Cibo Matto – Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix AZ 2/21/14

One of the most anticipated new releases of 2014 aside from Beck and Broken Bells has to be Cibo Matto’ Hotel Valentine (Feb 11th), their first new album since 1999’s Stereo Type A. Hotel Valentine was self-produced over a two-year period by Cibo Matto founders and co-conspirators Miho Hatori and Yuka C. Honda and they are currently taking part in a nationwide tour in support and bringing their eclectic foray back to their fans.

Cibo Matto started their Phoenix set in a dreamy tone, awash in a blue aquatic light with “Sugar Water”  then snapped into “Beef Jerky, boldly choosing to get their bigger hits from their 1996 debut Viva! Va Woman. Miho Hatori seemed restrained in her sunglasses and her long-time collaborator Yuka Honda, intently operating her RoLand DJ 70 MK II. perhaps going through the motions with their foodie-themed hits.

An outsized rendition of “Le Pain Perdu” cartoonishly blasting a bossa nova jazz sample soon changed that perception as Miho nodded into a sudden stop in the track, causing a huge reaction in the audience as she paused and said “Fuck Yeah.” The drummer Yuko Araki (celebrating her birthday at Crescent Ballroom) and guitarist joined midway through “Spoon”, their harmonies causing a psychedelic swirl and crispness to the duo on stage.

As the light dimmed, Miho finally took off her sunglasses and attacked the intro track of their new release Hotel Valentine “Check In.” Cibo Matto seemed excited about their appearance in Phoenix, which was evident as Miho smiled saying “What’s Up” to their warm reception, before catapulting into “Sci Fi Wasabi” from Stereotype Type A.  “MFN”, the very early-TLC like video styled release from  Hotel Valentine appeared and Miho wailed, getting the whole floor dancing with “Is it mother fucking nature” then melting into frothy vocals of “Do you really want to know” soaring over the beats. She later paused to say “This may win the best audience award.”

Tribal beats and spy-tastic Esquivel shimmering drums went into the trance of “Emerald Tuesday” with enough emoting for plaintive lyrics such as “Don’t shake my heart like a drink” as a hardened lounge act seguing into a torch ballad version for “Check Out.”.  Switching gears into playful beeps they pulled out “Working for Vacation,” then  the sing-a-long ditty of “Deja Vu” a monster clap-happy dirty grove slumping into the industrial darkness of “Empty Pool.”

The real winner was “10th Floor Ghost Girl”, a jaunty Talking Heads riff with an upbeat dance anthem of “She talks like American, she dances like Egyptian” had the entire venue moving.  Their encore of “Housekeeping” is so tongue in cheek fun with lyrics like “What were you doing on the couch?” and “I took your weed and got high”, reminiscent of ‘90s Beastie Boys, served as a little intellectual chilled out funk track.  Their closing set “Birthday Cake” brought it back to their debut, the unlikely foodie anthem of “Extra Sugar!/ Extra Salt!” perfectly describing this partnership between Miho and Yuka.  The smooth sweet Brazilian rhythms and cooing juxtaposed with intoned rapping above huge snapping beats, proved their relevance and innovation beyond their unique foodie motto: “Shut up and eat!”

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