''Mixes'' is the fifth

remix album A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...

by Australian recording artist

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

. It was released on 3 August 1998, by

Deconstruction Records Deconstruction Records is a British record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst, together with Mike Pickering of M People. According to '' DJ Magazine'' it is "best remembered for marrying underground credibility and div ...

. The album contains remixes of tracks from her sixth studio album, ''

Impossible Princess ''Impossible Princess'' (briefly retitled ''Kylie Minogue'' in Europe) is the sixth studio album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, released on 22 October 1997, by Deconstruction Records, Deconstruction, Bertelsmann Music Group, BMG and ...

'' (1997). The remixes were done by DJs such as

Brothers in Rhythm Brothers in Rhythm are a British electronic music group comprising Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson and Alan Bremner. The group was originally a duo comprising Seaman and Anderson, with Bremner joining later in 1999. They have remixed and/or produc ...

Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern; August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention. Career Mattern moved to New York City a ...

, and

Todd Terry Todd Norton Terry (born April 18, 1967) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer in the genre of house music. His productions helped define the New York house scene in the 1990s and used extensive samples that blend the sounds of classi ...

. The remixes was influenced by various genres of dance music, such as

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

. The album was originally scheduled for a 1999 release, but Deconstruction pre-poned the release date of ''Mixes'' in the United Kingdom to August 1998, since the Australian counterpart, '' Impossible Remixes'' (1998), had been released earlier than its original date. With favourable critical reception, ''Mixes'' charted in the United Kingdom at number sixty-three on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, her highest remix album at the time. The Brothers in Rhythm remix of " Too Far" was released as a promotional single in the UK and North America.

Background

In October 1997, Minogue released her sixth studio album, ''

''. Then in January 1998, Minogue begun rehearsals on the low-budget tour, Intimate and Live. Minogue intended to only perform in Australia, but strong public demand in the United Kingdom prompted her to schedule dates there. With tickets selling out instantly, more shows were announced in both Australia and the UK. Minogue started the tour in early June 1998 and confirmed that she would release "

Cowboy Style "Cowboy Style" is a song recorded by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue, for her sixth studio album ''Impossible Princess'' (1997). The song was released as the fourth and final single in Australia only on 5 October 1998 through Mu ...

", the fourth single from the ''Impossible Princess'' album, and revealed plans of two remix albums, one for Australia and one for the UK. In July 1998, Deconstruction and Mushroom confirmed the release of two remix albums entitled ''Mixes'' and '' Impossible Remixes'' respectively. Deconstruction said the ''Mixes'' album would be released as a triple-

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

set and set the release date for the following year. However, fans voiced their concerns on expensive import prices for global shipping and with increasingly popular demand, Deconstruction scrapped the idea and released the remixes on a two-set

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

, and forward the triple vinyl at a later date. This allowed Deconstruction to release the album earlier and ''Mixes'' was released on 3 August 1998 in the UK. Mushroom released ''Impossible Remixes'' on 8 July 1998, but initial pressings were on sale two months earlier.

Material

The album shares nine remixes from the ''Impossible Remixes'' album; three remixes of " Breathe", two remixes of " Did It Again" and one remix of "

Some Kind of Bliss "Some Kind of Bliss" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, for her sixth studio album, ''Impossible Princess'' (1997). The song was released as the lead single from the album on 8 September 1997 through Bertelsmann Music Grou ...

", along with three remixes of Minogue's promotional single " Too Far". The remixes had all been previously featured in Minogue's CD singles. All tracks were co-written by Minogue, with additional song writing assistance by

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. His cousin Sean Moore is a ...

, Dave Ball, Ingo Vauk, Steve Anderson and David Seaman. In 1997, Minogue travelled to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to re-record her vocals for the "Breathe" remixes. ''Mixes'' is a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

–remix album, and according to Brendan Swift at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, the songs are well-noted "where constant repetition is heard at its most catchy with a hint of something we know: other dance melodies used 'again and again.'" Charlie Porter from

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

commented about some songs remixes; "

work their slinky magic on "Too Far",

Sash! Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/ production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums ...

Takes the album down a Euro-trance path, then the good old Trouser Enthusiasts turn "Did It Again" even more saucy."

Artwork and sleeve

The artwork was photographed by British photographer Simon Emmett and designed by Farrow Design, who both contributed to the cover sleeve of ''Impossible Remixes''. The artwork shows a "simple yet subtle" silhouette of Minogue which later appeared on the tour guide for the Intimate and Live concerts. After completing the shoot, Emmett was asked by Minogue to shoot the sleeve for her single "Cowboy Style", and his most recent work with Minogue was shooting her on '' Glamour'' magazine in July 2012.

Release and reception

Jenny Stanley-Clarke, who wrote the biography ''Kylie: Naked'', felt the release "seemed nothing more than to run out Kylie's contractual obligation for a required third Deconstruction album." She favoured the contributions of "high profiled" DJ's. Charlie Porter from

discussed ''Impossible Princess "sob story", highlighting the album's title change, single releases, and album release as factors to it. He then stated "This remix album takes away some of that records pretensions (yes, it was a touch flawed), and puts our favourite Australian back on the party floor, where she belongs." He concluded "Yes sir, that girl can boogie—please don't try and turn into an indie queen again." ''Mixes'' debuted at sixty-three on the

on the entry date 15 August 1998. * Alternate source: The album was Minogue's highest charting remix album in the UK, until it was taken over by ''

Boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape players/recorders and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid-1990s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered thro ...

'', which peaked at twenty-eight. ''Mixes'' also charted on the UK Physical Albums Chart, which compile the top 100 albums based on physical CD sales; it also reached at number sixty-three. It is also Minogue's final album from Deconstruction.

Singles and promotion

The Brothers in Rhythm remix of " Too Far" served as the album's promotional single on 21 May 1998. "Too Far" was originally selected as a potential single for ''Impossible Princess'', but Deconstruction decided to release "Some Kind of Bliss" instead. "Too Far" was released as a promotional single in the UK by Deconstruction and North America by BMG, but Deconstruction refused to promote it after BMG released it without discussion. The

included a bonus remix side by Junior Vasquez. Both the original version, and the remix version received critical acclaim from most critics, whom highlighted it as an album stand out. "Too Far" has been included on two of her concert tours;

Intimate and Live Tour Intimate may refer to: * Intimate examination, a physical examination for medical purposes that includes examination of the breasts, genitalia, or rectum of a patient * Intimate ion pair, the interactions between a cation, anion and surrounding so ...

and Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour.

Track listing

Notes

* The 3xLP vinyl edition contains two tracks on each side. * "Too Far" (Brothers in Rhythm Dub) is excluded from the vinyl release, making "Did It Again" (Razor-n-Go Mix) the last track from side F of the album.

Personnel

All credits and personnel adapted from ''Mixes'' liner notes: *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, producer, songwriter *

– producer, remixing * Dave Ball – producer, songwriter * Ingo Vauk – producer, songwriter *

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country ...

– producer, songwriter * Steve Anderson – producer, songwriter *

– producer, songwriter *

– remixing * John Graham – remixing *

– remixing * Razor-n-Go – remixing * Sash! – remixing * Andy Nalin – remixing * Harry Cane – remixing * Simon Emmett – art direction, photographer * Farrow – art direction, designer

Charts

References

External links

Mixes
at Kylie.com. {{Kylie Kylie Minogue remix albums 1998 remix albums