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Time heralded it as exquisite, Slant Magazine called it one of the 100 Best Albums of the ’90s, and even Alex Lifeson of Rush praised its cross-genre vibe.   A touchstone of electronic music, Vanessa Daou’s landmark album Zipless: Songs From the Works of Erica Jong will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary with a brand-new reissue.  Set to be released this Friday, December 7, on Daou’s DRKR Records, in association with KID Recordings, the campaign will mark the album’s first time on vinyl.

Originally released  in 1994, the 10-track collection features interpretations of Erica Jong’s written work.  In fact, the album’s title is derived from a phrase found in Jong’s 1973 work, Fear of Flying, itself a landmark in second-wave feminist literature that sparked controversy for its representation of female sexuality.  With Zipless, Daou presented a music manifestation of those written words with a sensuous combination of jazzy and soulful, chilled-out and empowered, smooth and danceable.

Engineering and producing the album was Peter Daou, Vanessa’s frequent collaborator and the nephew of Erica Jong.  Together, the musicians succeeded at creating an interesting music idiom that existed somewhere in the cross-sections of pop, house, acid jazz, and spoken word.  The music amalgam stunned critics, garnering acclaim from Time, Billboard”s Spotlight Review, The Quietus, and Wire.  The album’s lead single, “Near the Black Forest” was in heavy rotation on VH1, while a remix of “Sunday Afternoon” landed at #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

Nearly 25 years on, Zipless:  Songs From the Works of Erica Jong is being revisited with an extensive Pledge Music reissue campaign which marks the album’s vinyl debut.  The album will be available in a variety of configurations, including a limited-edition 180-gram black vinyl pressing with a bonus lyric sheet, an 11×22″ poster, and a download code for the album.

Also available is a “Zipless Plus” bundle.  It features a signed edition of the LP package, and an expanded digital download with the original album and 8 bonus remixes, many of which are previously unavailable in the digital domain.  Also included in the bundle is a special CD called Zipless: Bootleg Rehearsal Tapes, as well as a magnet and pin.  The “Zipless Deluxe” bundle adds to the above a signed dedication on the LP, a signed and dedicated vinyl test pressing, two original publicity photos from the album’s initial release, and a signed 11×17″ print.  The signed test pressing and signed print are also available separately.

In all, these deluxe packages are a wonderful way to celebrate a landmark release in electronic music, a clarion call of self-empowerment that is as pertinent now as it was two decades ago.  All the configurations will be released on December 7 on Pledge Music, courtesy of DRKR Records and KID Recordings.  You can find the track listing for the main album and pre-order links for all the versions below.

Vanessa Daou, Zipless (originally self-released, 1994, Krasnow Entertainment, MCA Records KRD-11278, 1995 — reissued DRKR Records/KID Recordings, 2018)

LP, “Plus” Bundle, and “Deluxe” Bundle: Pledge Music

1. The Long Tunnel of Wanting You
2. Dear Anne Sexton
3. Alcestis On the Poetry Circuit
4. Sunday Afternoons
5. Autumn Perspective
6. Near the Black Forest
7. My Love is Too Much
8. Becoming A Nun
9. Smoke
10. Autumn Reprise