The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is the third studio album by American musical group by CocoRosie, released by Touch and Go Records on April 10, 2007.

The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
Studio album by
CocoRosie
ReleasedApril 10, 2007 (2007-04-10)
Genre
Length48:44
LabelTouch and Go
Producer
CocoRosie chronology
Noah's Ark
(2005)		 The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
(2007)		 Grey Oceans
(2010)

Recording

CocoRosie made the preliminary recordings for The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn in a barn in southern France, which they turned into a makeshift studio. The creaking echoes and sounds of the old, wooden barn lend an otherworldly feel to the album. Running on a nocturnal schedule, the Casady sisters found inspiration their surroundings: the distant sounds of animals, the hum of nightlife around sounds of the night on an old-fashioned Dictaphone. In an interview with Electronic Musician in 2007, Bianca commented, "I feel like it added the atmosphere of a lot of songs, a lot of things you couldn't do in a proper studio. It was important for the creative process to start out in this space."[1]

Beatboxing, provided by the Casady sisters' friends Tez and French rapper Spleen, is featured on multiple tracks. Valgeir Sigurðsson, Icelandic producer known for his work with singer-songwriter Björk, assisted in the recording and mixing of the album.[1]

Composition

In the track "Werewolf" the sisters tell the story of their father, singing, "He’s a black magic wielder some say a witch", but show their determination to move on despite the pain, repeating, "I’m a shake you off though/ Get up on the horse and/ Ride into the sunset/ Look back with no remorse". The sister's reinforce their will to move forward in the song "Rainbowarriors", declaring, "We are rainbowarriors/ Evil come not near".

The tracks "Sunshine" and "Bloody Twins" seem to speak to the sister's memories of childhood, painting pictures of failed relations with peers along with brief glimpses of human connection. Many songs on The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn hint at past tragedies. The song "Raphael" shows the dark side of teenage sexuality with the story of a "teenage player" who knows all the right moves, but can only further damage an already shattered soul. The song ends with the pained repetition of the phrase "Don’t speak I can hear you". Near the end of the album, the song "Miracle" pokes fun at what the sisters believe to be the unrealistic idea of a boy and a girl staying together forever.

While most of the album's songs recall a shared girlhood and revel in a renewed sense of self, the song "Japan" makes a broader commentary on the world with lines like "Everyone wants to go to Iraq/ But once they go, they don’t come back". Another track that stands out from the rest is "Girl And The Geese", a spoken word track that tells the story of a girl who found she could talk to geese because "they were once human like her". At first glance, the story may not appear to have a point, but in fact, it is a vivid depiction of how the Casady sisters see the world around them as magical and extremely personal.

The sisters have made themselves endearingly vulnerable in this album by showing us not only the fantastical, exclusive universe they have created, but also the deep-seated insecurities that helped to build it. In the song "Animals", Sierra reveals the pain that accompanies her love of nature, singing, "I always knew I would spend a lot of time alone/ No one would understand me/ Maybe I should go and live amongst the animals". CocoRosie bring us music like we’ve never heard. It's abrasive, unsettling, mysterious, and innocent all at the same time. It is as imperfect as it is honest. The Casady sister's ask only one thing: that you “Promise me that you’ll cherish/ This tarnished/ Oh this tarnished offering”.

Artwork

The cover art for album was done by Pierre et Gilles, a French art duo. Much like CocoRosie, homo-eroticism, religion, glamour, and myth are recurring themes in the work of Pierre et Gilles. The photograph for The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn depicts Bianca and Sierra in Victorian dress with Bianca kneeling at her own side, dressed as a soldier.

Bianca is no stranger to dressing in drag. She regularly performs wearing a fake mustache and appears dressed as a man in several music videos, including the video for the track "Rainbowarriors". In an interview with After Ellen in 2008, Bianca expressed surprise and pleasure at never being criticized for her portrayal of gender, saying, "I find it interesting that as a 'female' artist in this time, I can go in complete drag on a regular basis and no one really notices, where as an artist like Antony [of Antony and the Johnsons] was torn apart about [her] transexuality in all of the first major articles written about [her]."[2]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
BBC[5]
The Guardian[6]
MusicOMH[7]
Pitchfork2.3/10[8]
PopMatters[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Stranger[11]
Stylus MagazineC+[12]
Tiny Mix Tapes[13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

Marc Hogan of Pitchfork described the majority of the album as "lazy, meandering nothings".[8] Grant Purdom of Tiny Mix Tapes praised the risks CocoRosie took on the album, while critiquing the attempts at hip hop.[13] Heather Phares of AllMusic praised the production of the album, specifically the production of the tracks "Animals" and "Raphael".[4] Alex Macpherson of The Guardian felt that "[CocoRosie seemed] to have no interest in developing [the album's] fragments of ideas into a coherent artistic whole."[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by CocoRosie, except "Houses" by Devendra Banhart.

No.TitleLength
1."Rainbowarriors"3:55
2."Promise"3:37
3."Bloody Twins"1:37
4."Japan"5:02
5."Sunshine"2:58
6."Black Poppies"2:37
7."Werewolf"4:50
8."Animals"6:02
9."Houses"2:56
10."Raphael"2:48
11."Girl and the Geese"0:46
12."Miracle"3:35
Total length:48:44
UK edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Childhood"5:02
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Swamp Tearz"5:19

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

  • CocoRosie – production, engineering, mixing
  • Valgeir Sigurðsson – production, engineering, mixing
  • Ton Coyen – mastering
  • Pierre & Gilles – cover photography

Charts
Chart Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 49
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 64
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 39
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 84

References
  1. Hsieh, Christine (June 1, 2007). "CocoRosie on recording The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". Electronic Musician. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  2. Bendix, Trish (January 8, 2008). "Bianca Casady Does It Herself (page 1 of 2)". AfterEllen. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  3. "The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn by CocoRosie". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  4. Phares, Heather. "The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn – CocoRosie". AllMusic. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  5. Yates, Steve (April 5, 2007). "coco rosie: the adventures of ghosthorse & stillborn". BBC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  6. Macpherson, Alex (April 5, 2007). "CD: CocoRosie, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". The Guardian. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  7. Chan, Alvin. "CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn (Touch & Go)". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on July 11, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  8. Hogan, Marc (April 19, 2007). "CocoRosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  9. Edwards, D.M. (May 1, 2007). "Coco Rosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". PopMatters. Archived from the original on April 19, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. Christgau, Robert (May 14, 2007). "The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  11. Grandy, Eric; Ivers, Brandon; Zwickel, Jonathan (April 12, 2007). "Album Reviews". The Stranger. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  12. Colville, Liz (April 13, 2007). "CocoRosie – The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on April 20, 2007.
  13. Purdom, Grant. "CocoRosie – The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  14. "Ultratop.be – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  15. "Ultratop.be – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  17. "Lescharts.com – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  19. "Norwegiancharts.com – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  20. "Swisscharts.com – CocoRosie – The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
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