136: Kylie Minogue - X (2007)

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“Having had cancer, one important thing to know is you're still the same person at the end. You're stripped down to near zero. But most people come out the other end feeling more like themselves than ever before.” —Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue had a big comeback last year with the Grammy-winning TikTok hit “Padam Padam,” so Rich decided that it was finally time to give the Discord & Rhyme treatment to one of his favorite divas. Kylie’s 2007 album X wasn’t just an artistic comeback, but a physical and emotional one, recorded in the wake of her grueling but successful treatment for breast cancer. At the time, there was a groundswell of anticipation for her next big move, and X was the first album Kylie conceived as a singular project, rather than the latest entry in a production line of releases. Accordingly, there’s a certain vivaciousness and a willingness to try anything on this album that makes it unlike anything in her catalog, with songs that evoke Timbaland, Serge Gainsbourg and ‘90s R&B sitting alongside Kylie’s trademark Eurodisco. Some of the experiments work better than others, but the album as a whole is a fascinating portrait of a moment in time, both for mid-2000s pop music as well as Kylie herself. And Rich has invited returning guests Jen Carman and Dave Weigel to help elaborate on why you, too, should be so lucky to let Kylie’s music into your life.

Miscellany

• The introductory clip comes from Sir Ian McKellen’s very enthusiastic introduction to Kylie’s performance of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” on SNL in 2002.

• Kylie elaborates on each of the tracks on X in this 2007 interview, including that “No More Rain” is specifically about wanting to be back on stage again after finishing chemotherapy.

• The discussion in this episode is not a full rundown of the songwriters and producers involved in the production of this album, because that really would have bogged the episode down. For an exhaustive list, visit the Wikipedia entry for X, or read the personnel section below.

• Kylie actually completed her postponed 2005 Showgirl tour before going back into the studio to record X, which is even more impressive given how physically strenuous it is to go on tour.

• “I Should Be So Lucky” and “Never Gonna Give You Up” are so similar that Kylie and Rick Astley performed the songs together as a mash-up duet in 2018.

• The “surge in gains, bro” quote from Letterkenny does not refer to natural weightlifting gains, but to steroid gains. Discord & Rhyme regrets the error, but still suggests you watch Letterkenny.

Other links 

• The official Kylie Minogue website (kylie.com)

• Full concert from the KylieX2008 tour (YouTube)

• “Come into My World” music video (YouTube)

• Kylie and Kermit the Frog sing “Especially for You” (YouTube)

• Discord & Rhyme’s X playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

• Rich Bunnell (host)

• Mike DeFabio (moderator)

• Jen Carman (special guest)

• Dave Weigel (special guest)

X tracklist 

1. 2 Hearts

2. Like a Drug

3. In My Arms

4. Speakerphone

5. Sensitized

6. Heart Beat Rock

7. The One

8. No More Rain

9. All I See

10. Stars

11. Wow

12. Nu-di-ty

13. Cosmic

Other clips used 

Kylie Minogue:

• Padam Padam

• I Should Be So Lucky

• Get Outta My Way

• Love at First Sight

• Loco-Motion

• Step Back in Time

• Breathe

• Can't Get You Out of My Head

• Still Standing

• Kids (with Robbie Williams)

• All I See (feat. Mims)

• Sexercise

• Je ne sais pas pourquoi

• Your Disco Needs You

• Miss a Thing

• All the Lovers (from Aphrodite Les Folies - Live in London)

• Can't Get Blue Monday Out of My Head

Others:

• Pet Shop Boys - In Denial

• Morris Minor and the Majors - This Is the Chorus

• Kish Mauve - Two Hearts

• Alannah Myles - Black Velvet

• Peggy Lee - Fever

• Goldfrapp - Strict Machine

• Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack (C&J Edit)

• Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

• Dizzee Rascal - Dance wiv Me

• Rihanna - We Found Love

• Calvin Harris - Summer

• Calvin Harris - Disco Heat

• Britney Spears - Toxic

• Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

• Pet Shop Boys - On Social Media

• Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie and Clyde

• Gwen Stefani - Crash

• Calvin Harris - Colours

• Yes - Going for the One

• Laid (feat. Emma Holmgren) - I'm the One

• Madonna - Beautiful Stranger

• Madonna - Get Together

• The Chemical Brothers (feat. Beth Orton) - Alive Alone

• Madonna - American Pie

• Monica - Angel of Mine

• TLC - No Scrubs

• The Gap Band - Outstanding

• Daft Punk - Aerodynamic

• Madonna - Holiday

• Stardust - Music Sounds Better with You

• Justin Timberlake - SexyBack

• Missy Elliott - Work It

• Avenue D - 2D2F

• Jessie Ware - Free Yourself

• Edith Piaf - Padam ... padam

Band/album personnel 

• Kylie Minogue – vocals

• Jim Eliot – drums, percussion, guitar, piano, Moog, ARP strings, Rhodes piano, hand claps, theremin (1)

• Mima Stilwell – backing vocals (1)

• Moray McLaren – bass (1)

• Jonas Jeberg – keyboards, programming, vocal arrangement, production, recording (2, 9); mixing (2)

• Mich Hedin Hansen – percussion (2, 9)

• Adam Powers – vocal arrangement (2)

• Engelina Andrina – vocal arrangement, backing vocals (2)

• Bloodshy & Avant – keyboards, programming, additional guitar, bass, production (4, 12)

• Henrik Jonback – guitar (4, 12); bass (4)

• Cathy Dennis – backing vocals (5); production (5)

• Richard Flack – programming, additional backing vocals, recording, mixing (5)

• Guy Chambers – keyboards (5); production (5)

• Paul Stanborough – electric guitar, additional programming, additional engineering (5)

• Karen Poole – backing vocals (6, 8, 11, 12); vocal co-production (8, 11)

• James Wiltshire – keyboards (7)

• Russell Small – percussion (7)

• Ian Kirkham – alto saxophone, electronic wind instrument (7)

• Amanda Wilson – additional vocals (7)

• Edwin "Lil' Eddie" Serrano – vocal arrangement, backing vocals (9)

• Richard "Biff" Stannard – keyboards, bass (10); production (3, 7, 10)

• Paul Harris – keyboards, production (10)

• Julian Peake – keyboards, bass, production (10)

• Seton Daunt – guitar (10)

• Ash Howes – recording (3); mixing (3, 7, 10); additional programming (10)

• Jonas Quant – additional programming (12)

• Eg White – all instruments, production (13) 

• Kish Mauve – production, recording engineering (1)

• Dan Grech-Marguerat – recording engineering (1)

• Cesar Gimeno Lavin – recording engineering (1)

• Dave Bascombe – mixing (1)

• Cutfather – production, mixing (2, 9)

• Mads Nilsson – mixing (2, 9)

• Calvin Harris – production (3, 6); mixing (6)

• Tony Salter – recording (3, 6)

• Ben Jackson – engineering assistance ( 3)

• Niklas Flyckt – mixing (4, 12)

• Freemasons – production (7)

• Greg Kurstin – production, recording, mixing (8, 11)

• Eddie Miller – additional engineering (11)

• Matt Prisne – additional production, mixing (13)

• Geoff Pesche – mastering

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Kylie Minogue - Sensitized (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream X and other albums by Kylie Minogue your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production are by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for our theme song and other original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can, because your disco needs you.