Stereo Type A

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	B+
Rolling Stone

Stereo ★ Type A is the second studio album by Cibo Matto released in 1999. It was their last before they disbanded in 2001.

While having a strong focus on atmospheric and ambient sounds and melody (particularly in "Moonchild"), Stereo ★ Type A also contains a broad range of styles, reaching into hip hop territory in "Sci-Fi Wasabi" (with vocals by Duma Love), and heavy metal in "Blue Train". Furthermore, "Clouds" and "Mortming" contain heavily vocoded vocals. Several critics noted the album's difference from the group's debut, regarding it positively as a progression of style and a maturation.

Despite managing to peak at just #171 on the Billboard 200, the album did reach the top spot of CMJ's College charts.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Cibo Matto, unless otherwise specified.

1. "Working for Vacation" – 3:15
2. "Spoon" – 4:06
3. "Flowers" – 2:59
4. "Lint of Love" (Cibo Matto, Duma Love) – 6:10
5. "Moonchild" – 5:13
6. "Sci-Fi Wasabi" – 3:43
7. "Clouds" – 3:27
8. "Speechless" – 4:32
9. "King of Silence" – 4:55
10. "Blue Train" – 5:21
11. "Sunday Part I" – 3:19
12. "Sunday Part II" – 3:38
13. "Stone" – 3:17
14. "Mortming" (Dougie Bowne) – 3:09

The Japanese release includes the bonus tracks "Backseat" and "Country".

Reception

The album received positive reviews upon its release, with Melody Maker calling it "album of the year so far. Purely joyous pop." Time Out magazine also named it "pure pop LP of the year so far."

Heather Phrase of AllMusic says of the album: "Relying less on samples and more on their latent funk and jazz elements, Stereo ★ Type A sounds like summer in New York -- eclectic, hot, and funky. ...Stereo ★ Type A's overall sound is more direct and less fanciful than of their debut album Viva! La Woman."

In their interview with the band, Barnes & Noble noted the band moving away from writing songs about food, opining the album is a "diverse collection of tracks that includes metal-edged rockers, lounge-influenced pop, pithy hip-hop -- and only one song about culinary delicacies ('Sci-Fi Wasabi')."

Independent publication SOMA Magazine stated: "Stereo ★ Type A confirms that the best way to make pop music is by combining multiple styles... Combined with Yuka Honda's style for sampling and Miho's sensual vocals, Stereo ★ Type A is a complete success." Duke University's student newspaper The Chronicle summarised: "It's a funky alternative to G-105 and definitely a sign that all pop music hasn't gone to hell yet. Here's to hoping Honda and Hatori can bring it back."

Personnel

From the liner notes of Stereo ★ Type A:

• Miho Hatori – vocals, shaker, acoustic guitar, art direction, drawing
• Yuka Honda – producer, sampler and sequencer, organ, piano, electric piano, synthesizer, harpsichord, vocoder, vocals, mixing (14)
• Sean Lennon – electric bass, synth bass, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion, synth, vocoder, vocals, twelve-string guitar, delay pedal
• Timo Ellis – drums, bass, vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, eight-string bass, cymbal, slamming door

Additional musicians ("special guests")

• Duma Love – vocal, percussion, beat box, turntable
• Marc Ribot – electric and acoustic guitar
• Dave Douglas – trumpet
• Curtis Fowlkes – trombone
• Josh Roseman – trombone, horn arrangement (4)
• Dougie Bowne – hi-hat, cymbals
• Sebastian Steinberg – bass
• Yumiko Ohno – Moog, backup vocals
• Vinia Mojica – backup vocals
• Sequoia – backup vocals
• Smokey Hormel – acoustic guitar
• John Medeski – Clavinet
• Billy Martin – percussion

Recording personnel

• Chris Shaw – engineer, mixing (1, 3, 10, 12, 13, 14)
• Tom Schick – engineer
• The Butcher Bros. – engineer, mixing (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9)
• Martin Bisi – engineer
• Zak – arrangement and mixing (7)
• Dan the Automator – mixing (11)
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Chaki/CZA – additional engineering
• Juan Garcia – additional engineering
• John Riegart – additional engineering
• Dirk Grobelny – additional engineering
• Manny Lecuona – additional engineering
• Mikey Bones Malak – additional engineering

Additional personnel

• Pascale Willi – art direction, design and photography