from Last.fm -
In a sense, Sally Shapiro is both the recording pseudonym of an anonymous Swedish singer and also the name of the duo, consisting of that singer and producer/writer Johan Agebjrn, who are together responsible for the music released under the moniker Sally Shapiro. That music, combining Shapiros delicate, silvery vocals with Agebjrns vintage-styled synthesizer dance tracks, is a deliberate and meticulous replication of the sound of 1980s Italo disco, as well as a distillation of the melancholy yet hopeful sentimentality commonly associated with twee indie pop.
The pair first met in 2001, working in an office together, but it wasnt until Christmas 2004 that Agebjrn, a lifelong Italo disco lover, noticed Shapiros voice while they were singing carols at his piano. He told her she would make an excellent Italo-style singer, and as luck would have it she turned out to be a fan of the genre as well. Shapiro agreed to record vocals for a tune Agebjrn had penned in the style of Valerie Dore and Katy Gray (similarly pseudonymous singers who were backed by obscured writing/production teams), although when they finally got around to it in early 2006, she was so shy that Agebjrn had......[Read More]
from Last.fm -
In a sense, Sally Shapiro is both the recording pseudonym of an anonymous Swedish singer and also the name of the duo, consisting of that singer and producer/writer Johan Agebjrn, who are together responsible for the music released under the moniker Sally Shapiro. That music, combining Shapiros delicate, silvery vocals with Agebjrns vintage-styled synthesizer dance tracks, is a deliberate and meticulous replication of the sound of 1980s Italo disco, as well as a distillation of the melancholy yet hopeful sentimentality commonly associated with twee indie pop.
The pair first met in 2001, working in an office together, but it wasnt until Christmas 2004 that Agebjrn, a lifelong Italo disco lover, noticed Shapiros voice while they were singing carols at his piano. He told her she would make an excellent Italo-style singer, and as luck would have it she turned out to be a fan of the genre as well. Shapiro agreed to record vocals for a tune Agebjrn had penned in the style of Valerie Dore and Katy Gray (similarly pseudonymous singers who were backed by obscured writing/production teams), although when they finally got around to it in early 2006, she was so shy that Agebjrn had to leave the room while she sang her part. The resulting track, Ill Be by Your Side, was almost instantaneously hailed as a modern classic on online disco forums; it was given a vinyl release on the Austrian label Diskokaine that July and was soon championed in such outlets as Pitchfork Media, Vice magazine, and The Village Voice.
The album Disco Romance followed on Diskokaine in December, containing that song and five more Shapiro/Agebjrn collaborations (one of them, the single Anorak Christmas, a cover of the Swedish indie pop one-man band Nixon), two remixes, and an ambient Agebjrn instrumental. In October 2007, Canadian-based indie Paper Bag Records released Disco Romance in North America with a revised track listing including three new songs (two by Nixons Roger Gunnarsson; one of them penned specifically for Shapiro) and the extended version of Ill Be by Your Side. Shapiros much-discussed shyness (she still refuses to record vocals while anyone is in the room) has precluded her from music videos or making live appearances to promote the album, although she has given numerous interviews. The duo still managed to stay in the minds of critics and fans, however, by releasing two albums of remixes, Remix Romance, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 which included contributions from artists like Dntel, Holy Fuck, the Juan Maclean, Junior Boys, and the Russian Futurists in April and June of 2008, respectively.......[Read Less]