I saw Lost in Translation a few days ago with Angus and Lady Ladybug and it felt really good. I often end up over-estimating the quality of movies i'm about to see. And this time it met the almost unsatisfiable expectations. I don't know how it happened, but it feels good to be satisfied.

Chib is a Japanese girl, and I guess she's Fat Cat's answer to Tomlab's The Books, even though it's not really fair to compare these artists. Their music work on different levels: while The Books' tracks end up sounding as much as music as small documentaries, Chib's tracks are just music, and it may be one of the reasons why, despite a common working method, Moco isn't as mesmerizing a listen as Thoughts for Food or The Lemon of Pink. 

Here's a day in her life: Chib wakes up, stirs and yawns. She stays in bed for some time and finally gets up. She drinks a glass of cold soy milk and then a glass of orange juice. She takes a shower, prepares herself, takes her md recorder out and records. When she gets back home she puts everything into her computer, cuts and pastes the files into skeletons for little music pieces. people talking, water flowing, wind blowing, phones ringing, a girl breathing. Then she smokes her daily cigarette, watches tv and goes to bed.

As long as it stays focused, Chib's music sounds interesting and sometimes cute. When it sounds less structured and more experimental it loses its initial appeal and you end up feeling like you're standing in a small room with ten TVs playing different programs. But quite often there are precious moments, accidents you don't have the time to grasp, that make this record touching in its very own way.

-Barbara H

/feb 1st 2004/