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Avg: 4.0 (178 ratings)
- Date Released: September 13, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Touch And Go
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We Say...
Noah's Ark is a lovely, otherworldly and highly evocative work that bravely mixes an experimental, child-like sensibility with adult themes. These parlor ballads have an intentionally muffled sound on most tunes, the lulling lullabies a sometimes disturbing mix of backwards loops and playfully plucked pianos and stringed instruments. It's very smart and playful stuff, though. I mean, unicorns copulate on the cover. Two sisters sing in an affected, high-pitched manner; one of them is operatically trained and the other self-taught. Kid's toys form the rhythm section. A dude sort of raps in French on one song. Devendra Banhart and Antony guest star. Largely lumped in with the new folk revival, CocoRosie show themselves on this album to be far too smart, weird and reliant on electronics to fit in there (or anywhere else).
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They Say...
After hearing Noah's Ark, any concerns about CocoRosie becoming too tasteful or straightforward after the widespread critical acclaim for their debut album, La Maison de Mon Reve, can be put to rest. If anything, the album errs in the opposite direction: alternately rambling and hypnotic, it's much more somber and insular (despite the presence of such kindred spirits as Devendra Banhart and Antony of Antony & the Johnsons) than the duo's subversively angelic-sounding debut. La Maison de Mon Reve certainly had a dark undercurrent that added considerable sting to its sweetness, but it's much more prominent on Noah's Ark; sad, eerie lyrics like "K-Hole"'s "All of the aborted babies will turn into little Bambies" are paired with equally spooky, mournful music instead of the deceptively light tones of the group's first album. There's a lot of power in the album's darkness, particularly on the apocalyptic campfire singalong "Armageddon." However, Noah's Ark occasionally feels too mannered and unfocused, and overly reliant on the sound effects and toy instruments that made their first album so surreally charming: in particular, interludes like "Milk" and "Bear Hides and Buffalo" sound like noise collages missing the key pieces that would hold them together. That said, the album still has many moments of transporting beauty, especially on the songs that feel less cloistered. On "Beautiful Boyz," Antony's gorgeous croon adds a touch of cabaret to the song's tale of star-crossed jailhouse love, and Banhart's Spanish-language mysticism on "Brazilian Sun" advances CocoRosie's dreamy exoticism, giving it a more organic feel than it had on La Maison de Mon Reve. Indeed, the more natural moments on Noah's Ark are often the best: the title track, "South 2nd," and "The Sea Is Calm" all put the focus on the Casady sisters' delicate singing and playing. A disappointment mostly in comparison to the seemingly out-of-nowhere brilliance of La Maison de Mon Reve, Noah's Ark might fail to charm those not already bewitched by that album, but it won't break the spell for devoted fans.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
K-Hole |
4:10 |  |
| 02. | |
Beautiful Boyz |
4:37 | |
| 03. | |
South 2nd |
4:09 | |
| 04. | |
Bear Hides And Buffalo |
4:14 | |
| 05. | |
Teckno Love Song |
3:54 | |
| 06. | |
The Sea Is Calm |
3:39 | |
| 07. | |
Noah's Ark |
4:13 | |
| 08. |
Milk |
0:34 | |
|
| 09. | |
Armageddon |
4:04 | |
| 10. | |
Brazilian Sun |
4:38 | |
| 11. | |
Bisounours |
4:06 | |
| 12. | |
Honey Or Tar |
2:08 | |
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