Too often these days music follows a general template, but every so often a band breaks from the pre-fabricated mold. CocoRosie breaks this mold, combining Blues vocals (Billy Holiday, Beth Gibbons, Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom ) and ethereal Opera singing bound with a broken beat-box sounds of folk ,trip-hop and IDM (Múm) orchestrations. The duo is undeniably original, “La Maison de Mon Rêve” is like finding a long lost cigar box filled with hundreds of little snippets of dream-like music.
CocoRosie was formed when sisters Sierra and Blanca Casady reunited in Paris after living in separate worlds and searching for their own identities. Bianca lived in New York pimping lingerie and modeling while sister Sierra lived in Paris studying at Montmartre for French Opera. Blanca showed up unannounced and stayed in Paris for eight months and the two sisters recorded their enchanting debut on 4-track in a Parisian bath tub. People walking up and down the stairs, the tap dripping, and hundreds of unintended sounds were left in the recording.
The album begins with the folksy “Terrible Angels” with beautiful slow vocal harmonies against a light guitar mixed with bizarre toy animal noises. “By Your Side” takes its cues from Portishead with a trip-hop beat and moody vocals but they blaze new ground as the birds sing and crickets chirp, in the back of their unique orchestrations. One sister exclaims, "All I want with my life/ Is to be a housewife," as the other sings “I’ll always be By Your Side” in a sexy blues style. The song is like a retro and modern dream melding into one. The southern sound of “Jesus Loves Me” contrasts with the delicate sounding “Good Friday” with its romantic lyrics "I fell in love with you/ Just because the sky turned from grey to blue,” and light folk acoustic guitar is cradled between feedback and whispered words. The popcorn popping percussion of “Tahiti Rain Song” keeps the cadence as it gently blends into the harp plucked dreamy “Candy Land” where Sierra sings like and angel above the odd Speak and Spell noises. The girls really showcase their unique craft on “Maddona” with catchy mandolin sounding guitar and painfully soulful vocals. The powerful lead vocals and guitar melody plow through and array of distractions of computer glitch sounds and electronic farm animal noises with a shimmering grace. The album finally comes to close with “Lyla” a very triste track, performed on the piano as the two sisters bid you farewell.
If you’re feeling ready to let go and fall into the sky then CocoRosie is the band for you. The Casady sisters are making music that is so full of music, I recommend taking a mandatory listen to it on your headphones. With electronic ear muffs on you can then hear all the grand diversities of instrumentation and subtle nuances of the tracks that make their songs so unique. I hail them for being so brave to break rules and put out a refreshing new taste of music. CocoRosie are an amazing duo and the sisters have created their own graceful private niche in the music world. |