The first time I saw Cibo Matto, they were guesting on that MTV "kid's bedroom" show--hopping around singing some annoying song about chickens that would've made Yoko Ono dive for the remote. As the show was ending, however, Miho Hatori picked up an acoustic guitar and played an amazing rendition of "Norwegian Wood" while Yuka Honda played with alien harmony parts that were dissonant and brilliant.

Thus I've been waiting for Cibo Matto to do something that reflected the genius I saw that night, and IÕm pleased to report that Stereo Type A, is just that something. You could use this album to define the word "eclectic." Though it's by and large, dance music, they avoid cliches like the plague and go from light Latin jazz to Heavy metal powerchord progressions without missing a beat. At one point a song breaks into an almost death metal distorted dirge and then they drop a jazz trombone solo over the top of it. It's one of the most brilliant juxtapositions of style I've ever heard. Above I mentioned Yoko Ono on purpose, because one of the most interesting things about this record is that a good bit of the instrumentation was written and performed by Sean Lennon--Yoko and what's-his -name's youngest. It's experimental and I don't particularly care for the Jap-Rap on songs such as "Sci-Fi Wasabi," but I'm crazy about the rest of their Oriental Expressions.