A Japanese house producer ex-member of Deee-Lite making a house track about a techno typeface sung by Kylie Minogue is the most late 90s thing I can imagine. It's like a rave flyer spontaneously gained sentience.
If you don’t know Towa Tei, you might recognise him from Deee-Lite (“Groove is in the Heart”). Personally, I prefer his side project Sweet Robots Against the Machine. But he’s also an excellent DJ, YouTube throws up a load of clips of him having fun on the decks.
You might also recognize a few samples from/shared with "Groove is in the Heart" (at 0:30 and 3:39) in "GBI (German Bold Italic)" (at 0:25 and 3:19). (Timestamps are for the YouTube music videos, which have short introductions not found on the album tracks)
"The word "cyberpunk" was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1980."
but this was not even as subculter, yet alone a thing people recognized. to me Neuromancer also marks the onset of cyberpunk culture, but Kylie Minogue was among the few artists such as Bjork, who seemed to be bold enough to explore it artistically.
1. I find the actual typeface made for the track rather pretty. Definitely of an era, but given how in that era's graphic design is right now I'm surprised I haven't seen more of it out and about
2. Sadly the article neglects to mention Haroumi Hosono, whose vocals are also on the track. If you haven't checked out his work, either solo or with YMO, it's well worth a listen.
The site is too hard to navigate (I couldn’t find the reject cookies button, so there was a giant hand taking up half my screen). Do you happen to recall what the actual typeface was called?
For 2001 it has a rather striking effect. Kylie is walking around a circular area in Paris over and over and everything multiplies each time she completes a loop. It's a very clever effect given the technology of the time. By the end of the video there are five Kylies walking around loosely interacting with each other and the world in odd ways.
Kylie Minogue is, as far as pop music goes, awesome. Her stage shows are fantastic, and you should see the massive mobile server park and crew of nerds that runs it all. Pushing the envelope of stage shows as a product for sure.
There's a documentary called "White Diamond", filmed alongside her prep for her "Showgirl: Homecoming" (the previously-cancelled leg of her "Showgirl" tour, after she had to interrupt it for cancer treatment). Much of it is of course focused on Minogue herself and her battle with the disease & return to form, but it also has behind the scenes content on how the show itself is put together, including some footage in the server room.
I've seen similar reporting here and there in TV coverage of her show prep and so on, after an accidental viewing of "White Diamond" made me an interested party.
Fun fact, if you recognize Nick Cave’s “Where the Wild Roses Grow”, then you have heard Kylie Minogue - she sang in the duet[1][2]. I remember being surprised when I learned about it.
This is also the “murder ballad” that the article refers to.
> In 1995 she collaborated on a murder ballad duet with Nick Cave
Great song though I’m surprised you didn’t immediately recognise her voice in it.
There’s a few an interesting tracks on that album. I quite liked “Death is not the end”, which I think was the last track on Murder Ballards and also features Kylie (amongst a few others).
As an Australian I've have repressed childhood trauma from being forced to dance to Kylie's "The Locomotion" over and over again in Primary school, it was the Macarena of it's time...
She collaborated with Nick Cave in the mid 90's which was a massive hit, it was all over radio at the time.
Sadly, that live version is the only one I can find streaming anywhere. The album version (which I have on CD) uses a sample of a dot matrix printer to play the part that the brushed snare does on that live version.
And then there are the similarities, both video and song, between Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and Doll on a Music Box/Truly Scrumptious from the UK musical/movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang… There was a mashup floating around somewhere, years ago. Probably lost.
How is it possible that I can't find this. I found my dads highschool friends garage band from eastern europe from 1960 on my trackers but can't find this.
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/8483/Towa-Tei-Kylie-Minogu...
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/426057/Towa-Tei-Kylie-Mino...
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/deee-lite-singer-loses-seg...
"The word "cyberpunk" was coined by writer Bruce Bethke, who wrote a story with that title in 1980."
but this was not even as subculter, yet alone a thing people recognized. to me Neuromancer also marks the onset of cyberpunk culture, but Kylie Minogue was among the few artists such as Bjork, who seemed to be bold enough to explore it artistically.
Probably closer to retro-futurism x club culture
2. Sadly the article neglects to mention Haroumi Hosono, whose vocals are also on the track. If you haven't checked out his work, either solo or with YMO, it's well worth a listen.
(2) The page has the most playful "Accept cookies?" control of what I've encountered so far.
For 2001 it has a rather striking effect. Kylie is walking around a circular area in Paris over and over and everything multiplies each time she completes a loop. It's a very clever effect given the technology of the time. By the end of the video there are five Kylies walking around loosely interacting with each other and the world in odd ways.
The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S43IwBF0uM
The Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5FyfQDO5g0
Daft Punk - Around The World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0HSD_i2DvA
The White Stripes - The Hardest Button To Button - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4dx42YzQCE
(it's my birthday today, so I think I'm allowed to post a)
'Simpsons did it': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUx3kDnT-p8
I've seen similar reporting here and there in TV coverage of her show prep and so on, after an accidental viewing of "White Diamond" made me an interested party.
Edit, the article says “across”, not a #1 album in every decade. In the 90s she only reached #4.
https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/thats-crazy-kylie-...
This is also the “murder ballad” that the article refers to.
> In 1995 she collaborated on a murder ballad duet with Nick Cave
[1]: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lDpnjE1LUvE
[2]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_the_Wild_Roses_Grow
There’s a few an interesting tracks on that album. I quite liked “Death is not the end”, which I think was the last track on Murder Ballards and also features Kylie (amongst a few others).
- Can't Get You Out of My Head: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%27t_Get_You_Out_of_My_He...
- I Should Be So Lucky: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Should_Be_So_Lucky
She collaborated with Nick Cave in the mid 90's which was a massive hit, it was all over radio at the time.
(Carole King that is)
Sharing it.
Papyrus 2 (SNL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PdffUfoF0
Sadly, that live version is the only one I can find streaming anywhere. The album version (which I have on CD) uses a sample of a dot matrix printer to play the part that the brushed snare does on that live version.
Ryan Gosling is such a great comedic actor.
And the handle-comment synergy is chef's kiss :-)
Neutra Face: An Ode On A Typeface (parody of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face")
https://youtu.be/xHCu28bfxSI?t=18
Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZmdf8A9Ex8
https://youtu.be/x-403FWsujw
Some other artists I can recommend with similar specific Japanese vibes, Denki Groove and Yellow Magic Orchestra are really good.
another great unexpected music x font crossover is gucci mane tweeting about "Times New Roman"
Has the author misspelled Kylie's surname in the article heading or am I missing something?