Biography
Miho Hatori has long revealed an adventurous and lighthearted sensibility across her work with Cibo Matto, her various partnerships, and her independent projects, blending influences that range from bossa nova and hip-hop to metal and rock with roots in her Japanese background to produce music that feels both globally informed and natural.
While living in Tokyo she held a job at a record store and performed as a DJ, and in those early days she leaned toward hip-hop by delivering rhymes in the group Kimidori. Following her relocation to New York City in 1993 she became a steady presence in the city’s music community, contributing vocals and violin to the punk outfit Leitoh Lychee, which also featured fellow Japanese transplant Yuka Honda. The two musicians later formed Cibo Matto, issuing the boundary-pushing albums Viva! La Woman in 1996 and Stereo Type A in 1999. Between those releases Hatori joined the New York indie supergroup Butter 08 for its 1996 self-titled album and guested on the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty.
Once Cibo Matto dissolved she supplied vocals for Damon Albarn’s virtual pop project Gorillaz on its self-titled 2001 debut album. She also teamed with Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel after learning during a shared tour that he shared her affection for bossa nova; performing as Smokey & Miho they honored Brazilian pop on a self-titled EP and the Tempo de Amor: Songs by Baden Powell EP, both issued in 2002 and later compiled as The Two EPs in 2003. Additional notable partnerships encompass the Baldwin Brothers’ Cooking with Lasers and Yuka Honda’s 2004 album Eucademix. Hatori issued her first solo effort, Ecdysis—titled after the molting cycle insects experience to keep growing—in Japan during 2005, with the American edition arriving the next year.
While living in Tokyo she held a job at a record store and performed as a DJ, and in those early days she leaned toward hip-hop by delivering rhymes in the group Kimidori. Following her relocation to New York City in 1993 she became a steady presence in the city’s music community, contributing vocals and violin to the punk outfit Leitoh Lychee, which also featured fellow Japanese transplant Yuka Honda. The two musicians later formed Cibo Matto, issuing the boundary-pushing albums Viva! La Woman in 1996 and Stereo Type A in 1999. Between those releases Hatori joined the New York indie supergroup Butter 08 for its 1996 self-titled album and guested on the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty.
Once Cibo Matto dissolved she supplied vocals for Damon Albarn’s virtual pop project Gorillaz on its self-titled 2001 debut album. She also teamed with Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel after learning during a shared tour that he shared her affection for bossa nova; performing as Smokey & Miho they honored Brazilian pop on a self-titled EP and the Tempo de Amor: Songs by Baden Powell EP, both issued in 2002 and later compiled as The Two EPs in 2003. Additional notable partnerships encompass the Baldwin Brothers’ Cooking with Lasers and Yuka Honda’s 2004 album Eucademix. Hatori issued her first solo effort, Ecdysis—titled after the molting cycle insects experience to keep growing—in Japan during 2005, with the American edition arriving the next year.
Albums
Singles
