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.
