Cibo Matto - Hotel Valentine (Japan Edition) (2014)

One of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed bands of the late 90s, Cibo Matto pioneered post-genre freakout long before the digital shuffle. Spiking their artful pop songs with rap, funk, jazz, Brazilian, African, and Latin sounds, during their brief two-record career they placed in Spin Magazine's Top Albums of the 90's, graced major magazine covers, and were immortalized on an early episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Post breakup the band received a Best Of overview with a compilation on Rhino Records in 2007, and their track Sugar Water appeared in the Nip/Tuck series finale in 2010. All along Miho Hatori & Yuka Honda have continued to record projects both pop and avant garde. Returning to the studio as Cibo Matto, they have made their most impressive and cinematic album, packed with kaleidoscopic grooves, demented horns, crazy synthesizers and funky-but-chic blasts of pure danceability.