30-09-2012, 12:15
online listen
dance/synth/pop heavy
a lot of potential hits
that doesn't mean I like it
got old fast
1.4 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Live In This City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca_W2FajtUQ
released Sept 25th, 2012
![[Image: 220px-Dragonette_-_Bodyparts_cover.png]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ac/Dragonette_-_Bodyparts_cover.png/220px-Dragonette_-_Bodyparts_cover.png)
Bio - from allmusic
Formed by singer/songwriter Martina Sorbara and her husband, bassist Dan Kurtz, Canadian electro-poppers Dragonette
have drawn comparisons to the Scissor Sisters, No Doubt, and the Killers, thanks to the new wave sheen that
dominated their early sound. However, as later albums like Bodyparts and the group's international hit "Hello," a
collaboration with producer Martin Solveig proved, the group had a confident identity of their own. Prior to the
formation of Dragonette, singer and lyricist Martina Sorbara (the daughter of a member of Ontario's provincial
government, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara) had maintained a moderately successful solo career as an AOR/ adult
alternative solo artist in the style of Sarah McLachlan or other delicate neo-folkies; Sorbara's debut solo album,
The Cure for Bad Deeds, was released in 2002. She has since disparaged her former Lilith Fair-style musical efforts
with the pungent phrase "tampon music"; just as notoriously, her father dismissed Dragonette in a quote to the
Scottish newspaper The Daily Record as a "market-driven" phase that was "part of the raciness of current popular
culture."
Sorbara founded Dragonette in 2005 with Kurtz (formerly of the jazz and electronica-influenced Toronto-based jam
band the New Deal), guitarist Simon Craig, and drummer Joel Stouffer. A self-released and self-titled demo that year
attracted the attention of the U.K. office of Mercury Records, which offered the group a recording contract the
following year. Moving their base of operations from Toronto to London (and losing Craig in the process, replaced by
British guitarist Will Stapleton), Dragonette released their first single, "I Get Around," in April 2007. Three more
singles followed, "Take It Like a Man," "Competition," and a gender-reversal cover of Calvin Harris' hit "The Girls"
called "The Boys." Dragonette's debut album, Galore, was released in late summer 2007. The same year, Sorbara sang
the lead vocals on the hit Basement Jaxx single "Take Me Back to Your House." Galore was released in the U.S. in
2008 via I Surrender Records.
The band's second album, Fixin' to Thrill, a more focused and polished effort that charted in Canada's Top Ten,
arrived in 2009. The following year, Dragonette released the Mixin' to Thrill remix album and collaborated with
several dance producers on singles such as Kaskade's "Fire in Your New Shoes," Don Diablo's "Animale," and, most
notably, Martin Solveig's "Hello." The single, which appeared on Solveig's 2011 album Smash, became a world-wide
hit, topping the charts in five countries, reaching the Top Ten in ten other countries, and topping Billboard's Hot
Dance Club chart in the U.S. early in 2011 (the song ultimately earned the group a Juno for Dance Recording of the
Year in 2012). In 2011, Dragonette co-wrote and produced the song "Lucky Day" for Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts'
solo album Cinderella's Eyes, and returned to the studio to work on their third album. Released in 2012, Bodyparts
was the first Dragonette album to be produced by the band, as well as the first to be released in Canada and the
U.S. at the same time.
Album Review - from allmusic
During the three years between Dragonette's second album, Fixin' to Thrill, and its follow-up, Bodyparts, the band
stayed busy, releasing the remix album Mixin' to Thrill and collaborating with Kaskade, Don Diablo, and Nicola
Roberts. Oh, and they also released their biggest hit single to date, the Juno Award-winning Martin Solveig
collaboration "Hello," which had a flirty immediacy that took their appeal to new heights. "Hello" isn't on
Bodyparts (it appeared on Solveig's 2011 album Smash) and nothing on this album has quite as much obvious hit
potential as that track, but at least some of its shine seems to have stayed with the band. "Let It Go" feels like a
dance floor anthem in the making; "Riot" nearly matches "Hello"'s chopped-up antics (with plenty of charm in its own
right) and "Live in This City"'s brash, brassy fun makes it an obvious single in the best possible way. Bodyparts
also finds Dragonette continuing the advances they made on Fixin' to Thrill by capitalizing on Martina Sorbara's
growing versatility as a vocalist. Now she brings womanly introspection, as well as girlish sass to the table, and
even if she's disowned her solo work as a singer/songwriter (with the vivid insult "tampon music"), she still knows
when to bring that sensitivity to her pop project. Bodyparts' bookends, "Run Run Run" and "Ghost," are as vulnerable
as they are glossy, recalling the more introspective turn Goldfrapp took on A&E. This is the first self-produced
Dragonette album and on their own, their music is smarter but also slightly less immediate when compared to most of
their more instantly catchy contemporaries; true to form, they don't really deliver the head-nodding goods until
later on Bodyparts, starting with the robo-sexy clubbing tribute "My Legs." From thereon out, Dragonette kick it up
several notches with the cheery, combative "Giddy Up," which comparison fodder Gwen Stefani would be happy to call
her own; the fittingly sleek "Rocket Ship," which is disco-friendly and entendre-laden enough to do Scissor Sisters
proud, and the glammy bounce of "My Work Is Done," which finds Sorbara delivering some of her loosest, most
appealing vocal work yet. With each album they've released, Dragonette have become more confident and focused, and
Bodyparts is no exception; it should please not only longtime fans, but those won over by "Hello" -- though it might
leave some listeners hungering for something quite as undeniable as that single.
Track Listing
1. Run Run Run
2. Live in This City
3. Let it Go
4. Untouchable
5. Lay Low
6. Right Woman
7. My Legs
8. Giddy Up
9. Rocket Ship
10. Riot
11. My Work is Done
12. Ghost
13. Cuckoo
dance/synth/pop heavy
a lot of potential hits
that doesn't mean I like it
got old fast
1.4 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Live In This City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca_W2FajtUQ
released Sept 25th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Formed by singer/songwriter Martina Sorbara and her husband, bassist Dan Kurtz, Canadian electro-poppers Dragonette
have drawn comparisons to the Scissor Sisters, No Doubt, and the Killers, thanks to the new wave sheen that
dominated their early sound. However, as later albums like Bodyparts and the group's international hit "Hello," a
collaboration with producer Martin Solveig proved, the group had a confident identity of their own. Prior to the
formation of Dragonette, singer and lyricist Martina Sorbara (the daughter of a member of Ontario's provincial
government, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara) had maintained a moderately successful solo career as an AOR/ adult
alternative solo artist in the style of Sarah McLachlan or other delicate neo-folkies; Sorbara's debut solo album,
The Cure for Bad Deeds, was released in 2002. She has since disparaged her former Lilith Fair-style musical efforts
with the pungent phrase "tampon music"; just as notoriously, her father dismissed Dragonette in a quote to the
Scottish newspaper The Daily Record as a "market-driven" phase that was "part of the raciness of current popular
culture."
Sorbara founded Dragonette in 2005 with Kurtz (formerly of the jazz and electronica-influenced Toronto-based jam
band the New Deal), guitarist Simon Craig, and drummer Joel Stouffer. A self-released and self-titled demo that year
attracted the attention of the U.K. office of Mercury Records, which offered the group a recording contract the
following year. Moving their base of operations from Toronto to London (and losing Craig in the process, replaced by
British guitarist Will Stapleton), Dragonette released their first single, "I Get Around," in April 2007. Three more
singles followed, "Take It Like a Man," "Competition," and a gender-reversal cover of Calvin Harris' hit "The Girls"
called "The Boys." Dragonette's debut album, Galore, was released in late summer 2007. The same year, Sorbara sang
the lead vocals on the hit Basement Jaxx single "Take Me Back to Your House." Galore was released in the U.S. in
2008 via I Surrender Records.
The band's second album, Fixin' to Thrill, a more focused and polished effort that charted in Canada's Top Ten,
arrived in 2009. The following year, Dragonette released the Mixin' to Thrill remix album and collaborated with
several dance producers on singles such as Kaskade's "Fire in Your New Shoes," Don Diablo's "Animale," and, most
notably, Martin Solveig's "Hello." The single, which appeared on Solveig's 2011 album Smash, became a world-wide
hit, topping the charts in five countries, reaching the Top Ten in ten other countries, and topping Billboard's Hot
Dance Club chart in the U.S. early in 2011 (the song ultimately earned the group a Juno for Dance Recording of the
Year in 2012). In 2011, Dragonette co-wrote and produced the song "Lucky Day" for Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts'
solo album Cinderella's Eyes, and returned to the studio to work on their third album. Released in 2012, Bodyparts
was the first Dragonette album to be produced by the band, as well as the first to be released in Canada and the
U.S. at the same time.
Album Review - from allmusic
During the three years between Dragonette's second album, Fixin' to Thrill, and its follow-up, Bodyparts, the band
stayed busy, releasing the remix album Mixin' to Thrill and collaborating with Kaskade, Don Diablo, and Nicola
Roberts. Oh, and they also released their biggest hit single to date, the Juno Award-winning Martin Solveig
collaboration "Hello," which had a flirty immediacy that took their appeal to new heights. "Hello" isn't on
Bodyparts (it appeared on Solveig's 2011 album Smash) and nothing on this album has quite as much obvious hit
potential as that track, but at least some of its shine seems to have stayed with the band. "Let It Go" feels like a
dance floor anthem in the making; "Riot" nearly matches "Hello"'s chopped-up antics (with plenty of charm in its own
right) and "Live in This City"'s brash, brassy fun makes it an obvious single in the best possible way. Bodyparts
also finds Dragonette continuing the advances they made on Fixin' to Thrill by capitalizing on Martina Sorbara's
growing versatility as a vocalist. Now she brings womanly introspection, as well as girlish sass to the table, and
even if she's disowned her solo work as a singer/songwriter (with the vivid insult "tampon music"), she still knows
when to bring that sensitivity to her pop project. Bodyparts' bookends, "Run Run Run" and "Ghost," are as vulnerable
as they are glossy, recalling the more introspective turn Goldfrapp took on A&E. This is the first self-produced
Dragonette album and on their own, their music is smarter but also slightly less immediate when compared to most of
their more instantly catchy contemporaries; true to form, they don't really deliver the head-nodding goods until
later on Bodyparts, starting with the robo-sexy clubbing tribute "My Legs." From thereon out, Dragonette kick it up
several notches with the cheery, combative "Giddy Up," which comparison fodder Gwen Stefani would be happy to call
her own; the fittingly sleek "Rocket Ship," which is disco-friendly and entendre-laden enough to do Scissor Sisters
proud, and the glammy bounce of "My Work Is Done," which finds Sorbara delivering some of her loosest, most
appealing vocal work yet. With each album they've released, Dragonette have become more confident and focused, and
Bodyparts is no exception; it should please not only longtime fans, but those won over by "Hello" -- though it might
leave some listeners hungering for something quite as undeniable as that single.
Track Listing
1. Run Run Run
2. Live in This City
3. Let it Go
4. Untouchable
5. Lay Low
6. Right Woman
7. My Legs
8. Giddy Up
9. Rocket Ship
10. Riot
11. My Work is Done
12. Ghost
13. Cuckoo
