n oldie, but a goodie. Cibo Matto's first full-length shows the Japanese-born duo at their kitschy height. Combining tape loops, hip-hop breaks, and everything but the kitchen sink in samples, Cibo Matto creates an odd and infectious pastiche of sound. The result are hip-hop based tracks reminiscent of the Beastie Boys or Beck in their fusion of styles and irreverence. Stronger vocally than lyrically, singer Miho Hatori has essentially two modes -- rapping about food or crooning ethereally about food. However, the short song lengths and wild energy keep Viva La Woman from becoming boring or grating.


Each song combines similar elements -- hip hop loops, cheesy retro keyboards, sampled jazz licks, and various other found sounds. A few songs manage to stand out. "Beef Jerky" shows the Beastie-est side of Cibo Matto, with the advantage of a cute Japanese girl rapping instead of three scuzzy guys from New York. "Sugar Water" succeeds in the "delicate eerieness" department better than any other song on the album, with cooing choral samples and a strummed accoustic guitar. "Birthday Cake" spouts more adrenaline than anything else, with a blazing guitar lick and shouted chorus. A practically requisite cover of "Candy Man" takes the original on a different path with Hitori singing the original lyrics with a much more sexually suggestive intonation.


The rest of the album tends to be strong, with a few misteps -- "Theme" attempts to fuse all of Cibo Matto's sound into one 10-minute track separated by movements. Beat-mistress Yuka Honda bites off more than she can chew, and the song gradually devolves into a 6-minute calypso loop. "Theme" illustrates the main drawback of the band -- total reliance on loops. When the songs stay under the 4-minute mark, the repetition tends to be a lot less grating. Overall though, an excellent first album.