COCOROSIE

THE BAND: CocoRosie is the Casady sisters, Sierra Rose and Bianca Leilani, born in Iowa and Hawaii, respectively. While raised seperately, they both had very astounding upbringings and you get an idea for their musical journey as well. (See their labels home page, Touch and Go/Quarterstick Records for more WILD backstories.) Reuniting again in 2003, they became CocoRosie and created first, a hip-hop album and then their 2nd album just days later. Soon after, CocoRosie began their travels with a of myriad acts, including Bright Eyes, TV on the Radio, Antony and the Johnsons, Devendra Banhart, and Blonde Redhead. Their sound fits well between a lot of those acts. Throughout these travels whenever they had some downtime, they worked on their latest album Noah's Ark. Whenever they had a moment to record - a barn in France, their home in Brooklyn, a Parisian studio, in a grungy hotel room after a show - they did. The songs were formed in a variety of ways using prehistoric recording methods to more modern techniques as well as borrowing friends, family and loved ones vocals. A mother's chant, a nephew's cry and Antony’s angelic falsetto floating across “Beautiful Boyz.”

THE SOUND: My first experience with CocoRosie was the song 'Noah's Ark'. The gorgeous song, a mix of samples and vocals, sounded like something from a Moby session. I thought CR was someone mixing vocals and beats. Then I learn about the sister connection and the upbringings and it starts to make sense. Some wide cross between a black, southern and soul woman like Etta James combined with Cat Power, Antony & the Johnsons and Bjork all tossed in a blender - not stuff I enjoy a lot of but it somehow creates odd yet romantic new sounds. Start with 'Noah's Ark', and move further in from there if you like.

mp3 - Noah's Ark EXPIRED
mp3 - South 2nd EXPIRED
mp3 - Honey or Tar EXPIRED