April March
Chrominance Decoder
Ideal/Hi-Ho/Mammoth Records
Release Date: 1999
Today's music scene has more than enough liars. Singers and bands claim squeaky-clean pasts or unearned histories of personal strife. Pop stars speak of lean years which never were, and punks absolve themselves of their bourgeois upbringings and create tales of street pain and misery.
So why should we listen to April March? She doesn't use her real name. She
is not, by trade, a musician, but instead an animator with a resume that
includes such series as Ren and Stimpy. She sings in French 80% of the time
and yet she's a native New Yorker currently based in Los Angeles. She sings
sugar-sweet songs, yet often infects them with strange, twisted themes. Why
should we stand for such deception?
Because April March's newest release, Chrominance Decoder is one of
the freshest and most enjoyable albums of the past year. Her voice and
attitude quickly convince the listener that she is both sweet and
approachable. But after listening closely to her lyrics, though, you
suddenly find yourself being guided by this sweetinnocent girl through a
strictly over-21 world. "Sugar" seems to be a simple Cardigans-like romp
through the wilderness of kitsch until the dark theme of rape rears its ugly
head at end of the first
verse. Her deft use of irony permeates every track, so much so that even
when you hear the happy-go-lucky tones of her French tunes, you feel it
necessary to suspect what her real message might be.
By incorporating such deviousness into her kitsch, April March is
definitely a fox in sheep's clothing. She applies just enough touches of the
kitschy yé-yé sounds of old without overstepping her boundaries. While
Serge Gainsbourg made the sound popular and defines the genre as we know it,
Elinor Blake (aka April March) seems poised to bring the sound to the
masses. Unfortunately, some may find her use of the genre to be fake or
simply an exploitation, but what is truly at work here is a brilliant artist
using a familiar genre to strengthen her own well crafted-style. The ye-ye
sounds are not what is being showcased on Chrominance Decoder, --
April March and her wickedly naughty, playful mind are center stage. With
her adorable face and curious songwriting, she makes the kitsch seem
secondary to the music and its style, and difference from the regular radio
fare seem much more primary.
Playing second stage to Miss March's songwriting ability, with similar
success, is Chrominance Decoder's grade A production values. Produced by
Bertrand Burgalat (who also produced Air's amazing debut Moon
Safari), the French pop grooves on Chrominance Decoder move into
the new millennium. This high standard of production was to be expected,
though, since the owners and decision-makers of the brand new Ideal/Hi-Ho
Records are the infamous Dust Brothers, best known for their production of
such music innovators as the Beastie Boys and Beck. The invisible hands of
the Dust Bros. loom large throughout the album, helping Burgulat's twisting
of knobs from '60s mod to Casio keyboard playgrounds formerly marked as
"Stereolab Only" areas. Each journey finds success. In fact, the guest
remixes by these production wunderkinds are the highlight of this album's
finale, providing thicker, groovier revisions of March's two strongest
tunes. This new standard in the combination of retro and futuristic
production easily separates this release from any other wannabe French
chanteuse albums in recent history. The sounds and rhythms are as
avant-garde as they are enjoyable.
Unlike other artists out there today who lie, cheat, and steal to get
their mediocre music heard, April March has lied and cheated her way to a
great Ideal debut. She may be duplicitous, butthat makes her much more than
just a pretty face. She prompts the listener to question the parameters of
pop music and its slick veneer, but also never forgets to play her trump
card of sweetness and style. With the fabulous control she displays over
her lies and her truths, April March is set to conquer the world, in the
name of French pop, one wink at a time.
-- Miguel Banuelos
banuelos@outersound.com
