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Miho Hatori 羽鳥 美保
Miho Hatori performing with Cibo Matto in Argentina in 2014
Background information
Also known as	Miss Information
Born	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Avant-garde, downtempo, trip hop, indie rock, world music
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, composer, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, synthesizer, guitar, drums, percussion, keyboard
Years active	1991-present
Labels	Rykodisc
Formerly of	Cibo Matto Smokey & Miho Butter 08
Website	mihohatori.com

Miho Hatori (羽鳥 美保, Hatori Miho, born in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and musician. She is best known as a solo artist, co-founder of New York City band Cibo Matto, and as the first person to provide the voice of Noodle in the virtual band Gorillaz, as well as for her work with the Beastie Boys, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Smokey Hormel, John Zorn, and many more.

Biography

Hatori expressed an early interest in music while growing up in Japan. She worked at used record shop Flash Disc Ranch in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, where she was exposed to many styles of music and sometimes performed as a club DJ. Her earliest history in a music project dates to 1991 when she joined hip hop group Kimidori; she left the group in 1992.

Hatori moved to New York City in 1993 to study art; she quickly met Yuka Honda through performing together in punk/noise band Laito Lychee, a project that featured Hatori on vocals and violin played through distortion effects pedals. Hatori and Honda co-founded Cibo Matto in 1994 and released their debut album Viva! La Woman in 1996. The duo formation expanded to include Sean Lennon and Timo Ellis on 1997's Super Relax EP, and "unofficial" fifth member Duma Love appeared on their second full-length, 1999's Stereo ★ Type A. Cibo Matto broke up in 2001, but came back with a reunion tour in 2011. They released a third and final follow-up album Hotel Valentine on February 14, 2014.

Hatori worked with her Cibo Matto collaborators outside of the band, contributing to Sean Lennon's solo album Into the Sun, as well as to his scores for the independent films Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead and Alter Egos; she also appears on Yuka Honda's solo album Eucademix.

While Cibo Matto was touring with Beck, Hatori and Beck guitarist Smokey Hormel discovered a shared love of bossa nova and samba, which eventually resulted in their Brazilian-styled musical project Smokey & Miho. Other artists Hatori has worked with include Handsome Boy Modeling School (on the album So... How's Your Girl?), DJ Towa Tei, Stephin Merritt's The 6ths, The Baldwin Brothers, Beastie Boys, Blackalicious, Peter Daily, Greg Kurstin, Forró in the Dark, John Zorn, The Incredible Moses Leroy, Patrick Higgins, and Smokey Hormel.

Miho performs solo under her own name and various monikers. Her first solo album, Ecdysis, was released in Japan in 2005, coming two years later to the American and European markets. In 2018, she released Amazon To LeFrak as New Optimism and Sequence as Miss Information.

Her 2021 release, Between Isekai and Slice of Life, was inspired by both Édouard Glissant and isekai and slice of life anime––specifically in Demon Slayer, which she watched in 2020 during New York City's COVID-19 stay-at-home order.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Singles

• "Night Light" from the Ninja Tune album Urban Renewal Program (2002)
• "Baracuda" (2006)
• "Formula X" (2020)

With Gorillaz (as Noodle)

• Tomorrow Comes Today EP (EMI, 2000)
• Gorillaz (Parlophone/Virgin, 2001)
• G-Sides (Parlophone, 2001)
• Spacemonkeyz vs Gorillaz, Laika Come Home (2002)

Guest appearances

• Beastie Boys' "I Don't Know" (Hello Nasty, 1998)
• Beastie Boys' "Hail Sagan" (the Intergalactic EP, 1998)
• Sean Lennon's "Into the Sun" (Into the Sun, 1998)
• John Zorn's Taboo & Exile (1999)
• Spoken word for Handsome Boy Modeling School's "Metaphysical (A Good Day)" (So... How's Your Girl?, 1999)
• Zorn's The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone (15th Anniversary Edition) (2000)
• The 6ths' "Lindy Lou" (Hyacinths and Thistles, 1999)
• Atami's "August" and "赤い砂漠 (Hypno Ver.)" (Atami, 2001)
• The Baldwin Brothers' "Dream Girl" (Cooking with Lasers, 2002)
• Yuka Honda's Eucademix (2004)
• Towa Tei's "Teenage Mutants" (Sunny, 2011)
• Rap (as New Optimism) on Maika Loubté's "Snappp" (2019)

Remixes & Covers

• Rising Mixes: Ima / Yoko Ono remixed by Cibo Matto, Ween, Tricky, Thurston Moore (1996)
• Cibo Matto covered "Je t'aime... moi non plus" for Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (1997)
• "Start" (with the Beastie Boys) for Fire & Skill: The Songs of the Jam (1999)

Soundtracks

• "Ocean in Your Eyes" for the soundtrack to Y tu mamá también (2001)
• "Desire" for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009)
• "Fridge Walks" for Alter Egos (2012)

Film works

• Shindo (Japanese film)
• The Killing of a Chinese Cookie
• xXx: AForbidden Love Story (Diesel's short film by Alexi Tan)

References

1. ^ Lobenfeld, Claire (March 11, 2021). "Miho Hatori's Genre is Having No Genre". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
2. ^ Ramanathan, Arun (December 19, 2020). "Miho Hatori remains avant-garde with latest single 'Formula X' - New Releases - Mixmag Asia". Mixmag Asia. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
3. ^ Lobenfeld, Claire (July 28, 2018). ""Irony doesn't help me": Miho Hatori on New York, Noreaga and her solo project New Optimism". FACT. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
4. Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: Cibo Matto". AllMusic. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
5. "Happy Birthday Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto, Gorillaz)". Magnet. April 5, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
6. "Miho Hatori: Ecdysis". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
7. ^ Hart, Ron (July 16, 2018). "Beastie Boys' 'Hello Nasty' at 20: How Their Move Back to NYC Impacted the Adventurous Classic". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
8. ^ "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
9. ^ Hochman, Steve (January 31, 2002). "Brazilian Rendezvous". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
10. "Miho Hatori: Credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
11. Berman, Judy (May 16, 2016). "Spectacle's 'Grrrl Germs' Film Series Captures the Agony, Ecstasy, and Diversity of Riot Grrrl". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
12. ^ "Cibo Matto". LA Phil. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
13. Guerra, Joey (August 25, 2007). "Miho Hatori stretches her wings". CHRON. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
14. "Cibo Matto". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
15. Pareles, Jon (January 28, 1996). "CIBO MATTO: 'VIVA! LA WOMAN' Warner Brothers". The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
16. Kaufman, Gil (June 28, 1999). "Cibo Matto Get Eclectic, Break 'Stereo Type' On Second Album". MTV. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
17. "Cibo Matto". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
18. Patrin, Nate (February 11, 2014). "Cibo Matto: Hotel Valentine". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
19. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
20. "Alter Egos". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
21. "Eucademix". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
22. "Smokey & Miho". KCRW. August 9, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
23. ^ "Battle and Coexistence: Miho Hatori Interviewed by Paul Ha". BOMB. May 14, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
24. Rabin, Nathan (March 29, 2002). "The 6ths: Hyacinths And Thistles". AV Club. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
25. Harcourt, Nic (July 26, 2002). "The Baldwin Brothers". KCRW. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
26. Moss, Corey (March 1, 2002). "Zack De La Rocha Joining Blackalicious On 'Blazing Arrow'". MTV. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
27. Moss, Corey (March 28, 2001). "Action Figure Party: All Genres Invited". MTV. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
28. MacNeil, Jason (February 3, 2004). "The Incredible Moses Leroy: Become the Soft.Lightes". PopMatters. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
29. "Miho Hatori: Salon Mondialité". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
30. Stosuy, Brandon (August 6, 2018). "On collaboration and memory: Musician Miho Hatori discusses the value of collaboration, the role of memory in art, and knowing when to let a project go". The Creative Independent. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
31. Berman, Stuart (January 11, 2007). "Miho Hatori: Ecdysis". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
32. ^ Cardew, Ben (July 31, 2018). "New Optimism: Amazon to LeFrak EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
33. "Miss Information: Sequence". Pioneer Works. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
34. Watanabe, Yuya (March 24, 2021). "Unveiling the Reason Why the Artist Based in New York, Miho Hatori, is So Captivated by Japanese Anime and Edouard Glissant's Philosophy". TOKION. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
35. "Hello Nasty". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
36. "Into the Sun". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
37. "Music Romance, Vol. 2: Taboo & Exile". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
38. "'The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone (15th Anniversary Edition)". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
39. "Hyacinths and Thistles". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
40. "Ima / Yoko Ono: Rising Mixes". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
41. "Alter Egos: Credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved July 26, 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Miho Hatori on Oricon (in Japanese)

v t e Cibo Matto
Miho Hatori Yuka Honda Sean Lennon Timo Ellis Duma Love Yuko Araki
Studio albums	Viva! La Woman Stereo Type A Hotel Valentine
Compilations	Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto
EPs	Cibo Matto Super Relax
Singles	"Working for Vacation"
Related articles	Smokey & Miho Butter Into the Sun Noodle Jet Set Radio Future
Category

• Japanese rock singers
• Japanese women rock singers
• Living people
• Singers from Tokyo
• Rykodisc artists
• Japanese emigrants to the United States
• Japanese women in electronic music
• 1971 births
• 21st-century Japanese women singers
• Trip hop musicians
• Cibo Matto members
• Downtempo musicians
• 21st-century Japanese singers