Why does Europe love CocoRosie so much?

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they do some well dodgy accents on their new album

― lex pretend, Friday, 30 March 2007 13:27 (seventeen years ago) link

The use of the n-word. There was never the same controversy when Jack White sung "When I hear that nigger sound", which to me seems rather more dodgy than anything Cocorosie have sung. I suppose you could argue he's commenting on how as a white fan of black music, he's looked on with suspicion by some whites. Or maybe he's trying to tap into his idea of the blues idiom. Either way it's clumsy and troublesome, particuarly when you consider his idiotic comments at the time in the NME about poor blacks in the old south being "happier"

what was this on, stew?

― stevie, Friday, 30 March 2007 13:47 (seventeen years ago) link

i heard what stew heard on 'dead leaves and the dirty ground'
but all lyrics websites, which we all know are an unimpeachable, reliable source on these matters has it:

dead leaves and the dirty ground
when I know you're not around
shiny tops and soda pops
when I hear (your) lips make a sound

― blueski, Friday, 30 March 2007 13:59 (seventeen years ago) link

those are the lyrics. i've never checked em before, but those are the lyrics as i've always heard 'em... never heard an n-bomb from jack before...

you know, i have a friend who's convinced chas smash of madness shouts 'that nazi sound' as opposed to 'that nutty sound' at that start of 'one step beyond'.

― stevie, Friday, 30 March 2007 14:15 (seventeen years ago) link

one goose-step beyond

― blueski, Friday, 30 March 2007 14:54 (seventeen years ago) link

i still think debbie harry is singing "i'm riding high / i'm lost to the jewish lie" in "heart of glass"

― s1ocki, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:02 (seventeen years ago) link

randy newman uses the n word

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Listening to that song now, and I can't understand how someone would think he was saying "that nigger sound." Weird.
That said, I seem to remember Jack White making some uncomfortable comments about rap music and its fans in an interview (or two) that certainly flirted with the racial danger zone (tm).

― Ben Boyerrr, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:07 (seventeen years ago) link

where's ethan with that 'nick or treat' ad

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:09 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah i remember that, and the stoopid "i wish i was a black man in the 20s" comment (paraphrased obv).

it kind of annoys me that acts who are less easy to take pot shots at than cocorosie seem to get passes for much worse, like sunn o))) and daniel johnston

― lex pretend, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:14 (seventeen years ago) link

"they do some well dodgy accents on their new album"
-- lexpretend

Haven't heard the new album, so I can't comment on the dodginess of the delivery. On their earlier albums ("Jesus Love Me" aside), I never heard them doing anything more than incorporating the sounds they like. No more off-putting than the the Tim Buckley or Devendra B. voice-appropriations that Scott mentioned. Less so than John Spencer...

Re: Jack White and Madness:

The "your" isn't even swallowed. Just kind of rushed: "When I hear yrlips make a sound". Lyrics printed in the LP version from day 1.

And "Nazi sound"? WTF people?

― Pye Poudre, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:18 (seventeen years ago) link

And "Nazi sound"? WTF people?

that was my reaction, and my reaction to the misinterpretation of 'dead leaves' too.

― stevie, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:34 (seventeen years ago) link

Lex it might be useful here to distinguish between the BONKERS public persona of Cocorosie and that of Daniel Johnston, which is borne from an actual and genuine mental illness

― DJ Mencap, Friday, 30 March 2007 15:54 (seventeen years ago) link

"randy newman uses the n word"

he kinda bugs me more than anyone! i truly hate that shuffle/slur voice/shtick of his sometimes. hell, give me leon redbone anyday over randy.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:06 (seventeen years ago) link

>> you know, i have a friend who's convinced chas smash of madness shouts 'that nazi sound' as opposed to 'that nutty sound' at that start of 'one step beyond'.

Well hey, Suggs was mates with Ian Stuart, so it's possible.

― Colonel Poo, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:09 (seventeen years ago) link

But yeah, re: Dead Leaves, WTF how do you hear that?

― Colonel Poo, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:12 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, that "Rednecks" song always bothered me, too. Something about it doesn't sit right. Randy supposedly gets away with "we just keepin' the niggers down" 'cuz he's mocking white racism, but the general level of spite is so high that the excuse doesn't wash. Even as a kid, the song always left an extremely unpleasant taste in my mouth. Like underneath the veneer of "social commentary", Randy's just trying to have his hate-cake and eat it, too. He gets to say "nigger" on the radio, offending half the world, and he gets to justify the provocation by couching it in a context that deliberately insults the other half.

― Pye Poudre, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:18 (seventeen years ago) link

he sings almost every song in that mushmouth cornpone voice. i loved when that guy on mad t.v. did his randy newman impression. such sweet revenge.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

But yeah, re: Dead Leaves, WTF how do you hear that?

fremme neppe venette

― blueski, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:26 (seventeen years ago) link

dont care about these herbs but randy newmann is the shit

― and what, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:32 (seventeen years ago) link

no doubt. picked up the remaster of "Good Old Boys" a couple weeks ago. It comes with a bonus cd i haven't listened to yet.

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Leon Redbone's Mr. Belvedere theme song > Randy Newman's Monk theme song

― nabisco, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:44 (seventeen years ago) link

ugh, you can have him. don't even care about his genius songwriting. only rock critics listen to that shit.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:45 (seventeen years ago) link

he was the hold steady of his day.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:47 (seventeen years ago) link

Agreed. With our without "Rednecks", I can't imagine listening to Randy Newman voluntarily.

― Pye Poudre, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:47 (seventeen years ago) link

plus, his film scores blow.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link

alfred newman, on the other hand, was the bomb.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago) link

>:-O

only rock critics listen to that shit.

scott seward on Friday, March 30, 2007 11:45 AM (11 minutes ago)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=RNWE%2CRNWE%3A2005-10%2CRNWE%3Aen&q=+site%3Awww.villagevoice.com+scott+seward

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:57 (seventeen years ago) link

okay, i will admit though, the image of a monkey tree IS pretty adorable. i mean, who doesn't love monkeys?

Sail Away

In America you'll get food to eat
Won't have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You'll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It's great to be an American

Ain't no lions or tigers
Ain't no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev'rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You're all gonna be an American

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link

My dad used to listen to Randy Newman all the time so there's a sentimental attachment

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link

Not that he needs defending on those terms! I think he's great

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:59 (seventeen years ago) link

just something a little to curdled and cutesy to me. the "satire" isn't enough.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 16:59 (seventeen years ago) link

yes i know i have written rock reviews deej. and i like the hold steady!

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Newman's version of "satire" doesn't strike me as making for good music -- like no more than you'd say "this Capitol Steps CD is the best record of the year, you gotta understand it's satire."

― nabisco, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:01 (seventeen years ago) link

i was just joking around

I even like the weird 80s-sounding albums he did, like the one with "I Love LA"

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:02 (seventeen years ago) link

i thought short people was pretty funny when i was a kid. it was mad magazine enough for me.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

I like when Dr. Dre sampled it to diss jermaine dupri

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:03 (seventeen years ago) link

plus, i don't even get sail away's premise. a slave trader is trying to "lure" africans into his boat by promising them the good life? didn't they just beat them over the head and throw them in the boat?

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:04 (seventeen years ago) link

one of randy's cousins wrote the score to Pay It Forward and another cousin of his wrote the score for Norbit. it's like the axis of evil.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Umm Scott I think the irony he's going for is the whole "promise of America" versus it not really going that way for lots of people!

― nabisco, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Its really speaking from a contemporary mindset, I think, that idea that african-americans are somehow 'better off' because they were enslaved and brought here...just speaking as a character from that time to make sure that the satire is transparent

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:06 (seventeen years ago) link

and not to on-the-nose

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago) link

*too

― deej, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago) link

Lex, I've told you before, Soma , when editor of a magazine, took adverts from a dodgy label to pay the bills, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SUNN O))) , who is a band he formed AFTER. And the whole thing has NOTHING to do with Greg Anderson.

Perhaps you meant Paris got a free ride for her racism(especially by you)

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago) link

And rockarolla magazine actually interviewed him about it.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:09 (seventeen years ago) link

why didn't he just make it about immigrants then? the land of milk & honey versus the reality.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:10 (seventeen years ago) link

"I think the irony he's going for is the whole "promise of America" versus it not really going that way for lots of people!"

the irony is that he's sweet talking africans into a boat and they don't know that they are actually going to be slaves! isn't that the irony? wait, maybe that isn't ironic. maybe that's just mean. i mean, it's not about starry-eyed immigrants who choose to come here and then become enslaved by the, uh, system or whatever.

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:13 (seventeen years ago) link

It's not like SOMA ever came out and said he agreed with the opinions of the label whos adverts he accepted.
Then i'd be throwing out my records.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Paris has been caught saying racist things. Soma hasn't.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:16 (seventeen years ago) link

what label was it?

― scott seward, Friday, 30 March 2007 17:17 (seventeen years ago) link

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