Johan Agebjörn / Johan Agebjorn

Gothenburg-based Swedish producer Johan Agebjörn works in a range of electronic genres, from electro-disco and house to ambient new age, but always grounds his approach in a deep appreciation for the roots and history of electronic music. He is best known as the songwriter and producer behind the anonymous synth pop chanteuse Sally Shapiro, whose acclaimed 2006 LP Disco Romance was a deliberate, verisimilar throwback to the Italo-disco of the early '80s — but before the beginning of their collaboration, Agebjörn had been largely focused on ambient electro productions inspired by fellow Scandinavians likeKrister Linder and Biosphere. Following the success of the Sally Shapiro project, and the inclusion of the Italo-inspired track "Spacer Woman from Mars" (credited to Johan Agebjörn featuring Sally Shapiro) on Lo records 2007 compilation Milky Disco, Agebjörn's long-in-the-works debut album as a solo artist was finally released on the ambient label Lotus Pike in 2008, and titled Mossebo after his home and studio. Agebjörn, a father and library student, has also self-released a floppy-disk single ("Too Much Time and Too Many Toys") and a CD of piano compositions (Music with Less Electricity) on his own Husmus label, and contributed remixes for the artists NeonCoil, Halftone, Don Juan Dracula, Souvenir, and Lindstrøm. Agebjörn also continued working on the Sally Shapiro project and their second album, My Guilty Pleasure, was released in 2009. He then followed up his solo debut with two albums in 2011; another ambient collection titled The Mountain Lake and the far more dance floor-friendly Casablanca Nights, which featured appearances by Sally Shapiro, Wolfram, Ercola and Lake Heartbeat. Remixes and working on Sally Shapiro's 2013 album Somewhere Else kept Agebjörn busy over the next few years. His fifth solo album was based around the electric piano sound of the Casio MT-52 and was a blend of his intersts in electonic dance music and new age. Notes was released in early 2015 and featured appearances by Sally Shapiro, Young Galaxy and Loney Dear. ~ K. Ross Hoffman, Rovi