Martina Sorbara | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | November 13, 1978 |
Origin | Vaughan, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | Electropop |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Member of | Dragonette |
Martina Sorbara (born November 13, 1978) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and frontwoman of the band Dragonette. [1]
The daughter of Greg Sorbara, [1] a former Member of Provincial Parliament and Minister of Finance in Ontario, she grew up in Maple, Ontario and attended the Toronto Waldorf School in Thornhill, Ontario. [2]
Her debut album, Unplaceables, was released independently in 1998 and is no longer in print. [3] During her early solo career, an early hook that often got media attention was that she sewed many of her own clothes and built her own guitars. [2]
Sorbara's second album, The Cure for Bad Deeds, was released independently in 2000. [4] An expanded version of the album, adding five newly-recorded tracks not present on the original independent release, [5] appeared on Nettwerk in 2002. [6] Both versions of the album were produced by Jian Ghomeshi. [2]
She supported the second album with a national tour, performing on the folk festival circuit and as an opening act for Danny Michel and Sarah Harmer. [7] Sorbara's main single from the album was "Bonnie & Clyde II", [8] which also had a music video that got airplay on MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic, [9] reaching #26 on the MuchMusic Countdown, [1] as well as making an appearance on the Women & Songs compilations and appearing in the film All I Want . The album was a nominee for Pop Album of the Year at Canadian Music Week's Canadian Independent Music Awards in 2003. [10]
Sorbara recorded a version of the Christmas song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" for the 2003 Nettwerk compilation album, Maybe This Christmas Too? . That same year, she was featured on the soundtrack to Uptown Girls singing the song "Spinning Around the Sun". She can also be heard on the From the Girls compilations issued by Nettwerk that contained a new recording of a song called "Withered on the Vine".
She had begun working on her third solo album, which was tentatively slated for release in 2005, [11] but abandoned the project after meeting Dan Kurtz of The New Deal at a Canadian music festival [12] and forming an electropop duo with him. Initially named The Fuzz, [13] that project evolved into Dragonette. [1] She subsequently characterized her early solo music as sounding like it had been made for tampon commercials. [14]
Sorbara co-wrote and sang on the 2006 Basement Jaxx single "Take Me Back to Your House". [15] She also appeared in the video for the song. She was credited as Martina Bang.
In 2009, Sorbara was featured on The Henrys album Is This Tomorrow, singing on the track "Chair by the Window". [16] In 2010, Sorbara performed the vocals in Martin Solveig's songs "Hello", "Boys & Girls" and "Big in Japan". [17] She is also featured in Kaskade's song "Fire in Your New Shoes", which was released on April 13, 2010. In November 2010 she was featured in the song "Animale", which was the result of a collaboration between Dutch DJ and producer Don Diablo and Dragonette.
Sorbara was married to Dragonette's bassist Dan Kurtz, [18] but announced their separation in May 2016. [19]
In September 2018, she gave birth to her first child with her partner, the Canadian celebrity chef Cory Vitiello. [20] [21]
Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene of the mid-1990s, but would go on to find international chart success and win Best Dance Act at both the 2002 and 2004 BRIT Awards. Their most successful singles are "Red Alert", "Rendez-Vu", "Romeo" and "Where's Your Head At".
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Dragonette is the stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara. Originally an electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005, the band consisted of Sorbara with her husband Dan Kurtz as bassist and producer and drummer Joel Stouffer.
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Bring Ya to the Brink is American singer Cyndi Lauper's tenth studio album, released on May 14, 2008 in Japan, and 13 days later worldwide. The album is a collection of dance-oriented songs and features collaborations with Basement Jaxx, Richard Morel, Max Martin and Kleerup, among others. Regarded as one of the singer's best works at the time it was released, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has regarded the album track "High and Mighty" as one of Lauper's key songs. The album received a nomination for Best Dance/Electronica Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. The song "Set Your Heart" was released as a promotional single in Japan in early 2008, while "Same Ol' Story" was the first official single released on May 6, 2008. "Into the Nightlife" was released as the second single.
Fixin to Thrill is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music band Dragonette, released on September 25, 2009 by Universal Music Canada.
"Fixin to Thrill" is an electropop/new wave song performed by Canadian band Dragonette. The song was written and produced by Dragonette for their second album Fixin to Thrill (2009). It was released as the album's lead single in May 2009.
"Fire in Your New Shoes" is the second single from Dynasty, an album by American house DJ Kaskade. It features the lead singer from Dragonette, Martina Sorbara. It was released digitally on April 13, 2010.
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"Romeo" is a song by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released as the first single from their second studio album, Rooty (2001). British R&B singer Kele Le Roc provides the track's lead vocals while Corryne Dwyer sings the background vocals. The song was released on 4 June 2001 as the first single from the studio album.
"Pick Up The Phone" is an electropop/new wave song performed by Canadian band Dragonette. The song was written and produced by Dragonette for their second studio album Fixin to Thrill (2009). It serves as the album's third single, released two days before the album. The song peaked at #28 on the Canadian Hot 100.
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"Take Me Back to Your House" is a song by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx featuring Martina Sorbara. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Crazy Itch Radio (2006), by XL Recordings. The track reached number 42 on the UK Singles Chart following its release in October 2006.
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