| Noah's Ark | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 13, 2005 | |||
| Genre | Freak folk | |||
| Length | 44:25 | |||
| Label | Touch and Go | |||
| CocoRosie chronology | ||||
| ||||
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]
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]
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."
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 67/100 [6] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Alternative Press | 4/5 [8] |
| The Guardian | [9] |
| The Independent | [10] |
| Mojo | [11] |
| NME | 6/10 [12] |
| Pitchfork | 3.4/10 [13] |
| Q | [14] |
| Spin | F [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]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Oh Sailor" | 3:50 |
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [21] | 98 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [22] | 62 |
Devendra Obi Banhart is an American-Venezuelan singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas, and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. In 2002, Banhart released his debut album and is best known for his albums in the late 2000s such as Cripple Crow and Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. He has since expanded his career to incorporate his interest and training in the visual arts.
CocoRosie is an American musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Sierra Rose "Rosie" and Bianca Leilani "Coco" Casady. The group's music has been described as folktronica, freak folk and "New Weird America", and incorporates elements of pop, blues, opera, electronica, and hip hop. The group has released seven studio albums, La Maison de Mon Rêve (2004), Noah's Ark (2005), The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007), Grey Oceans (2010), Tales of a GrassWidow (2013), Heartache City (2015), and Put the Shine On (2020), and two EPs, Beautiful Boyz (2004) and Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food (2009). They released their sixth album Heartache City on their own record label, Lost Girl Records.
Anohni and the Johnsons is a music ensemble originally based in New York City that presents the work of English singer-songwriter Anohni and her collaborators. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2000. Their second album, 2005's I Am a Bird Now, was certified Gold in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland; it also was awarded that year's UK Mercury Prize.
I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons, released on February 1, 2005 by Secretly Canadian. After it won the 2005 Mercury Prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the prize. As of September 2011, UK sales stood at 220,000 copies.
Jana Hunter is an American songwriter and musician based in Baltimore.
Anohni Hegarty, styled as ANOHNI, is an English-born singer, songwriter, and visual artist. She has presented solo work and as the lead singer of the band Anohni and the Johnsons, formerly known as Antony and the Johnsons.
Cripple Crow is the fifth album by American-Venezuelan psychedelic folk musician Devendra Banhart released on September 13, 2005 on XL Recordings. It was his first release on the label XL Recordings. The cover references the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
La Maison de Mon Rêve, stylized as La maison de mon rêve is the debut studio album by American musical group CocoRosie. The album was recorded in an apartment in Montmartre, Paris, France during 2003 and released by Touch and Go Records on March 9, 2004 in the United States and April 12, 2004 in the United Kingdom.
Beautiful Boyz is an EP by American musical group CocoRosie, released by Touch and Go Records on September 14, 2004. The EP is only available as a digital download, though physical CD promotional media for the EP exists. The EP has been described as alternative, art pop, folktronica, freak folk, indie, and lo-fi indie.
The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is the third studio album by American musical group CocoRosie, released by Touch and Go Records on April 10, 2007.
Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is a Devendra Banhart album released September 25, 2007. This album features more instrumentation than the previous records, as well as more genre experimentation. Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon was recorded in Topanga Canyon in Southern California and is dedicated to Alice Coltrane, Malachi Ritscher and Elliott Smith.
Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, disco, techno and nu-disco.
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"God Has a Voice, She Speaks Through Me" is a single by American music group CocoRosie, released by Touch and Go Records on May 13, 2008. Touch and Go initially produced 3,000 pieces on vinyl, which included an untitled B-side track consisting of noises and distorted singing. On July 8, 2008, the label began releasing 7" picture disc versions of the single. Since 2012, the single has been sold only on digital platforms.
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"Lemonade" is a single by experimental band CocoRosie, released on April 17, 2010, from their album Grey Oceans. The B-side of the CD contains a cover of the Beach Boys' song "Surfer Girl". While both sisters of CocoRosie wrote the single, the music for the album was also contributed to by keyboardist/composer Gael Rakotondrabe.
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Tales of a GrassWidow, sometimes stylized as Tales of a Grasswidow, is the fifth studio album by American musical group CocoRosie. It was released by independent record labels City Slang and Republic of Music on May 27, 2013 in the United Kingdom and May 28, 2013 in the United States. The album's sound has been described as "indie pop" and "indie folk".
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