LadyDot Review: Electro Jingle Swing (EP)

LadyDot Review: Valerie Giglio – Electro Jingle Swing (EP)

Such Christmas songs you have never heard! Christmas in the rhythm
of Electro Swing: a review of Valerie Giglio’s EP – “Electro Jingle Swing!”

Are you also a bit bored with Christmas hits and looking for something completely new to refresh your playlist prepared especially for this time? Okay, I still can’t imagine Christmas without “Last Christmas” and some other Polish hits (and, of course, classic Christmas carols), but, as you know, I’m very open to new musical experiences. This magical Christmas time is fast approaching, so today I would like to present you Valerie Giglio’s new EP, “Electro Jingle Swing!”. Who knows, maybe one of these three tracks will delight you to such an extent that you won’t be able to imagine your December evenings spent waiting for Christmas without it? I already have my favourite!

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“Hi De Ho Christmastime”

Do you hear that resonant sound of bells and percussion cymbals at the beginning of this song? For me, it’s not only a perfect foreshadowing of the time to come in a few days. As it will turn out later, it’s also an introduction to a fantastic musical explosion of percussion instruments, of which you will hear a whole lot in the EP “Electro Jingle Swing!”. I’ll tell you more about that in a moment, but for now, pay attention to this great swing intro, the 8-bit background and the strong bass that will warm our hearts on these cold evenings!

Valerie Giglio is a woman who appeared in the Electro Swing industry totally unexpectedly, by surprise. She captivated me with her hypnotic voice reminiscent of Moloko – in “Hi De Ho Christmastime” the vocal is additionally boosted by a characteristic reverb. I also admire her for being brave, as this track is not typically a Christmas song – which doesn’t change the fact that I really love to listen to it just to feel the vibe of these magical days!

Apart from Valerie’s great vocals, what impressed me most about this track? A brilliant, truly brilliant vibraphone solo! And you know what? I feel like this is one of the best things I’ve experienced in music this year. Samuel Cerra is simply a virtuoso. Each strike of the sticks on the staff of this wonderful instrument gives me positive shivers – as if each sound expressively enters both my head and penetrates directly into my heart. Those half a minute full of building incredible tension made “Hi De Ho Christmastime” almost immediately into my playlist of favourite tracks.

“Jingle Bells / Jolly Old St. Nicholas”

My first association after listening to the intro and hearing sounds reminiscent of sparks from a fireplace or bonfire? It’s the turn of the 20th century, I’m a few years old now and I’m waiting for my mother to tell me the tale of Santa Claus again after Christmas Eve dinner. Valerie, your song made me feel like a little girl again! I’m almost sure that “Jingle Bells” is known to all of us! There have been plenty of versions of this Christmas hit, but I guarantee you that you haven’t heard this one yet. This is a perfect mashup of two songs, “Jingle Bells” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas”. I must admit that I didn’t know the latter, but of course I searched for some information about it on the Internet and it turned out that the lyrics to this song were written in the… 19th century! So we can say that you can definitely feel the vintage atmosphere here!

Admittedly, at times I feel like I’m getting lost in the song – maybe it’s because of the large number of instruments? I don’t know. But after a few plays it doesn’t bother me at all, because I feel that this is what Valerie intended. And I feel that “Jingle Bells / Jolly Old St. Nicholas” will appeal to my nieces very much. I will definitely play this song when I meet them this Christmas!

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

As you are well aware, without some decent, detailed research I would not be able to write a complete, full review. Therefore, I threw myself into the depths of the Internet and discovered that “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is an English carol from… the 16th century! I wasn’t wrong in saying that this song performed by Valerie Giglio would be truly perfect!

That swing sound at the beginning of the song reassures me that “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” will relax and calm me down a lot. And of course it will warm me up on winter evenings spent over my favourite books under my favourite fluffy blanket.

This track is much more tranquil than the previous ones on the “Electro Jingle Swing!” EP. Valerie’s voice enchants us from the first sound and immediately hints at the vintage style inspiration. Of course, in “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” it is also worth noting the abundance of percussion elements – snare drums and cymbals sound simply superb here!

Summary – Christmas to the tune of “Electro Jingle Swing!”

Did you know that this year saw Valerie’s Electro Swing debut (be sure to listen to “Bootleg Baby” – this track is really great!)? This means that this is just the beginning of her great adventure with this fantastic music genre. However, you must know that Valerie is a professional vocalist with years of experience and an incredibly inspiring story. I hope you will discover a lot of emotions in her voice and she will give you her individual and unique perspective on Electro Swing. One thing I know for sure: after listening to the EP “Electro Jingle Swing!” my Christmas will not be the same anymore. It will be more colorful and above all… Electro Swing! :)

Written & reviewed by LadyDot (Ja, Wizeruk) Date: 2021-12-20

Bio – LadyDot

Anna (LadyDot) was born in ’94, but always felt she came from the Golden Twenties. “Polka” in Polish means “girl from Poland”, so she’s “Polka in polka dots”. She loves vintage style and spontaneous travels around Europe. But her greatest love (apart from her husband) is of course music, especially Electro Swing.

On her own Blog www.jawizeruk.pl she writes about various music genres. She is a copywriter, so writing is her strong point. Anna likes singing (not only in the shower!) and cooking (especially Italian and Hungarian cuisine).