you should probably hear this

Posted about 3 years ago

Artist:
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April March
Track:
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Chick Habit

I'm supposed to be listening to Esthero this week, but I can't stop playing this song:

A friend took time out from doing things that are good for America to send me a link to this video. A couple days prior we had conversed about the Death Proof soundtrack while giving back-rubs to the homeless at a local church. There is just something about good deeds and good conversation that is so, well, so magical.

Maybe the residual elation is responsible for my unfettered joy regarding this song, I'm not really one to say. Perhaps at some point in the future I will hear this song and become overwhelmed with the sad kind of nostalgia for those times when that magical combination of "goods" wasn't entirely elusive; the times when people so compelled to improve our fair society through good words and works, people like me, were more common.

Comments (9)

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kristiana says oh, you're a rare breed now, I'd say. I liked that a lot!

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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brand X says a rare breed, indeed ;) Here's more info on April March that a fellow good samaritan forwarded to me: Unabashed Francophile and onetime Pee Wee's Playhouse animator April March has invented a persona for herself that's as goofy as Serge Gainsbourg at his silliest and as enticing as Brigitte Bardot at her come-hitherest. As you might have guessed from the preceding comparisons, April March makes kitschy, infectious French pop, infused with the kind of childlike sexuality that makes married men go weak at the knees. And, as you might have guessed from the word "persona," Ms. March isn't quite the genuine article (how could anyone called April March ever be?). Rather, she's a New York girl named Elinore Blake who grew up loving all things French and had a first career as a cartoon animator (in addition to working on Pee Wee's Playhouse, she animated for Madonna, Archie Comics, and The Ren and Stimpy Show). In the late '80s and early '90s she played in a couple of retro-garage groups, The Pussywillows and The Shitbirds, before adopting the April March pseudonym. Over the course of a half-dozen releases, March has developed her pixieish image, delivering delightfully sweet go-go pop with charming insouciance and joie de vivre. Oh -- and most of it's in French. There's something very weird and postmodern about this April March character, but don't think about that; instead, let yourself be carried away by her gravity-defying melodies. If you close your eyes, she sounds like the reincarnations of Audrey Hepburn and Edith Piaf, rolled up into one extremely exotic, hip, oh-so-sexy pop package. The jazzy, super-quirky "Chick Habit" was April March's first single (it's in English). The song later appeared on the 15-song Paris in April, which came out in '96 on Sympathy For The Record Industry. Ms. March has also appeared in a more garage-rock context with The Makers on April March Sings the Songs of the Makers and a more surf-pop context with Los Cincos on April March and Los Cincos. In 1998, a collaboration with French arranger and producer Bertrand Burgalat led to two more albums dense with giddy, trippy pop delights: Lessons of April March (1998) and Chrominance Decoder (1999).

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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kristiana says Interesting indeed. The Shitbirds, I love it. "the kind of childlike sexuality that makes married men go weak at the knees" - yes, as is part of Kim Deal's charm, and CocoRosie's whom I have just came to know and love recently. Just the married ones eh? The implication being that they're the ones not getting any...? thanks for the heads up, I dig it.

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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kristiana says Why the fuck does that happen? Just to piss me off eh? What I was saying was... as is part of Kim Deals' charm, and CocoRosie. But why just the married men? The presumption being that they're the ones not getting any...? ;)

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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brand X says A good point. As an unmarried man I can't ever recall going weak at the knees over anybodys childlike sexuality, maybe this is something I can look forward to as I get more married.

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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kristiana says hehe

Permalink posted 04/17/2007
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ookpik says this is recent? that's awesome. maybe the married men comment is a dig at french-pop stereotypes.

Permalink posted 04/19/2007
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brand X says I suppose that depends on what you consider recent. "Chick Habit" seems to have been recorded in the mid-nineties, and April March is supposedly putting out a new album soon. Certainly more recent than one might guess. Ah, yes, I forgot about the french-pop stereotypes... Oh, wait, I don't know anything about french-pop stereotypes, but it sounds plausible to me. I'm not going to put a stamp on the ice cream cone until I do a little research, though. and here's a not so recent version of the song: Once again, this clip was forwarded to me by a selfless friend.

Permalink posted 04/19/2007
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chucky says Good stuff that.

Permalink posted 04/21/2007