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Author
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Topic: Review - Cibo Matto's Stereo Type A
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Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 01-03-2001 01:21 AM
   
The first notes of “Working For Vacation,” the first track on Cibo Matto’s Stereo Type A, are reminiscent of something from the mind of Yoko Ono, and indeed, closer inspection of the disc’s liner notes reveal guitar and percussion work by Sean Lennon. But any similarity to the Plastic Ono Band’s noisome perturbations (which, unfortunately, must technically be considered art) stops immediately, and the disc progresses nicely.Stereo Type A is a nice sample of something from the pages of Giant Robot magazine, the neo-lounge kind of stuff preferred by twentysomethings boarding the bus wearing ridiculously large sunglasses and equally massive headphones hooked up to tiny mp3-players. After “Working” – a nice opening effort – the disc really picks up, with the spy-friendly wocka-wocka guitar of “Spoon” and the salsa tang of “Flowers.” The acme of the disc is “Sci-Fi Wasabi,” an dystopian urban anthem straight out of Blade Runner. A thumping, overachieving beat plods behind synth-pop that ranges from ethereal to insistent, tied up nicely by lead singer Miho Hatori’s rap vocals: quote:
What’s up B, Wasabi
I’m searching the city for sci-fi wasabi
The start button has been pushed already
Obi-Wan Kenobi is waiting for me
In Union Square, my wheel needs repair
The bike lanes glowing all over the city
My bike specializes in the nitty-gritty
New York City never had equality
It’s reality, economic duality,
Where are my amenities? Tell me my sanity
Ain’t no analogy for individuality
I got immunity from multiplicity.
The disc has low points, like “Clouds,” which is nicely perky until the vocals start, then it begins to sound like a high school football band practicing scales together. “Speechless” is a great song with a classic I’m-too-good-for-you anti-romance message, but it starts out sounding like the lost outtakes of a Peel Sessions meeting between Bjork and Luther Vandross. On the whole, the disc has a mellowing, uncomplicated feel to it, like listening to a hundred-dollar Casio synthesizer in the hands of Jose Feliciano. It’s an enjoyable disc, perfect for having friends over with a few glasses of moderately priced wine. (Edited to add Amazon link.) [This message has been edited by Dave Thomer (edited 01-29-2001).] |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 01-18-2001 03:41 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Kevin Ott:
the Plastic Ono Band’s noisome perturbations (which, unfortunately, must technically be considered art)
Why? |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 01-18-2001 11:22 AM
Oh, jeez. Here we go. Give me a little while and I'll start a new topic. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 01-18-2001 01:10 PM
Not necessary, unless you want to -- I was being a smart aleck. (When do I ever do that?) |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 01-18-2001 02:55 PM
No, seriously. Give me time to finish some work here (reading this site at the office can be so tempting) and I'll start a new thread. I think it's an important question. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 01-18-2001 03:06 PM
Oh, absolutely -- the first third of the Art & Society course I'm teaching this semester is devoted to discussing and testing various theories about what art is. And lemme tell you, there are plenty of theories out there . . . |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 02-05-2001 03:01 AM
There are parts of this -- or at least the clips that I could hear from Amazon -- that sound like they'd fit right in as the soundtrack to some kind of anime film, likely a sequence involving some kind of high-speed chase. I'm not sure how crazy I am about the vocalist, though, and I think you really have to be a synth fan to get into this, since it all screams "Hey! We're playing synthesizers! How cool is that?" I'm mentally contrasting this with something like a Lightning Seeds album, where even though it's clearly synth-heavy, it seems like some attempt has been made to incorporate other sounds. |
Kevin Ott
True Believer
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posted 02-05-2001 04:11 PM
Well, Sean Lennon plays a lot of guitars on the disc, and he's got a great acoustic guitar solo on "Spoon." There's also some really great scratching on "Sci-Fi Wasabi." While the synth work is definitely prevalent, it's mostly in the style of other kinds of synth-pop stuff.A good album where sythesizers do a great job of taking over the scene is "Stop Making Sense" by the Talking Heads. Some excellent work here, and one of my favorite albums. |
Dave Thomer
Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy
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posted 02-14-2001 12:31 PM
I guess this shows how little you can learn about an album from the Amazon snippets, huh?I'm still not sure if I've ever heard the Talking Heads album all the way through, but I do like a lot of their stuff. The Tom Jones/Cardigan cover of "Burning Down the House" is something I recommend hunting down on an MP3 site somewhere -- you gotta hear it to believe it. And speaking of Sean Lennon -- are you familiar with any of his own work? How does it compare with what he does on this album? I admit, I'm probably more familiar with Julian than Sean, but I'm still curious. | |
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