Noah's Ark
Studio album by
CocoRosie
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2005 (2005-09-13)
GenreFreak folk
Length44:25
LabelTouch and Go
CocoRosie chronology
La maison de mon rêve
(2004)		 Noah's Ark
(2005)		 The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
(2007)

Noah's Ark is the second studio album by American musical group CocoRosie, released by Touch and Go Records on September 13, 2005. The album features collaborations with various musicians, including Anohni, Devendra Banhart, and Spleen.[1]

Recording

Noah's Ark features sisters Sierra "Rosie" Casady and Bianca "Coco" Casady on vocals, with traditional instruments including guitars and harps layered over unconventional items used as instruments. The track "Bear Hides and Buffalo" includes a loop of horse and cat sounds over a toy piano hook. Upon the album's release, Bianca described the group’s sound as "sort of an eclectic montage," saying they "float around between a few different instruments and use a bunch of unconventional percussion things. Like toys."[2]

The album was produced and recorded in many different locations, including their mother's farm in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue region of Provence.[3] Sierra stated that "the pursuit of intimate venues" lead to the sisters "pulling over on the side of the road and just recording in a field, or taking a moment in a barn in the South of France, or a studio in Brooklyn."[2]

Collaborations

Anohni (formerly of Antony and the Johnsons and credited as Antony Hegarty) provides vocals and plays piano on the track "Beautiful Boyz", an ode to French novelist, playwright, and convicted felon Jean Genet. Devendra Banhart provides vocals through a cell phone on the track "Brazilian Sun".[4][5] The opening rhymes of "Bisounours" come courtesy of French rapper Spleen.[4] The album also lists Greg Rogove, Diane Cluck, Jana Hunter and Ardzen as "contributing artists."

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Alternative Press4/5[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Independent[10]
Mojo[11]
NME6/10[12]
Pitchfork3.4/10[13]
Q[14]
SpinF[15]
Uncut[16]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

MusicOMH London writer Michael Hubbard wrote, "Noah's Ark has a dreamlike quality to it."[17] Sarah Peters, a former music editor and staff writer for LAS wrote, "Symbolically, the guiding light is important to all who have journeyed on Noah's Ark, and CocoRosie have presented a lesson in love, through hardship, that may not have been as powerful otherwise."[18] In comparison to the sisters' previous work, writer Johnny Ray Huston of the San Francisco Bay Guardian noted, "Their new album, Noah's Ark (Touch and Go), has a more restless feel than their debut – the scratchy, tiny, Victrola-sounding vocals of La Maison sometimes give way to a more naturalistic recording style."[19] Another review came from Heather Phares, writer for allmusic, who commented on the album’s vibe in particular. "There's a lot of power in the album's darkness, particularly on the apocalyptic campfire singalong "Armageddon"".[7]

Although some of the album's reviews were positive, some critics disagreed claiming, "Noah's Ark is more hypnotic and infiltrating than their enchanting (but short shelf-lived) debut, Le Maison de Mon Reve, but ultimately less magical."[7] Other viewpoints were expressed about the contributing artists on the album and how "…the best offerings inevitably arrive in the presence of Antony and Devendra Banhart, whose guest appearances enhance and possibly upstage their lovely hosts."[18]

No Ripcord placed it at number 42 on the "Top 50 Albums of 2005" list.[20]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."K-Hole"4:10
2."Beautiful Boyz"4:37
3."South 2nd"4:09
4."Bear Hides and Buffalo"4:14
5."Tekno Love Song"3:54
6."The Sea Is Calm"3:39
7."Noah's Ark"4:13
8."Milk"0:34
9."Armageddon"4:04
10."Brazilian Sun"4:38
11."Bisounours"4:06
12."Honey or Tar"2:08
Total length:44:25
Australian edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Oh Sailor"3:50

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 98
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 62

References

  1. ↑ "Noah's Ark album info". Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records. Retrieved July 11, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Matt Walton (September 8, 2005). "cocorosie session". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  3. ↑ "CocoRosie: A Ghost is Stillborn" (PDF). CMJ. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "CocoRosie Noah's Ark CD". CD Universe. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
  5. ↑ Liukkonen, Petri. "Jean Genet". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Noah's Ark by CocoRosie". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Phares, Heather. "Noah's Ark – CocoRosie". AllMusic. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  8. ↑ Barnes, Ted (October 2005). "This Ark preserves a perfect pair". Alternative Press (207): 156. Archived from the original on February 10, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ Clarke, Betty (September 8, 2005). "CocoRosie, Noah's Ark". The Guardian. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Richman, Simmy (September 11, 2005). "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark (Touch & Go)". The Independent.
  11. ↑ "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark". Mojo (142): 102. September 2005.
  12. ↑ "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark". NME: 45. October 8, 2005.
  13. ↑ Ubl, Sam (September 15, 2005). "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  14. ↑ "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark". Q (231): 121. October 2005.
  15. ↑ "Breakdown". Spin. 21 (9): 109. September 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  16. ↑ "CocoRosie: Noah's Ark". Uncut (101): 107. October 2005.
  17. ↑ Michael Hubbard (September 12, 2005). "Cocorosie-Noah's Ark (Touch & Go)". MusicOHM. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  18. 1 2 Sarah Peters (September 12, 2005). "CocoRosie Noah's Ark". lasmagazine. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  19. ↑ Johnny Ray Huston (September 12, 2005). "Sisterhood is weirdly powerful". sfbg. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2005 (Part One)". No Ripcord. January 1, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – CocoRosie – Noah's Ark" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – CocoRosie – Noah's Ark". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
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