It's usually not a good idea to go into the recording studio without having some idea of what you're going to record. Most artists have a demo or a written score to work from; some even have full-fledged arrangements down on paper before they start recording.

The members of avant-pop trio Buffalo Daughter have a rather different approach to working in the studio, preferring to start working on an album with no set plans at all.

"We don't really discuss what kind of music we think is good," explains bassist/keyboardist Yumiko Ohno. "When we were recording this album, we talked about the fact that she [guitarist SuGar Yoshinaga] had started keeping a dog. And we have a 'support' member called Atsushi-kun who plays the drums, and he just became the father of twins."