Chrominance Decoder

Amazon.com's Best of 1999
This entirely original and strange record ultimately seduces with a quirky grace. Where does one begin to describe what's contained within Chrominance Decoder? A melange of '60s girl pop, Yé Yé, garage rock, Beach Boys harmonies, Gainsbourgian crooning, spy-movie soundtracks, cheezy jazz, Japanese "idoru" preening, trip-hop grooves, Lolitaesque come-ons, loungy dithers, and cartoon ditties--the genius behind this delicious concoction is Elinor ("April March isn't my Christian name," she coos), a California girl by way of New England who sings in both French and English with unconscious ease. Wow. --Tod Nelson

Amazon.com
Using faux French '60s lounge pop as the starting point for her sonic discourse, Elinor Blake, a.k.a. April March, displays plenty of musical savvy and the rare ability to come up with a good hook. As April March, she uses her kittenish voice in the style of Parisian chanteuses like Françoise Hardy. French producer Bertrand Burgalat lends a spare, sophisticated musicality to the record, arranging delicate layers of electronics and horns around March's slick studio ensemble. With heady instrumental interludes, fragile acoustic ballads, and Stereolab-style rock flourishes, March seems to be a substantial musical enterprise as well as an interesting alter ego for the talented Blake. A warning, though: she sings pure pop in French, and the whole vibe here is extremely precious. --Mitch Myers

Chrominance Decoder

Chrominance Decoder,April March,Mammoth / Pgd,Pop,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop

Chrominance Decoder

Average customer rating:

I LOVE THIS ALBUM
the anti britney--sweet & sophisticated pop
pastel colored sound
If you are looking for a French Pop sound, look further...
Paris of the Mind

Chrominance Decoder
April March
Manufacturer: Mammoth / Pgd
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Indie & Lo Fi | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Triggers
Chick Habit
April March Sings Along With the Makers
April March and Los Cincos
Paris in April

ASIN: B00000HZPT
Release Date: 1999-02-02

Tracks:

Garden Of April
Sugar
Knee Socks
Charlatan
Mignonette
Chrominance Decoder
Garcon Glacon
Mickey Et Chantal
Pas Pareil
Mon Petit Ami
Mon Petit Cowboy
Martine
Ideal Standard
Keep In Touch
Superbagneres
Nothing New (English)
Nothing New (Remix)
Sugar (Remix)
No Parachute

Amazon.com's Best of 1999

This entirely original and strange record ultimately seduces with a quirky grace. Where does one begin to describe what's contained within Chrominance Decoder? A melange of '60s girl pop, Yé Yé, garage rock, Beach Boys harmonies, Gainsbourgian crooning, spy-movie soundtracks, cheezy jazz, Japanese "idoru" preening, trip-hop grooves, Lolitaesque come-ons, loungy dithers, and cartoon ditties--the genius behind this delicious concoction is Elinor ("April March isn't my Christian name," she coos), a California girl by way of New England who sings in both French and English with unconscious ease. Wow. --Tod Nelson

Amazon.com

Using faux French '60s lounge pop as the starting point for her sonic discourse, Elinor Blake, a.k.a. April March, displays plenty of musical savvy and the rare ability to come up with a good hook. As April March, she uses her kittenish voice in the style of Parisian chanteuses like Françoise Hardy. French producer Bertrand Burgalat lends a spare, sophisticated musicality to the record, arranging delicate layers of electronics and horns around March's slick studio ensemble. With heady instrumental interludes, fragile acoustic ballads, and Stereolab-style rock flourishes, March seems to be a substantial musical enterprise as well as an interesting alter ego for the talented Blake. A warning, though: she sings pure pop in French, and the whole vibe here is extremely precious. --Mitch Myers

Customer Reviews:

I LOVE THIS ALBUM.......2003-11-30

THE FIRST TIME I HEARD APRIL MARCH, I LIKED HER FROM THE START. SHE IS DIFFRENT FROM THE MUSIC YOU HEAR TODAY. ALSO THE INSTRUMENTALS ARE AMAZING. IF YOU LIKE TO HEAR SOMETHING DIFFRENT THAT IS NOT THE USUAL MUSIC YOU HEAR ON THE RADIO, THEN THIS IS THE ALBUM FOR YOU.

the anti britney--sweet & sophisticated pop.......2002-01-13

I have most of April March's albums and this is her most accomplished yet. The instrumental arrangements are heavenly.
I just wanted to write in since someone else had given this CD only one star.

pastel colored sound.......2001-09-14

April March( Elinor Blake) has made many of my nights and days zoom by with ease and satisfaction. Countless quarters have been popped into the juke box at my favorite pub listening to this record while sipping martinis and mixers. Elinor is the true incarnation of an enlightened Renaissance woman. She has been a part of many fabulous music projects other than April March such as The Sh*tbirds and April March and the Makers. She also paints and was an animatuer on the cult classic Ren & Stimpy Show. So it is no wonder that she was able to put together a record which such great diversity while retaining an overall mood that engulfs the listen to focus on every last sound. A combination that not many artists can pull off. The Songs range from fragile pop songs to catchy, flashy tunes, some even with trance like beats. Plus some are sung in French and others in English,an approach which I find truly delightful. I remember studying my French vocabulary words while this album was playing in the background and I swear it helped me pass a few tests. Any lover of music that desires to hear something new or any one that wishes to hear what pastel colors sound like must pick up this record. It is sure to bring a flutter to your heart.

If you are looking for a French Pop sound, look further..........2001-03-27

This record has some fine music. But the singing is artificially nasally and off-key most of the time. It's difficult to sing in a foreign language, and this singer just can't pull it off and drives the listener to distraction or irritation.

Paris of the Mind.......2000-10-29

I've tried to figure out what it is that draws me to the music of this petite chanteuse, and I think perhaps that it is the stirring of childhood memories: of a world ruled by reruns of ancient cartoons, of squirming in the back seat of the car, listening to the light pop vocal hits of the mid-60's. Only now, the songs are in French as well as English, and include two pieces reminiscent of the scratchy lilt of cartoon music. All of this comes together to engender a feeling of sly sentimentality that comforts my black soul, and leaves me dwelling in my own little Paris of the Mind. April March (A.K.A. Elinor Blake) lays on the spells with such songs as Charlatan and Garcon Glacon, which charm me with their - well, with their Frenchness, while her clear, soft, and intimate vocals set my hormones to trembling. The lush orchestration on Mignonette/No Parachute verges on a kind of transcendent distortion, as Herb Alpert-like horns hone in to keep the pace. Keep in Touch, one of many tracks written by producer Bertrand Burgalat, creates a sense of drifting around, alternately approaching and then retreating from the singer. The singsong approach of Mon Petit Ami makes me think of a chorus of fiercely loyal French school children belting out a personal anthem.

Her affection for the medium of animation comes through clearly in Garden of April, a happy, peppy composition that conjures up images of a chorus of singing flowers swaying in the sun, and Mon Petite Cowboy, a bouncy, fluffy instrumental retake of the Mon Petit Ami theme that inspires visuals of an animated cowboy riding the range on a lopsided horse. These two tracks bring to mind the manic musical explorations of Raymond Scott, the deeply strange and innovative composer who inadvertently scored the soundtrack to our childhood.

Peppered throughout are a few numbers with darker themes: Sugar, a song of lost innocence, Knee Socks, a metaphoric look at girls teetering on the edge of that loss, and Ideal Standard, a darkly humorous stab at a bad marriage gone comfortable.

If you're in need of that warm fuzzy sixties feeling without the attendant nausea of overplayed standards, if you have a childish sense of fun balanced with a finely honed sarcastic sensibility, go out and buy this recording. Let's support Elinor Blake in the style to which she should become accustomed.