum scene that also gave rise to Pizzicato Five, Cornelius debuted in 1993 with the... [+] Read More

Japanese pop-noise savant Cornelius was born Keigo Oyamada in 1971; a self-taught guitarist inspired early on by Kiss and Black Sabbath, his musical alias was later chosen as an homage to the Planet of the Apes film series. A product of the same Shibuya-kei bubblegum scene that also gave rise to Pizzicato Five, Cornelius debuted in 1993 with the EP Holydays in the Sun, the first release from his own Trattoria label. He became a national teen idol in the wake of the release of 1994's full-length The First Question Award and a year later he issued the album 69/96, followed in 1996 by the remix LP 96/69. Released in 1997, Fantasma was his creative and commercial breakthrough, a kaleidoscopic, genre-hopping joyride through contemporary musical history that became Cornelius' first American release when it was reissued by Matador a year later. Another pair of remix collections, CM and FM, followed in 1999. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Godfathers of the Shibuya-kei scene, Tokyo kitsch-pop deconstructionists Pizzicato Five originally began taking shape as far back as 1979, when university students Yasuharu Konishi and Keitaro Takanami first met at a local music society meeting. Agreeing to form a band, they soon recruited fellow society member Ryo Kamamiya; their search for a... [+] Read More

Godfathers of the Shibuya-kei scene, Tokyo kitsch-pop deconstructionists Pizzicato Five originally began taking shape as far back as 1979, when university students Yasuharu Konishi and Keitaro Takanami first met at a local music society meeting. Agreeing to form a band, they soon recruited fellow society member Ryo Kamamiya; their search for a suitable vocalist proved frustrating, however, and only in late 1984 did they settle on singer Mamiko Sasaki. The first Pizzicato Five single, "Audrey Hepburn Complex," followed a year later, and in 1986 the group issued their debut LP, Pizzicato Five in Action; a slew of subsequent records established them among the most popular acts in Japan, in spite of a series of line-up fluctuations which saw both Kamamiya and Sasaki exit in 1988, replaced soon after by vocalist Takao Tajima (who in turn quit the following year). Beginning with the 1990 single "Lovers Rock," Maki Nomiya was the new P5 vocalist; their popularity at home continued to soar, and in 1994 the American indie label Matador agreed to issue the compilation EP Five by Five. Takanami quit shortly after its release, however, reducing the group to a duo; after a pair of other US compilations, Made in USA and The Sound of Music by Pizzicato Five, in 1997 they issued Happy End of the World, the first of their LPs to enjoy simultaneous Japanese and American release. The International Playboy and Playgirl Record followed two years later, and the group's last proper album of the millennium, Pizzicato Five (tm), appeared in November 1999. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Singer/songwriter Takako Minekawa stands apart from many of the other female recording artists from Japan. Instead of creating faceless, saccharine pop, Minekawa crafts her unique brand of pop from her personal obsessions -- cats, keyboards, French pop -- and her sweet, girlish voice.

A child movie and TV star in Japan, Minekawa was... [+] Read More

Singer/songwriter Takako Minekawa stands apart from many of the other female recording artists from Japan. Instead of creating faceless, saccharine pop, Minekawa crafts her unique brand of pop from her personal obsessions -- cats, keyboards, French pop -- and her sweet, girlish voice.

A child movie and TV star in Japan, Minekawa was always interested in music and formed her first group Lolita with some college friends. This morphed into Fancy Face Groovy Name in 1990, which also included Kahimi Karie. After playing in a number of groups, Minekawa was ready to strike out on her own. She released her solo debut Chat Chat in 1994, which she followed up with 1995's A LittleTouch of Baroque In Winter and 1996's Roomic Cube (released the following year in the U.S.).

With each album, Minekawa's writing and arrangements showed a more refined mix of innocence and complexity. However, her ideas were still fresh and playful, as the 1998 remix EP Recubed -- which featured Roomic Cube songs remixed by friends like Sukia, the Pulsars, and Buffalo Daughter -- showed. Cloudy Cloud Calculator, Minekawa's most independent statement yet, was released at the end of 1998; it was followed by 1999's Fun 9 and 2000's Maxion EP. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Japanese sonic collagists Buffalo Daughter formed in 1993, comprising vocalists/multi-instrumentalists SuGar Yoshinaga and Yumiko Ohno along with turntablist Moog Yamamoto. Cutting-and-pasting sounds ranging from funk to lounge-pop to avant-noise, the trio debuted the following year with the LP Shaggy Headdressers, followed in 1995 by Amoeba... [+] Read More

Japanese sonic collagists Buffalo Daughter formed in 1993, comprising vocalists/multi-instrumentalists SuGar Yoshinaga and Yumiko Ohno along with turntablist Moog Yamamoto. Cutting-and-pasting sounds ranging from funk to lounge-pop to avant-noise, the trio debuted the following year with the LP Shaggy Headdressers, followed in 1995 by Amoeba Soundsystem; with the 1996 seven-inch Legend of the Yellow Buffalo, they made their American debut, signing to Grand Royal. The full-length Captain Vapour Athletes followed later that same year, and in 1997 Grand Royal issued Socks, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll, a collection of material remixed by the likes of Alec Empire, Money Mark and U.N.K.L.E. Buffalo Daughter returned in 1998 with New Rock, and another remix collection, WXBD, appeared a year later. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Although it's not billed as such, Pizzicato Five's stateside debut, Made in USA, is actually a compilation of tracks from their 15 or so albums. You need a taste for irreverent sampling and ironic deconstruction of lightweight pop idioms to dig this. But within that narrow field, Pizzicato Five are as good as it gets. They devise fare that's... [+] Read More

Although it's not billed as such, Pizzicato Five's stateside debut, Made in USA, is actually a compilation of tracks from their 15 or so albums. You need a taste for irreverent sampling and ironic deconstruction of lightweight pop idioms to dig this. But within that narrow field, Pizzicato Five are as good as it gets. They devise fare that's both funky and funny, made more human than most such projects by Maki Nomiya's fetching vocals. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Takako Minekawa's third full-length U.S. release Fun 9 delivers more of her inventive electronic pop, and includes collaborations with co-producers Cornelius and DJ Me DJ You, the side-project of Sukia's Craig Borrell and Ross Harris. Not surprisingly, this means that while Fun 9 retains Minekawa's playful musical vision -- evident in songs like... [+] Read More

Takako Minekawa's third full-length U.S. release Fun 9 delivers more of her inventive electronic pop, and includes collaborations with co-producers Cornelius and DJ Me DJ You, the side-project of Sukia's Craig Borrell and Ross Harris. Not surprisingly, this means that while Fun 9 retains Minekawa's playful musical vision -- evident in songs like "Shh Song," "Spin Spider Spin," and "Fancy Work Funk" -- it also presents her ideas in a more eclectic and polished style. From the breathy, overlapping vocals and synth blips of the album opener "Gently Waves," to "Tiger"'s bouncy, lunar funk and "Plash"'s breakbeat bossa nova, Minekawa fashions a wide array of lush, lighthearted songs into an album that is as self-assured as it is fun. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Playboy & Playgirl begins with the kind of collage-heavy imagined soundtrack that marked Happy End of the World; with that out of the way, they get back to the inspired, eclectic popcraft that is their strength. Hookier and more danceable than their previous album, this is a welcome return to songwriting for the dynamic duo. Think Burt Bacharach... [+] Read More

Playboy & Playgirl begins with the kind of collage-heavy imagined soundtrack that marked Happy End of the World; with that out of the way, they get back to the inspired, eclectic popcraft that is their strength. Hookier and more danceable than their previous album, this is a welcome return to songwriting for the dynamic duo. Think Burt Bacharach without the self-pity, with a smidgen of Motown and Stax. Keyboard timbres run the gamut of the Pizzicato imagination from faux-harpsichord to spacy funk. Singer Nomiya Maki puts her unpretentious stamp over everything from Sgt. Pepper's pomp to '60s R&B horns to symphonic dancefloor beats to introspective pastorals. While P5 may be in with the lounge crowd, they never feel superior to their cheesy predecessors; avoiding the sometimes smug, reactionary irony of the new exotica, Yasuharu Konishi's diverse influences are held together by his all-embracing love of the pop spectrum. A joyous record. [Note: Playboy & Playgirl was released in Japan in 1998 under the title The International Playboy & Playgirl Record; Matador's 1999 American release cuts the third track, "International Pizzicato Five Mansion," and substitutes "La Règle du Jeu" later in the album's running order.] ~ Pat Padua, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Tomoyuki Tanaka's second album as the Fantastic Plastic Machine, Luxury, multiplies the dance-club influences of its predecessor -- yet fans of that first record might not initially welcome the change. Where Fantastic Plastic Machine felt fresh and almost effortless, Luxury isn't the same glorious rush of sugary hooks and surprisingly elaborate... [+] Read More

Tomoyuki Tanaka's second album as the Fantastic Plastic Machine, Luxury, multiplies the dance-club influences of its predecessor -- yet fans of that first record might not initially welcome the change. Where Fantastic Plastic Machine felt fresh and almost effortless, Luxury isn't the same glorious rush of sugary hooks and surprisingly elaborate beats. While Tanaka's productions are still impeccable, a few of the tracks feel aimless and repetitive (the album starts with a nine-minute mix of "There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart)," which repeats the same hook ad infinitum and doesn't work nearly as well outside of a club). But with repeated listens, it becomes clearer that Tanaka is also trying to push the boundaries of his sound, exploring more down-tempo territory and concentrating more on creating texture with his mixes. Some of the brighter pop numbers have a muted warmth that gives the illusion of vintage vinyl; there are more vocal effects employed, and more live instrumentation as well. Luxury may be a less immediate album than Fantastic Plastic Machine, but while it's also less consistent, there's still plenty to discover here. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide