VoR
Take it or leave it
Gmail is generally a bitch lately. When I start uploading stuff none of my other internet works at all until the upload is done. Most irritating.
Funky missing the point ENTIRELY I see
Sally Shapiro is all kinds of fabulousness - even without powerhouse diva vocals :|
Wow, unnecessary MUCH?you sound really thick sometimes
When Sweden's Sally Shapiro introduced herself in 2006 with near-perfect single "I'll Be By Your Side", she had no other discography, posed for no photographs except those taken by people she already knew, and gave no interviews. We knew her only by her bashful vocals and producer Johan Agebjörn's vintage Italo-disco production. Listeners could fill in the gaps of persona for themselves, unmediated by stylists, publicists, or the crumbling corporate edifices that have only lately wised up enough to start buying out your blogosphere. Like most great pop music, the song was able to make huge numbers of people each feel like it was just for us.
As great as Shapiro's full-length debut Disco Romance turned out to be, both in its original 2006 form and last year's souped-up U.S. release, I'll admit I was leery about the prospect of a remix album. Would Remix Romance Vol. 1, like so many remix compilations before it, be little more than an attempt to strike while the fire was hot? To cash in on Shapiro's recent internet renown without the hassle of bulking up her slim song catalog? I worried the idea would stretch way too thin the songs of an artist whose appeal lies at least partly in shy understatement.
Sometimes I think too much about things. Remix Romance Vol. 1 is an accomplished, occasionally revelatory recasting of Disco Romance's synth-pop by some of contemporary electronic music's most capable hands. The fragile melodies and melancholic lyrics of the original songs mostly survive the remixing process, but here they're dressed up in shiny disco (Toronto duo the Cansecos' "Hold Me So Tight", with its funky Gloria Gaynor bass lines), pulsating techno (Hamburg producer Tensnake's grand, Booka Shade-esque "I'll Be By Your Side"), or even quirky keytar-and-cowbell electro-pop (Toronto duo Woodhands' "Anorak Christmas"). The famously reticent Shapiro has finally come into the open in recent months, conducting a few interviews and appearing in public for a string of recent DJ gigs; Remix Romance is the sound of her coming-out party.
Even the most dramatically altered remixes here still keep enough of the source material's lonesome charm, just changing the scope from pop's concise three-minute single to dance music's vast 12"-ready sprawl. An 11-minute "Time to Let Go" by Norway's Lindstrøm holds up after hours of listening, transforming the title phrase to dancefloor mantra while fluid guitars, synths, and house beats percolate gradually into a cosmic disco epic; Shapiro could be reading the phone book as she whispers in French, but it still wouldn't diminish the hypnotic effect. DFA's the Juan MacLean gets a co-writing credit for his "I Know You're My Love", which combines shimmering, angelic choruses with the analogue synth arpeggios of the classic Italo that appeared on the influential Mixed Up in the Hague compilation. And the ever-dependable Canadians of Junior Boys transform U.S. Disco Romance bonus cut "Jackie Jackie (Spend This Winter With Me)" into pensive, shadowy "Jackie Junior", with squiggly horn and synth fragments playing out atop a rubbery sawtooth bass line.
Remix Romance Vol. 1 isn't always as breathtaking as those three tracks, but it's constantly uncovering new sides to Shapiro's songs. I've criticized Toronto instrumental rockers Holy Fuck's remix of Radiohead's "Nude" for adding little but drums and smeary textures to the original, but they flesh out "Find My Soul" with some metallic squeals and R.E.M.-esque minor-key acoustic guitar jangle, and their live drumming brings Shapiro from some fantasy 1980s European disco to the present day's beer-smelling but very real rock clubs. Norway's Skatebård nearly beats Agebjörn at his own game with the vocoders, snow-frosted synths, and whimsical whistles of "He Keeps Me Alive"; Sweden's Between Interval re-imagines rain-drenched "Sleep in My Arms" as a serene, ambient space walk. Sure, absence makes the heart grow fonder, but Remix Romance Vol. 1 reaffirms that Shapiro's music is the type you can live with day in and day out. You know, a lasting romance.
in other news, I'm still not digging this one. It's nothing to do with her voice, just not my choice of genre
I listened to one song in the g and was absolutely underwhelmed
Hello everyone
The second Sally Shapiro album "My Guilty Pleasure" will be released on August 25th and is currently at the pressing plant! It features collaborations with Cloetta Paris and Tensnake and a lot of songwriting assistance from Roger Gunnarsson. On the whole it's a romantic pop disco album just like "Disco Romance" but maybe a bit more varied in style. We're very happy with it.
The album will be released on the following labels, territories and formats:
North America - Paper Bag Records - CD, LP, download
Europe - Permanent Vacation - CD, download
Philippines - Universal Records - CD
Rest of world (incl Scandinavia) - Husmus Media - Cassette, download
The tracklisting is:
01 Swimming Through the Blue Lagoon
02 Looking at the Stars
03 Love in July
04 My Fantasy
05 Let It Show
06 Moonlight Dance
07 Save Your Love
08 He Keeps Me Alive [not on North American version]
09 Dying in Africa
10 Jackie Jackie [not on North American version]
11 Miracle
As you can see we included our two 2008 singles "He Keeps Me Alive" and "Jackie Jackie" as bonus tracks on the non-US/Can editions, as these tracks were already included as bonus tracks on the North American release of "Disco Romance" in late 2007. In Europe these were released on 12"s/download only and if you read this you probably already have the tracks, but a lot of people still only buy CD albums (strange as it may seem - it's still the main format that we sell our music on) and we wanted these people to hear the tracks too. (The third North American bonus track, "Skating in the Moonshine", the oldest of the three bonus tracks, felt more like a conceptual part of "Disco Romance" so we didn't include it, maybe it will be released on CD in Europe if "Disco Romance" ever gets a re-release here.) If you live in Europe and you still have the North American edition of "Disco Romance" and you're tired of the tracks then you can of course import the North American edition of the new album.
Apart from this some formats will have bonus tracks:
- The iTunes edition of the album will include a great "Dyylan's Secret Remix" of "My Fantasy"
- The Beatport edition of the album will include a "Swedish Remix" of "Miracle" (a special DJ edit by Johan dedicated to Fredrik Ramel of Beat Box)
- The Philippines edition of the album will include last year's Junior Boys dub remix of "Jackie Jackie"
That's all for now...and remember on Tuesday our new single "Miracle" is released as a download, and on the following Monday (we think) as a 12" which looks so good in print! Next week we'll upload Bogdan Irkük a.k.a. Bulgari's excellent remix of the track to Sally's MySpace. There will also be a second single (with a lot of remixes) released before the album release.
Wishing you all a lovely summer,
Sally and Johan
Sally features on my current fave song. A new remix of the Don Juan Dracula track "Take Me Home". Not that I knew the original...
I LOVES. You can listen and/or download here. Although it is mainly dominated by a man, so Moopy might not like. I DO.
You can download from here...
http://www.audiodrums.com/http:/www...me-home-ft-sally-shapirojohan-agebjorn-remix/