There's a stereotype of a woman in rock, and an Asian woman at that. Somehow, unless you're Shonen Knife and you're playing bubblegum punk rock to a bunch of kids who love the kitsch factor of it, the rest of the music-listening public makes every attempt to pigeonhole you, and your work, in a place you don't belong. "Yuka Honda" and "Miho Hatori" made some kind of history in 1996, when most critic's and listener's Top Ten lists agreed that "Cibo Matto's" "Viva! La Woman" was one of the best hip-hop records of the year. You heard me. Hip-hop, for God's sake. That is, however, only one of the ways in which "Cibo Matto" is going to be surprising the world in the next few years. There are many more stereotypes abounding, many more misconceptions left to shatter. Can't do it all with one record, but good Lord, they try.

Now it's three years later, and Yuka is done with producing Sean Lennon's new record, "Into The Sun," and Miho's wrapped up her work with Kat Bjelland, Mitchell Froom, and the Beastie Boys (on "Hello Nasty"). Armed with more production knowledge, and Miho's newfound interest in her Brazilian record collection, the duo has powered up an engine that's as uninhibited and diverse as it is tightly wound upon its core of traditional melodies, samples, and beats. It's an expedition into the surefire bizarreness of musicians who are perfectly happy to experience and incorporate absolutely everything that interests them into their music.

The delicious movers "Speechless" and "Lint of Love" are highlights, and the delicious groove of "Spoon," with its supercharged chorus of "We belong as two (two) together...," is my personal Friday-night house-party pick. We find the band venturing into hardcore with "Blue Train," with its crunchy guitar noise and ever-changing tempos, and jazz with the horn section of "Stone."

Pleasantly nutty are the lyrics to "Sci-Fi Wasabi," which read a little like Hatori has been into her thesaurus and pop-culture blender a little too late into the evening, with lines like "There is a hole on Broadway, no control, it's in my way/ I feel no goal, where is my soul?/, I got no reset for this game," and "Aint' no analogy for individuality/ I got immunity from multiplicity/ That's how we do it/ You got your harmony/ Where is your identity?"

But fear not! The hip-hop isn't gone, just muted in the lazy beat of "Sunday," with its familiar tale of loving and losing and getting that man to shape his act up.

I found this record really quite agreeable from a band that continues to innovate and surprise. If you're into something that's just plain different, I pass this along. It's weird but catchy, the perfect thing to throw on the stereo at your next gathering. I guarantee you'll get questions, maybe even a convert or two.