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COCOROSIE More like Ghey Oceans, amirite?
CocoRosie are a divisive, if not flat-out widely disliked, band. The twee, folkadelic, fond-of-beat-boxing sister act's last three albums have landed in the 2.3–5.1 range of Pitchfork's 10 rating system—worse than it sounds given that the big hump of that site's bell curve sits in the 6–8 area, making anything under 5 kind of a slap. Metacritic's more forgiving metrics (it averages the ratings of many reviews) give those albums a mean (in the mathematical, not the snarky sense) rating of 59, 60, and 67 out of 100, respectively. In academic terms, those are Fs and (to quote Kanye West quoting Radio Raheem) "Ds, motherfucker, Ds."
Beyond the numbers, of course, people just say mean things about the sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady. Spin, in a zero-stars review of their 2005 sophomore album, Noah's Ark, memorably said: "They make each shimmer of postnatal whimsy seem like an eternal gulag of the spotless mind." One particularly bone-picking (and off-base) critic, writing for Brainwashed .com, called them "Cocoracist" (for reasons we'll explore later) in an article subtitled "You're So Worldly, How's Mom's Audi?" Why all the hate? The Stranger attempts to get to the bottom of this pressing issue in popular music.
They're Privileged/They're Appropriators
Stranger Personals
Call this the Vampire Weekend argument, and it's as specious here as it is with that band. In terms of privilege, Sierra and Bianca grew up roaming the Southwestern United States and Hawaii, the children of an artist/teacher mother who encouraged them to drop out of school and a father devoted to Native American/psychedelic shamanism. The pair started the band while living in Paris, la-di-da, and recorded their first album, La Maison de Mon Rêve, in a (presumably claw-foot) bathtub. Sierra studied opera; Bianca worked as a model. This apparently luxe life rubs some folks the wrong way, especially when the sisters start dabbling in hiphop tropes or talking up the influence of the Wu-Tang Clan (cf. Vampire Weekend and Afropop, Lil Jon). But even if you're a class warrior, it's just bad form to discount someone's artistic merit because of her supposed socioeconomic background. And it's equally dense and antiquated to accuse CocoRosie's magpie style of unfair "appropriation" when we live in a culture that is, now more than ever, cross-pollinating, globalized, and polyglot, where people can listen to and engage with and produce all types of musics without necessarily being tourists or neocolonialists, where no one "owns" hiphop, etc. (Besides, they claim Syrian and Native American ancestry, so there.)
They Dropped the "N-Bomb"
Although, to be fair, so did John and Yoko and Patti Smith about a million years ago. But context matters, so let's cut to the CocoRosie song in question, "Jesus Loves Me": "Jesus loves me/But not my wife/Not my nigger friends/Or their nigger lives." The song is obviously sung in character, its affected Billie Holiday warble (David Sedaris's is better) and lazy back-porch, blues-guitar plucking an antique grotesquerie in keeping with the band's frequently deployed old-timey affectations. It certainly lands like a reminder that some things from the old-timey times FUCKING SUCKED. Like slavery. And ragtime. Still, this kind of face-value blackface revivalism reads a lot less powerfully than Lennon/Ono's or Smith's pointed uses of epithet as analogy. If you're going to try to shock, you better not forget to awe.
They're Women
This is the argument that CocoRosie get more shit for all their lame crap than they would if they were dudes. Without pretending we live in some postgender paradise, it's safe to say that all the hate heaped on Vampire Weekend for grappling with the aesthetics of class or, say, any number of white male rappers for playing fast and loose with hiphop's codes of race and authenticity proves that guys get called out on this nonsense, too.
That Album Cover
The Casady sisters have a thing for deliberately bad cover art (previously: crayon drawings of unicorns fucking) and they may like to play with hiphop idioms, but the cover for their new Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, has a loooooong way to go before it gets around the horn to being so bad that it's good, à la Pen & Pixel's mighty, Master P–fueled run of deliciously lowbrow digital excess in the late '90s. This just looks like their avatars for World of LOLcraft.
They Don't Deserve to Be on Sub Pop
This one hits especially close to home for some Seattleites who hold our local mega-indie in almost mythically high regard (and who, just maybe, think their demo should've landed them a deal before these two boho bozos got theirs). But this objection also falls apart pretty quickly when you consider that Sub Pop's storied catalog is full of oddball, occasionally awful records alongside its grunge canon; it has never shied away from signing an unusual act, especially if it might stir up some good controversy.
Their Music Is Terrible
Okay, so this one is subjective, but it's also the only good reason for hating the band. It's not damning that they engage with hiphop or affect old-timey mannerisms; it's that the results are so facile and fallow and precious. It's that their songs somehow manage to be both grating and yet so flimsy that they're barely even there. Your ears will prick up for the nicked Eastern rhythm and melody (and ignorable playtime rap) of "Smokey Taboo," for instance, only for the tentative goodwill to be dashed by the cloying ragtime intro of "Hopscotch Teardrop." The appealingly múm-like lullaby and hollowed-out trip-hop beat of "R.I.P. Burn Face" turns over into three straight songs of raspy babytalk nonsense. You'll enjoy the music for a moment before those damn elfin, have-one-on-Joanna-Newsom vocals kick back in and you notice the daft lyrics. Repeat ad nauseum.
Or better yet, don't. 
1
I think people's problems with CR is a reaction to the aesthetic and less the music.
I knew nothing about them prior to hearing their music (which I liked). So I was surprised to learn of all the hate.
I knew nothing about them prior to hearing their music (which I liked). So I was surprised to learn of all the hate.
2
Stereogum had an op-ed piece on them a couple of days ago - a bunch of musicians talking about why they like them... I'm not sure that I agree with most of the article, but it was an interesting read.
3
all of this is news to me (except that they are women and that their music is terrible) and i still fucking hate them. i expected to like them, i *tried* to like them, but i just can't.
4
This is what I heard about them, that made me hate them!: http://www.brainwashed.com/index.php?opt…
5
Saw their twilight Bumbershoot-closing performance a few years back and it was amazing. But I was into the first album then. Can't comment on what they've been up to since.
Also: "ragtime sucks"?
Also: "ragtime sucks"?
8
Also, they sucked just as much when they were on Touch and Go, a label just as respectable (if not more) then Sub Pop.
9
I don't really have a dog in this fight (I have listened to CR a bit and find them extremely uneven but sometimes quite interesting). But I'd have to say that the brainwashed link, which I followed at the invitation of Adam Superfan, is a real piece of crap. One of the CR women says that she is in uncomfortable at hip-hop clubs because the men are "really hard-core"?? And that she likes the "Kill Whitey" parties because "it's a safe environment to be freaky"? This is racist? Or "henious"? Sorry, but if you're going to put the hate on CR, you'll have to do better than that.
10
"...yet as women Cocorosie are dismissed because their visual presentation frustrates many male writers’ abilities to sexualize them. Who are you assigning to think on your behalf?" - Antony Hegarty
13
eh, whatever... I like them. Some of its a miss, but overall I think they make some interesting and beautiful music.
*but* to be fair to all you haters, I must acknowledge:
The song where they drop the N word? yeah... not really their song to write.
The new cover of their latest release? awful
*but* to be fair to all you haters, I must acknowledge:
The song where they drop the N word? yeah... not really their song to write.
The new cover of their latest release? awful
14
I am really enjoying this exchange. I don't know if this album merits this much scrutiny, but what the hell. Why not?
15
I saw them at OTB a few years back for the totally underwhelming NY Freak folk showcase. I liked one song by them at the time. After seeing that show I became a full fledged hater. Care bear cartoons in the background. childrens toys that didn't work correctly. start overs on songs. They just seemed TERRIBLY unprepared and a totally unprofessional.
I'm in the hate group. And that new cover is the worst. What the hell happened to Sub Pop?!? First Postal Service, now this crap.
I'm in the hate group. And that new cover is the worst. What the hell happened to Sub Pop?!? First Postal Service, now this crap.
16
I'm with Chris, both the music and the aesthetic are rotten. Jeff kinda has a point, but for most bands (especially "indie" type bands) don't the music and the aesthetic kinda inform each other? For nearly every band I love (and loathe) the two are very interconnected.
17
@8, @16
I liked the CR song "Lemonade."
FWIW: I think Fever Ray flies the freak flag higher and with more talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3EcAHdH…
I liked the CR song "Lemonade."
FWIW: I think Fever Ray flies the freak flag higher and with more talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3EcAHdH…
18
this whole exchange makes me actually wish I liked this band more than I do. but that record cover really bummed me out.
I was actually contemplating this band today. like Jeff said, that "Lemonade" song is pretty great. nice and haunting atmosphere, rap whispers that are just irritating enough, and a kicky, 1940's-esque hook. to be honest, I wish I thought of it first. but the rest of that album (from a cursory listen) is just self-indulgent bullshit. its like they blew all their ideas on one song and then spent the rest of the 40 minutes phoning it in... which could be said about nearly any other record these days. I dunno, that last record was a tough hang at parts but at least it had a handful of good material. I don't really have an opinion on anything before that. they were always out of my radar prior to working at a record store, and life seemed fine.
I was actually contemplating this band today. like Jeff said, that "Lemonade" song is pretty great. nice and haunting atmosphere, rap whispers that are just irritating enough, and a kicky, 1940's-esque hook. to be honest, I wish I thought of it first. but the rest of that album (from a cursory listen) is just self-indulgent bullshit. its like they blew all their ideas on one song and then spent the rest of the 40 minutes phoning it in... which could be said about nearly any other record these days. I dunno, that last record was a tough hang at parts but at least it had a handful of good material. I don't really have an opinion on anything before that. they were always out of my radar prior to working at a record store, and life seemed fine.
19
The Billie Holiday/Devendra Banhart Warble was cute for about 15 seconds, but the hollow, precious nature of the lyrical content really kills it.
20
If there was an instrumental version of "Lemonade," then I think it would be a pretty good jam. I just hate everything about the vocals and the lyrics. And seeing those two on screen with their stupid stupid makeup and costumes was like heaping shit upon feces.
Jeff, I checked out some Fever Ray per your recommendation. Not really my jam, but some cool ideas, and I dig the dark vibe running through most of the songs I heard. Also, unlike CocoRosie, it didn't make me want to strangle kittens.
Jeff, I checked out some Fever Ray per your recommendation. Not really my jam, but some cool ideas, and I dig the dark vibe running through most of the songs I heard. Also, unlike CocoRosie, it didn't make me want to strangle kittens.
21
This pile on does make me think about the band's intentions, especially with the album cover. We know from previous releases that they actually like to offend people with the cover art. So according to artistic intentions, they're successful. When it comes to the music, I have a tendency to imagine the band as a scrappy little garage mash up, barely competent but joyfully inspired. For at least a third of the time, they seem to be having fun. (I like the dumb "Hopscotch" sample, Eric, sorry. But I can understand if it annoys the hell out of you, that's the perils of odd hooks.) When I am brought back to reality by the fact that they're older hipsters, the "poetry" in "Smokey Taboo" seems pretty bad. Then I realize I might actually like it because it's bad and makes me think about it. It's been common in the past few years for people to say that there are no guilty pleasures in music, but this is my proof otherwise: I really like both of those songs, and know I have no way to critically defend them. I'm just fine with feeling good and bad about something at the same time.
24
Re: Reason#3 (they're women), the difference in CCR's situation is that they are women playing experimental "freak folk" music, which is a challenging, not easily digestible genre to begin with.
I can see how people might be more quick to dismiss weird music being made by two upper class, pretty ex-models in costume as just terrible than they would if dudely musician types like Climax Golden Twins, Earth, or Sun City Girls were making it.
There was a Souncheck interview with Rachel Maddux from Paste Magazine who'd compiled a list of people with the best "bad" voices, and almost no women were included on it. They asked her why that was and she said she hadn't thought about it. So I think gender is more of a factor with these non-traditional styles of music than people acknowledge.
I can see how people might be more quick to dismiss weird music being made by two upper class, pretty ex-models in costume as just terrible than they would if dudely musician types like Climax Golden Twins, Earth, or Sun City Girls were making it.
There was a Souncheck interview with Rachel Maddux from Paste Magazine who'd compiled a list of people with the best "bad" voices, and almost no women were included on it. They asked her why that was and she said she hadn't thought about it. So I think gender is more of a factor with these non-traditional styles of music than people acknowledge.
25
@24: I don't think CocoRosie really have as much in common with Earth or CGT as they do with, say, Ween. Ween are dudes and I might hate them even more than CocoRosie.
27
I think they are fantastic, and realistic. How many white females would be comfortable getting freaky in a male heavy black hip hop club? They want to get freaky, everyone has a right to do that where they're comfortable. I don't really like the name "kill whitey" but there are many other names that bother me more. Ultimately, they don't seem to take themselves very seriously and that is more than half the appeal for me.
28
They might refer to themselves as interdisciplinary. That is what's wrong with them. That's what's wrong with everybody.
@24 - You can't call them CCR!
@24 - You can't call them CCR!
32
Well, CocoRosie just plain sucks. The only reason we've ever been subjected to their "music" is due to their atheistic and because they're female. A male band would never get away with that - thus the well deserved hate.
CocoRosie girl #1, "Hey want to start a band?'
CocoRosie Girl #2: "Sure, but we can't sing, play instruments, or compose songs."
CocoRosie Girl #1: "That's OK... 'cause we can put on shitty make-up, girl-stashes, and stupid Victorian clothes. Then we'll just use some sample tracks while we play with kid toys while you whine in your Elmer Fudd voice... we'll call that music. Oh yeah, we'll get some press photos of us siting in an old-school claw foot tub. Then Sub Pop will sign us."
CocoRosie Girl #2: "So we'll just be a shitty version of Bjork?"
CocoRosie Girl #1: "Bingo!"
@26 - I like the cut of your jib.
CocoRosie girl #1, "Hey want to start a band?'
CocoRosie Girl #2: "Sure, but we can't sing, play instruments, or compose songs."
CocoRosie Girl #1: "That's OK... 'cause we can put on shitty make-up, girl-stashes, and stupid Victorian clothes. Then we'll just use some sample tracks while we play with kid toys while you whine in your Elmer Fudd voice... we'll call that music. Oh yeah, we'll get some press photos of us siting in an old-school claw foot tub. Then Sub Pop will sign us."
CocoRosie Girl #2: "So we'll just be a shitty version of Bjork?"
CocoRosie Girl #1: "Bingo!"
@26 - I like the cut of your jib.
33
I hated their music for years, no opinion at all of the rest of the crap some of you are obsessed with. Just before Grey Oceans came out something resonated and, while there are some misses, overall I got really into their older albums.
Grey Oceans has been in one of my CD players for the last two weeks now. Every time I start to think, "why the hell do I like this, it's annoying" something in the song stands out and I think "this is brilliant, I'm glad I stuck around."
I don't find their music pleasant necessarily, but I do think it's good.
Grey Oceans has been in one of my CD players for the last two weeks now. Every time I start to think, "why the hell do I like this, it's annoying" something in the song stands out and I think "this is brilliant, I'm glad I stuck around."
I don't find their music pleasant necessarily, but I do think it's good.
36
@17 - What the hell does Fever Ray have to do with these idiots? Please never make such comparison again. I want to barf thinking Fever Ray's name appeared in a thread about this topic.
37
@17 - What the hell does Fever Ray have to do with these idiots? Please never make such comparison again. I want to barf thinking Fever Ray's name appeared in a thread about this topic.
38
Good music or good art attracts attention, good or bad. It makes people think and have an opinion, not be apathetic. I have seen them twice and they were amazing. They have a distinct artistic vision that combines genres of music, like hip hop to opera to old speak spell toys. Tell me the last time you heard of a band doing that? And as for Sub Pop, they only signed them because they have a enormous following and Touch and GO, their last label closed shop. Sub Pop has been treading artistic water for a while. What was the last creative record they released, AFCGT? Anything else in the last two years? Do you really think Sub Pop would've signed them, if they saw that at a gallery in Pioneer Square or at the Sunset? Plezz only if they were dudes with beards and flannels....then again, they had to go to France to do that.
39
Good music or good art attracts attention, good or bad. It makes people think and have an opinion, not be apathetic. I have seen them twice and they were amazing. They have a distinct artistic vision that combines genres of music, like hip hop to opera to old speak spell toys. Tell me the last time you heard of a band doing that? And as for Sub Pop, they only signed them because they have a enormous following and Touch and GO, their last label closed shop. Sub Pop has been treading artistic water for a while. What was the last creative record they released, AFCGT? Anything else in the last two years? Do you really think Sub Pop would've signed them, if they saw that at a gallery in Pioneer Square or at the Sunset? Plezz only if they were dudes with beards and flannels....then again, they had to go to France to do that.
41
if you've made it far enough that people hate you ... your on your way to true success!! anything complacently loved at all angles ... isn't trying.
42
@40
if you're going to talk shit, you should probably do it with facts: Cherokee are known for being lighter skinned than any other North American tribe. there are plenty of whiter people out there claiming to be descended from way darker tribes. so as an answer to your question, I suppose so?
if you're going to talk shit, you should probably do it with facts: Cherokee are known for being lighter skinned than any other North American tribe. there are plenty of whiter people out there claiming to be descended from way darker tribes. so as an answer to your question, I suppose so?
43
the cover for their new Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, has a loooooong way to go before it gets around the horn to being so bad that it's good
I'm not quite sure about this... I actually can't think of the last time I've spent this much time pondering just what it is that makes a cover bad to this degree. I won't argue that that makes it so bad it's good, but it does make it so bad that it's something! I mean, seriously, stare into that cover and tell me how it could possibly be any worse. It couldn't, and to me that means it simply had to have been deliberate.
I haven't heard the album yet, but I took a listen to Hopscotch, and it's actually good. For some reason I expected to hate the ragtime sample too from reading about it, but I didn't. That song is heaps better than a lot of the light-pop crap Sub Pop's been putting out lately, like The Postal Service...
I'm not quite sure about this... I actually can't think of the last time I've spent this much time pondering just what it is that makes a cover bad to this degree. I won't argue that that makes it so bad it's good, but it does make it so bad that it's something! I mean, seriously, stare into that cover and tell me how it could possibly be any worse. It couldn't, and to me that means it simply had to have been deliberate.
I haven't heard the album yet, but I took a listen to Hopscotch, and it's actually good. For some reason I expected to hate the ragtime sample too from reading about it, but I didn't. That song is heaps better than a lot of the light-pop crap Sub Pop's been putting out lately, like The Postal Service...
45
Eric, THANK YOU!!! Will you have my babies? Also, I think each of their C.D.s should come with a fucking teletubby doll and a time machine, so you can get back the parts of your life you wasted listening to their bullshit "recordings." Love, Aubrie
46
Thanks to the internet, everyone's an asshole. Don't like something? Awesome, go ahead and don't like it. But, for Christ's sake(get it?), keep it to yourself. The world is full of enough negativity as it is. How's that for hippie bullshit?
47
I think James got it about perfect w/ the comparison to Ween.
I have a feeling this is going to be one of those bands people will be embarrassed to have owned the albums of, like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or something.
I have a feeling this is going to be one of those bands people will be embarrassed to have owned the albums of, like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or something.
48
@46, please see Humperson's third law of Meta:
http://imomus.livejournal.com/468556.htm…
No critical statement is exempt from its own strictures. Every statement which seeks to summarize and critique a pre-existing statement (in other words every statement except for those in the mysterious "world of origins") will tend to exemplify, in itself, the things it deplores in the original statement, thus opening itself up to the same critique, and so on, recursively. And incrementally, for a summary of a statement tends to exemplify its faults more succinctly and intensely.
http://imomus.livejournal.com/468556.htm…
No critical statement is exempt from its own strictures. Every statement which seeks to summarize and critique a pre-existing statement (in other words every statement except for those in the mysterious "world of origins") will tend to exemplify, in itself, the things it deplores in the original statement, thus opening itself up to the same critique, and so on, recursively. And incrementally, for a summary of a statement tends to exemplify its faults more succinctly and intensely.
49
Ghosthorse was really good with a few duds. This one only has 3 or 4 good songs. They are a pretty good band. I don't even listen to bands with girl singers and I don't even listen to rap but I like this band. I think they're genuine and very expressive. I had a friend of mine of that started crying because "werewolf" had moved her so much. She has good taste in music and is not dumb. There is a lot of beauty and heartfelt emotion in their work. They aren't faking shit. Just because you can't enjoy them is no reason to slag them.
50
@Jeff
Fever Ray and Coco Rosie are leagues apart. I only like one Coco Rosie song--Rainbow Warriors--I couldn't stand the rest of the tracks. Fever Ray is genius, not quite up there with Bjork, imho, but definitely fantastic.
Fever Ray and Coco Rosie are leagues apart. I only like one Coco Rosie song--Rainbow Warriors--I couldn't stand the rest of the tracks. Fever Ray is genius, not quite up there with Bjork, imho, but definitely fantastic.
51
I like CocoRosie a lot. (I like ragtime A LOT, as well.) And I can't see their 'Jesus Loves Me' as anything but complaining about racism, something I've been doing my whole life and related to instantly.
They get to live their lives wandering around the world being boho and recording weird music? That's great for them. I'm sure I'd enjoy the hell out of that lifestyle. Who wouldn't?
And I don't give a shit about the cover art. The font's not my favorite, but so what? Are we being angry that they aren't doing their jobs as women and being sexy and attractive? What the fuck ever. On to the music. I like the music.
They get to live their lives wandering around the world being boho and recording weird music? That's great for them. I'm sure I'd enjoy the hell out of that lifestyle. Who wouldn't?
And I don't give a shit about the cover art. The font's not my favorite, but so what? Are we being angry that they aren't doing their jobs as women and being sexy and attractive? What the fuck ever. On to the music. I like the music.
52
@51 I agree with you except that I think they are very sexy. They remind me of my wife in her teens. I've only seen pictures, but she had this awful style, because she was trying to crack the budding box she was stuck in. Bad hair, bad clothes, great young, fresh and some borrowed ideas. Male artists aren't subjected to this sort of antagonism rebelling against their masculinity. Bowie, Jackson, Prince, Poison got huge props from female fans. Going against the grain and rebelling is sexy. Even when you are trying to break the sexy mold you are formed from. Guess CCR haters are too blinded by the graininess of the image to appreciate the rebellion. Anyhow, I would much rather be in a claw foot tub with the two of them than a king-size bed with a postcard princess -- I'm positive it would be way more fun!
53
Yes, Cocorosie make the most awful music. As for the aesthetics issue: I have no problem with their appearance (masculine, feminine, both, whatever, it's fine). I do have a problem with the narrative attached to their aesthetics, which I find totally disingenuous, pretentious, and contrived.
For example, the whole idea of them being Native American. Cocorosie are a quarter Cherokee, maybe less. Their father was a white dude who went around acting like a "shaman." They grew up totally as rich and privileged white people without ever identifying as or having been treated like a Native person. That gives Cocorosie no right to claim a Cherokee identity and prance around in headdresses, not to mention to use this so-called heritage of theirs to attach some kind of mystical earth-mother shamanistic we-are-so-much-more-spiritually-elevated-than-you element to the music/band's image. This is worse than just an annoying gimmick.
It's part of the reason why I do believe they are indeed racist, albeit probably not consciously. They are like many white people who appropriate the shit out of other cultures and thereby promote harmful generalizations and stereotypes (ahem Neon Indian).
AND, I have a problem with their privilege because I DO think you can discredit Cocorosie's credibility based upon their socioeconomic background. So much of their music is lauded as coming from "artists" who are "free" and have some kind of preternatural insight into what it means to be a "child" or live outside of cultural norms. Well, it's easy to be a total weirdo and a "nomad" if you have never had to work a real job in your life and your mom pays for you to travel and to live her in french countryside house.
Aaand I'm spent.
For example, the whole idea of them being Native American. Cocorosie are a quarter Cherokee, maybe less. Their father was a white dude who went around acting like a "shaman." They grew up totally as rich and privileged white people without ever identifying as or having been treated like a Native person. That gives Cocorosie no right to claim a Cherokee identity and prance around in headdresses, not to mention to use this so-called heritage of theirs to attach some kind of mystical earth-mother shamanistic we-are-so-much-more-spiritually-elevated-than-you element to the music/band's image. This is worse than just an annoying gimmick.
It's part of the reason why I do believe they are indeed racist, albeit probably not consciously. They are like many white people who appropriate the shit out of other cultures and thereby promote harmful generalizations and stereotypes (ahem Neon Indian).
AND, I have a problem with their privilege because I DO think you can discredit Cocorosie's credibility based upon their socioeconomic background. So much of their music is lauded as coming from "artists" who are "free" and have some kind of preternatural insight into what it means to be a "child" or live outside of cultural norms. Well, it's easy to be a total weirdo and a "nomad" if you have never had to work a real job in your life and your mom pays for you to travel and to live her in french countryside house.
Aaand I'm spent.
54
Yes, Cocorosie make the most awful music. As for the aesthetics issue: I have no problem with their appearance (masculine, feminine, both, whatever, it's fine). I do have a problem with the narrative attached to their aesthetics, which I find totally disingenuous, pretentious, and contrived.
For example, the whole idea of them being Native American. Cocorosie are a quarter Cherokee, maybe less. Their father was a white dude who went around acting like a "shaman." They grew up totally as rich and privileged white people without ever identifying as or having been treated like a Native person. That gives Cocorosie no right to claim a Cherokee identity and prance around in headdresses, not to mention to use this so-called heritage of theirs to attach some kind of mystical earth-mother shamanistic we-are-so-much-more-spiritually-elevated-than-you element to the music/band's image. This is worse than just an annoying gimmick.
It's part of the reason why I do believe they are indeed racist, albeit probably not consciously. They are like many white people who appropriate the shit out of other cultures and thereby promote harmful generalizations and stereotypes (ahem Neon Indian).
AND, I have a problem with their privilege because I DO think you can discredit Cocorosie's credibility based upon their socioeconomic background. So much of their music is lauded as coming from "artists" who are "free" and have some kind of preternatural insight into what it means to be a "child" or live outside of cultural norms. Well, it's easy to be a total weirdo and a "nomad" if you have never had to work a real job in your life and your mom pays for you to travel and to live her in french countryside house.
Aaand I'm spent.
For example, the whole idea of them being Native American. Cocorosie are a quarter Cherokee, maybe less. Their father was a white dude who went around acting like a "shaman." They grew up totally as rich and privileged white people without ever identifying as or having been treated like a Native person. That gives Cocorosie no right to claim a Cherokee identity and prance around in headdresses, not to mention to use this so-called heritage of theirs to attach some kind of mystical earth-mother shamanistic we-are-so-much-more-spiritually-elevated-than-you element to the music/band's image. This is worse than just an annoying gimmick.
It's part of the reason why I do believe they are indeed racist, albeit probably not consciously. They are like many white people who appropriate the shit out of other cultures and thereby promote harmful generalizations and stereotypes (ahem Neon Indian).
AND, I have a problem with their privilege because I DO think you can discredit Cocorosie's credibility based upon their socioeconomic background. So much of their music is lauded as coming from "artists" who are "free" and have some kind of preternatural insight into what it means to be a "child" or live outside of cultural norms. Well, it's easy to be a total weirdo and a "nomad" if you have never had to work a real job in your life and your mom pays for you to travel and to live her in french countryside house.
Aaand I'm spent.
55
I like CocoRosie.
In fact, I love CocoRosie's music.
The whole "oh it's bad music" bullshit is an OPINION, rather than a FACT.
In fact, I love CocoRosie's music.
The whole "oh it's bad music" bullshit is an OPINION, rather than a FACT.
56
CocoRosie is fucking incredible! Their music just kicks my ass all over the place! People worrying about their "privileged backgrounds" and
"appropriating culture" crap are dumbshits! Who gives a shit? Shamanism is awesome! And dumbshit actually wants to to slag them for being part Cherokee! WTF? Why do you think they need some kind of pc permission to be into the shit we should ALL be getting into. I just think these pseudo-intellectual critics are a fucking joke and CocoRosie rocks! They're a credit to Subpop or any record label. You think three chord grunge is the fucking height of musical expression? CocoRosie is miles ahead of 99% of the bands out there. It's really sad that people rip on a brilliant band like this so hard. You better think again fools.
"appropriating culture" crap are dumbshits! Who gives a shit? Shamanism is awesome! And dumbshit actually wants to to slag them for being part Cherokee! WTF? Why do you think they need some kind of pc permission to be into the shit we should ALL be getting into. I just think these pseudo-intellectual critics are a fucking joke and CocoRosie rocks! They're a credit to Subpop or any record label. You think three chord grunge is the fucking height of musical expression? CocoRosie is miles ahead of 99% of the bands out there. It's really sad that people rip on a brilliant band like this so hard. You better think again fools.
57
Wow, hold the fuck on you guys, I understand your reactions, CocoRosie being off the beaten track and everything but WHAT? Pretend-Cherokee racist rich white kids that haven't had any real jobs? That's offensive. What do you know about their economy, what their job experiences have been like or how they've been treated? And, accusing someone of being racist is pretty serious, you should at least research it before you decide it's true. http://www.splendidezine.com/features/co…
Besides, CCR are actually saying something about the limits and rules, we, you guys, are making for what is "normal" or "good". Do you find a particular CocoRosie vocal track, narrative or piece of clothing annoying? Chance is, they do too, and it is included for that very reason.
Besides, CCR are actually saying something about the limits and rules, we, you guys, are making for what is "normal" or "good". Do you find a particular CocoRosie vocal track, narrative or piece of clothing annoying? Chance is, they do too, and it is included for that very reason.
58
Claiming that people dislike Cocorosie for being women, is just as discriminative as them being "racist". Your like or dislike for a certain music style should not be based upon an artists beliefs. I am not Christian, but I listen to my fare share of Christian music. Should I dislike them because they preach a different religion? Not at all. You like what you like and leave it at that, stop bringing gender and beliefs into a place it doesn't belong.
59
Everyone is so stupid. Honestly, I wasn't at all surprised CocoRosie's message and aesthetic went over everyone's heads. They are way too smart for the American music scene.
Truth is you're going to have artistic CLASSICS complementing and in complete awe of CocoRosie on a wide variety of reasons (which they actually have, Including Yoko Ono)...
Whereas, if "artists" like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry were to listen and view the music and aesthetic. They would do as so many others have done and just consider it shit without having any idea what's going on.
There is a whole set up behind their music that hasn't obviously been very throughly looked into. Do your homework before you claim to know your shit.
This band is only cut out for the people that can understand real art and respect unique details without a closed mind.
Truth is you're going to have artistic CLASSICS complementing and in complete awe of CocoRosie on a wide variety of reasons (which they actually have, Including Yoko Ono)...
Whereas, if "artists" like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry were to listen and view the music and aesthetic. They would do as so many others have done and just consider it shit without having any idea what's going on.
There is a whole set up behind their music that hasn't obviously been very throughly looked into. Do your homework before you claim to know your shit.
This band is only cut out for the people that can understand real art and respect unique details without a closed mind.
60
5 reasons why people dislike CocoRosie:
1) They're whiny, non-leftist yuppies claiming to be (so-called) Liberals that have nothing better to do with their bored, mundane existence but make fun of/condemn someone/somebody who happens to be more original than them.
2) Because their stupid (really, really, really stupid).
3) They don't read and or enjoy, deliberately, being illiterate (otherwise, they'd shut up and go read Schelling's "Oldest Program Towards a System in German Idealism" among the many Fruhromantik works out there available so that they might expand their tiny little brain cell just enough to actually realize what the hell the band is getting at).
4) They're Hipsters.
5) They're incapable of appreciating anything beyond the extremely limited, boring, bland, and capitalistically driven/dominated Hip-Hop culture.
1) They're whiny, non-leftist yuppies claiming to be (so-called) Liberals that have nothing better to do with their bored, mundane existence but make fun of/condemn someone/somebody who happens to be more original than them.
2) Because their stupid (really, really, really stupid).
3) They don't read and or enjoy, deliberately, being illiterate (otherwise, they'd shut up and go read Schelling's "Oldest Program Towards a System in German Idealism" among the many Fruhromantik works out there available so that they might expand their tiny little brain cell just enough to actually realize what the hell the band is getting at).
4) They're Hipsters.
5) They're incapable of appreciating anything beyond the extremely limited, boring, bland, and capitalistically driven/dominated Hip-Hop culture.
61
5 reasons why people dislike CocoRosie:
1) They're whiny, non-leftist yuppies claiming to be (so-called) Liberals that have nothing better to do with their bored, mundane existence but make fun of/condemn someone/somebody who happens to be more original than them.
2) Because their stupid (really, really, really stupid).
3) They don't read and or enjoy, deliberately, being illiterate (otherwise, they'd shut up and go read Schelling's "Oldest Program Towards a System in German Idealism" among the many Fruhromantik works out there available so that they might expand their tiny little brain cell just enough to actually realize what the hell the band is getting at).
4) They're Hipsters.
5) They're incapable of appreciating anything beyond the extremely limited, boring, bland, and capitalistically driven/dominated Hip-Hop culture.
1) They're whiny, non-leftist yuppies claiming to be (so-called) Liberals that have nothing better to do with their bored, mundane existence but make fun of/condemn someone/somebody who happens to be more original than them.
2) Because their stupid (really, really, really stupid).
3) They don't read and or enjoy, deliberately, being illiterate (otherwise, they'd shut up and go read Schelling's "Oldest Program Towards a System in German Idealism" among the many Fruhromantik works out there available so that they might expand their tiny little brain cell just enough to actually realize what the hell the band is getting at).
4) They're Hipsters.
5) They're incapable of appreciating anything beyond the extremely limited, boring, bland, and capitalistically driven/dominated Hip-Hop culture.
62
I didn't know so many people hated them! I've loved them for years, and have never even seen a negative comment on their Youtube videos save for one criticizing a knot in Sierra's hair. I was browsing and was very surprised and somewhat insulted when I came across this article.
65
I know my sister just loves them, but I thought that was because she went to a very expensive women's college.
66
I love Cocorosie. The first song I heard was Lemonade. I love Bjork, Portishead and Billie Holiday and could not figure out why no one showed me them before. Being a female in the US, the same age as Cocorosie, I feel like there music really relates to me. The styles I grew up with are all there. I'm a child of the 80s, I'm white, I love HipHop, I went to raves in my early teens, I grew up on my baby boomer parents music. Many of their lyrics, I think, are just artistic expressions of the contradictions we were taught as children.
67
Don't expect anyone to appreciate cocorosie.
People can get very shallow. Cocorosie make experimental music and it's very inspiring.
People can get very shallow. Cocorosie make experimental music and it's very inspiring.
68
This article is a hateful misinformed review, and it is clear you know nothing about real music and talent. So their mom drives an Audi, so do thousands of other people in this country. The responses are even worse. When you're done hiding behind your fancy words and expressions and you're ready to truly understand music, maybe you should actually listen to it instead of letting your masculinity override your capacity to feel.
69
Everyone here is a hipster, damn! Who gives a shit. If people like them, okay, and if they don't, okay. It's funny how everyone is saying they are bored/have nothing better to do but make awful music, but, uh, you must be bored to even give a shit. Hey, why don't you focus and discuss on real world problems, yeah?
70
CocoRosie's ambience is what makes them. The "raspy babytalk" is beautiful. And the lyrics are the best thing I've ever heard, ever. Their substance is more visible in the live shows.
71
Sierra and Bianca Cassady are incredibly important contemporary artists. Musically, their brilliance is exhibited in their use of unconventional instrumentation, juxtaposition and reconciliation of genres, and in the lyrical content. I believe the musical aesthetic is unpalatable to most people because it deviates from conventional musical to such an extent that it can't be assimilated. The genius of this group is the same musically and is it visually and these elements are exactly what people complain about. It is the ugly portrait of culture and history and this band knowingly uses these abrasive elements to adorn themselves and their art. Even more, it isn't as half-done as merely picking these elements and holding them up to exhibit, they immerse themselves and empathize with them and thus own them. Every element of this duo that is upsetting to people comes from an understanding that is simply beyond them. There is something exceptionally profound in this band's expression and I personally hold them in very high esteem.
72
Other people's opinion of them don't matter - love them always! Strange and intriguing live show. Talented musicians all around and the beat boxin' can't be...beat!
73
cocorosie is amazing and one of my favorite band,they are complexed and not everyone can be into them but i think they create art
74
i would always knew i would spend a lot of time alone.
no one'd understand me,
maybe i should go and live amongst the animals. ♥
- animals, cocorosie
no one'd understand me,
maybe i should go and live amongst the animals. ♥
- animals, cocorosie
Also by Eric Grandy
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