Remix Romance Vol. 2

The second volume of remixes drawn from Sally Shapiro's stellar Disco Romance — available only as a digital download — continues to play out the same winning hand, covering similar, perhaps slightly wider-reaching territory than the first, and the results are nearly as satisfying. Hardly scraping the bottom of the barrel, Vol. 2 brings the total to only 20 out of reportedly over 40 contenders. Once again, there are few straight-up dance mixes here — only Danish producer SLL's take on "I Know" and the wonderfully kitschy rework of "Anorak Christmas" by bona fide Italo-disco veteran Alexander Robotnick seem particularly well-tailored for clubs, although there is plenty more of the '80s-worshipping electro grooviness that Shapiro acolytes have come to expect, particularly in Solvent's genteelly bouncy remix of "Skating in the Moonshine." The more "experimental" selections are more hit or miss. Spitzer carves "Time to Let Go" into a funky glitch-house burner that approaches Justice levels of distorted bombast, but loses most traces of the original in the process; Shapiro's vocals remain only as indistinguishable, consonant-less cut-up fodder. Bizarrely, the Russian Futurists' Matthew Hart not only eschews her voice completely in favor of his own, he also ditches the original melody and lyrics of "I'll Be by Your Side" for an entirely rewritten piece that happens to have the same title but is utterly out of place here. Meanwhile, Dntel turns in a rather plodding if characteristically atmospheric mix of "Find My Soul" that at least keeps the spotlight on Shapiro's charming vocal performance. That's about as much as can be said for Dyylan's beatless so-called "nocturne" on "Jackie Jackie," the rare remix which functions by subtraction (in this case, of all the drum parts) rather than addition or substitution. But a couple of clunkers and another few unmemorable renditions are par for the course with remix albums, and this one still fares far better than most, no doubt due to the reverence Shapiro so clearly inspires, and the range and caliber of talent she attracts. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, Rovi