Miho Hatori

With Cibo Matto, being a collaborator, and in her solo function, Miho Hatori has always displayed an eclectic, playful touch that’s worldly in the very best sense of the term: fusing her love of from bossa nova to hip-hop to steel and rock and roll with her Japanese heritage, Hatori’s music excursions sound equally well-traveled and organic. We were young in Tokyo, Hatori proved helpful at an archive store and in addition spun records being a DJ; in early stages, she gravitated toward hip-hop, rapping with an organization known as Kimidori. After shifting to NEW YORK in 1993, she quickly became a fixture in the neighborhood music scene, performing and playing violin with Leitoh Lychee, a punk music group that also counted another Japanese expatriate, Yuka Honda, among its people. The pair ultimately became Cibo Matto and released two genre-defying albums, 1996’s Viva! La Girl and 1999’s Stereo system Type A. Among Cibo Matto albums, Hatori also caused the brand new York indie supergroup Butter 08 on the 1996 self-titled record, and appeared for the Beastie Young boys’ Hello Nasty. After Cibo Matto disbanded, Hatori lent her vocals to Damon Albarn’s digital pop group Gorillaz, showing up throughout their self-titled 2001 debut. She also collaborated with Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel, whom she uncovered also liked bossa nova if they had been on tour jointly. As Smokey & Miho, they paid homage to Brazilian pop using a self-titled EP as well as the Tempo de Amor: Tracks by Baden Powell EP, that have been released in 2002 and gathered because the Two EPs the next year. Other crucial collaborations are the Baldwin Brothers’ Food preparation with Lasers and Yuka Honda’s 2004 record Eucademix. In 2005, Hatori released her single debut, Ecdysis — called for the losing process insects go through to continue developing — in Japan; the U.S. discharge followed a season later.