March 15th, 2008 admin
Has the 21st century produced another hit as sleek, seductive and unabashedly synthetic as Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”?
Synthesizing several strains of European electronic music—from Krautrock pioneers Kraftwerk and disco godfather Giorgio Moroder to more modern Berlin techno and Ibiza-ready trance anthems—into four crafty minutes of pop, the diminutive Australian singer’s 2001 single claimed the No. 1 spot in 40 countries.
The track’s other achievements are nothing if not varied. It was named song of the year by both the New Musical Express and Top of the Pops. It was Minogue’s first U.S. Top 10 hit since her 1988 cover of Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion.” In Canada, the album that contained it, ‘Fever,’ went triple platinum. The Flaming Lips liked the song so much, they covered it. Even weirder, mash-up master Richard X famously wrapped it around the beat to New Order’s “Blue Monday.”
What with the thin and breathy quality of her voice, Minogue was never going to be the next Aretha Franklin. But her vocals were perfect in such a highly processed musical setting—never before did anyone sound quite so much like a fembot.
Seven years on, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” still sounds so good it trumps every track on ‘X,’ Minogue’s otherwise very fine and often equally seductive new album. It also remains the song that best makes the case for Minogue as the stylistic heir to Madonna, another singer who could take the latest innovations in dance music, emboss them with wide pop appeal and make the results fit within a glamorous and cannily constructed persona.
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