Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
Alicia De Larrocha Plays Granados
Bach: Chorales; Motet BWV 118; Quodlibet; Notenbüchlein for A. M. Bach
Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 2 & 4
Amazon.com
A unicorn, a rainbow spitting zebra and what looks to be a horse sprouting a third eye are engaged in group sex on the illustrated cover of CocoRosie's second album. If that leads you to expect something playful and magical but also starkly screwed-up from the recording inside, you are on the right path. With assistance from Antony and Devendra, Ark is easily one of the most rewarding releases of 2005. The core of the music is made by singers/multi-instrumentalists Sierra and Bianca Cassidy, formerly estranged sisters who bonded over music and made their magical debut in a Paris flat. Their music has a lunatic music box feel that ought to appeal to fans of Bjork and Joanna Newsom, while the lyrics mine transgressive territory more often found in a book by JT LeRoy than a pop song. The true stars of the album are the singers' lovely, ethereal voices, which refract a '30s jazz-blues idiom through a strangely deadened, forever-sad delivery. It's the vocal equivalent of the toymaker's creations from Blade Runner and it is simply beautiful! -Mike McGonigal
Album Description
Since the mysterious and beautiful "La Maison de Mon Reve" surfaced in early 2004, CocoRosie have spent months traveling the world with the likes of Bright Eyes, TV On The Radio, Antony And The Johnsons, Devendra Banhart, and Blonde Redhead. Along the way, "Noah's Ark" took shape, where heart-offerings of friends, family, loved ones and lost ones surface gracefully, contributing depth to the narrative journey. "Noah's Ark" is the result of a rootless reality, a drifting consciousness across state lines, date lines, time lines...connected to the past, vague about the future. But the heart of these songs is always issued from a tender present.