GBI (German Bold Italic)

Japanese record producer Towa Tei left the New York-based music group Deee-Lite in 1994 after suffering an injury on stage.[5] He returned to Tokyo and did production work for various artists, including music groups A Tribe Called Quest and Yellow Magic Orchestra.[6] He released his debut solo studio album, Future Listening! (1994), under For Life Music.[7] A mix of bossa nova and electronica tunes, the album was well-received and aided Tei's rise to fame in Japan.[7] That year, Australian singer Kylie Minogue released her self-titled album to moderate commercial success.[8] The R&B-influenced album was her first offering with the independent label Deconstruction Records, following her split with PWL two years earlier.[9]

Shortly after releasing the album, Minogue began a romantic relationship with French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui and went on a series of worldwide trips with him to gain inspiration for her upcoming record.[10] Tei, who was into lounge music after finishing Future Listening!, wanted to return to his dance roots on his next record.[11] In 1996, Tei received a hand-written fax from Minogue at his home studio in Sangenjaya.[12] He recalled the fax had a picture on it, with a message: "Music with you! Kylie. Call Me".[13] The producer was interested in working with her, whom he called "the ideal icon that appeals to both Japanese and Western people."[14] He was aware of Minogue's intention to break away from the previous Eurobeat material with PWL and her impact on the club scene, particularly among the gay community.[15]

Minogue came to Tei's project studio in Sangenjaya and wrote the lyrics to his instrumental demos.[16] "She could instantly understand my ideas and direction," Tei recalled.[17] During their sessions, Minogue recorded two songs for her album with Tei, one of which was "GBI (German Bold Italic)".[18] The producer felt that although the collaboration was smooth, their staff was not supportive.[19] The track was ultimately left out of Impossible Princess (1997), Minogue's sixth studio album.[20] Tei then saved the track for his second studio album Sound Museum (1997).[21] Fernando Aponte mixed the audio at Chung King Studios, New York.[22] Japanese producers Hideki Matsutake and Takeshi Fujii conducted additional synthesizer control.[22]

Minogue (left, pictured in 2015) and Hosono (right, pictured in 2019) are the featured artists in "GBI (German Bold Italic)"[lower-alpha 2]

"GBI (German Bold Italic)" is a house, techno-pop and club track with minimal production.[23] The song is written in the key of B♭ minor and has a tempo of 127 beats per minute.[24] Its production draws influence from supermarket muzak, featuring retro drum machines, quirky riffs, jazz beats, and drone sound effect.[25] Building around the four-on-the-floor rhythm, the track was compared to the work of German band Kraftwerk by music critics.[26] Simon Sheridan, the author of The Complete Kylie (2009), wrote the track is filled with random "blips, bumps, and scratches" and referred to it as an aural cartoon.[27] In Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City (2003), English journalist Paul Morley called it a hybrid of "hip-happy techno and post-fashionable experimental absurdism".[28] "GBI (German Bold Italic)" opens with an uncredited sample from the introduction track of The Art of Belly Dancing, a 1969 belly dancing instructional record by Bel-Sha-Zaar, Tommy Genapopoluis, and The Grecian Knights.[29] The same sample was used on Deee-Lite's 1990 hit single "Groove Is in the Heart", co-produced by Tei.[29]

Lyrically, the tongue-in-cheek song sees Minogue playing the part of a newly invented typeface named "German Bold Italic".[30] She introduces the font's attributes: it fits well and looks good with a variety of colors, including red, green, and blue.[31] At one point, Minogue repeats the German word "Gut ja!" ("Yeah good!").[32] Music critics deemed "GBI (German Bold Italic)" to be the first ode to a specific typeface.[33] Kawaguchi compared the bizarre premise to Alvin Lucier's 1969 sound art piece I Am Sitting in a Room.[28] According to Yoko Kawaguchi, the author of Butterfly's Sisters: The Geisha in Western Culture (2010), the decorative font effects are analogous to a woman's allure.[34] Minogue seductively reads her line and giggles throughout the song.[35] Tei described her performance as an "expressive poetry reading" and cited it as one of the things he liked best about the record.[36] Besides Minogue, Japanese producer Haruomi Hosono also credited as a featured artist, contributing his vocals to the track.[lower-alpha 2] In contrast to Minogue's eloquent performance, Hosono performed a softer background vocal delivery, as requested by Tei.[37]

Twenty years after its initial release, Tei (pictured in 2007) re-produced "GBI (German Bold Italic)" for his album EMO (2017)

Tei switched record labels in 1997, moving from Güt Records (distributed by For Life Music) to East West Records (distributed by Warner Music Japan).[38] The label that Tei had signed with since his Deee-Lite days, Elektra Records, would continue to distribute his work outside of Japan.[38]

"GBI (German Bold Italic)" was released in Japan as a CD maxi single on 10 September 1997, depicting a mini pixel art portrait of Minogue on the cover.[39] The single features bonus CD-ROM programming including a screensaver, the original German Bold Italic font, and sound bites from the song.[40] Tei's collaborative design team, Tycoon Graphics for Graphickers, designed the font, which was made available for download on both Tei's and Minogue's official websites.[41] The single includes a brief intro produced by American band The Gentle People, as well as remixes by English DJs Krust (credited as Rekut) and Shy FX (the Ebony Boogie Down Mix).[39] A remix of "BMT", an original track featuring American rappers Biz Markie and Mos Def, was also included.[39] The Japanese double 12" single, released in October, displays the song title and Tei's website in the original German Bold Italic font on the front cover, with a specimen of the font on the back cover.[42] The vinyl also includes an original song penned by Tei named "Boldline."[42]

In October and November 1998, one year after its initial release in Japan, "GBI (German Bold Italic)" was issued in Australia and the United Kingdom.[43] In both regions, a sticker was added to the cover featuring Minogue as the featured artist.[43] The cover art for these 1998 releases was similar to that of the Japanese 12" single, featuring the title and Tei's website printed against different colored backgrounds.[43] In the UK, the song was initially scheduled to be released on October 5 by Coalition Records.[14] A cassette single and two CD versions were eventually issued on October 26 under the EastWest and Arthrob labels.[44]

The track appeared in Tei's 1997 album Sound Museum, where the font was included for installation on the enhanced CD version.[45] Two remixes of the track made their appearances on Tei's Japanese remix album Stupid Fresh (1997): the Krust remix and a Latin Narrow Light mix by German producer Uwe Schmidt (credited under his alias "Lisa Carbon").[46] A year later, the remix album was released as the second disc to Sound Museum in Europe.[47] "GBI" was subsequently included in Tei's first compilation album, titled Best, in 2001.[48] 20 years after its initial release, Tei re-produced "GBI" for his 2017 studio album, EMO.[49] The updated version stripped off the four-on-the-floor rhythm, which Tei admitted was one of his big pillars when he recorded the original version but has since distanced from it.[49] The producer kept most of Minogue's original vocals, increased Hosono's vocals volume and added the guitar performance by suGar Yoshinaga, the guitarist from the Japanese rock band Buffalo Daughter.[49] He felt revisiting the track was exciting and emotional.[49]

Music critics remarked on the distinctive nature of "GBI (German Bold Italic)".[50] The Independent's Fiona Sturges had the impression that Minogue utilized Tei's reputation as a producer, and the track has a "significantly more exotic flavour" than Tei's typical club tracks.[14] Sheridan described it as "a witches' brew of hypnotic Japanese madness, but fabulous fun nonetheless."[27] Several critics picked the track as a highlight of Sound Museum.[51] John Everson of Southtown Star called it the album's "only real catchy moment", while Howard Cohen, writing for Miami Herald, found that Tei's rhythmic texture and Minogue's vocals "keep things danceable".[52] Thomas Conner of The Tulsa World and Aidin Vaziri of San Francisco Examiner viewed the track as a demonstration of Sound Museum's unique and captivating blend of different cultures.[53] In 1998, "GBI (German Bold Italic)" peaked at number 50 on the Australian Singles Chart,[54] number 67 on the Scottish Singles Chart,[55] and number 63 on the UK Singles Chart.[56]

In retrospect, "GBI (German Bold Italic)" is regarded as one of Minogue's most innovative endeavors.[57] Mayer Nissim from Digital Spy considered the track to be one of her career-defining moments, while Robbie Daw from Idolator and Priya Elan from NME listed it among her most quirky collaborations.[58] Writing in his book Playlisted: Everything You Need to Know About Australian Music Right Now (2012), Australian journalist Craig Mathieson claimed that the track was a captivating precursor that provided a glimpse into the direction her music was about to take.[59] Sheridan believed the unconventional track signaled the conclusion of Minogue's bold phase of experimenting with various musical styles, which was followed by a string of more mainstream projects throughout the rest of 1998.[60] Sean Smith, the writer of Kylie (2014), pointed out that by the time of the single's release, Minogue had already moved on artistically.[61] The track continues to be a favorite among fans.[62] Scottish DJ Calvin Harris chose it as his favorite track from Minogue, while Irish singer Róisín Murphy ranked it among her favourite dance music collaborations.[63]

Minogue performing in a geisha-inspired outfit during the "Naughty Manga Girl" act of her KylieX2008 tour.

An excerpt of the track appeared during Minogue's medley performance at the 25th Anniversary Mushroom Records concert held on November 14, 1998, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[68] This performance later appeared on its live album called Mushroom 25 Live. It was also included on her 2002 tour KylieFever2002 as a video interlude. A show in Manchester was filmed on May 4, 2002, and released on DVD titled KylieFever2002: Live in Manchester. The song was later sampled on "Sometimes Samurai", a visual from her 2008 concert tour KylieX2008. A picture taken from the shooting of the visual was released earlier for the promotion of the tour.

In 2015, American artist Cory Arcangel used the font for a merchandising sweatshirt of the group Wet and claimed he had been "crazy" for the font since it came out. "It's a sick classic vector techno font, and super rare these days," he told The Fader. He then used it several times for artworks, including some drawings at his 2011 exhibition at Whitney Museum of American Art. "I've always wanted to use it to make a shirt for a pop group... one pop group used to advertise the next."[69] Japanese graphic designer group Enlightenment, who created the icon illustration for the single cover, released a lyric video of the track in 2013.[70]

"Sometime Samurai"

"Sometime Samurai"
Promotional single by Towa Tei featuring Kylie Minogue
from the album Flash
Released	February 2005
Recorded	1996; 2003 (vocal re-recording)
Genre	House[71]
Length	3:39
Label	Voltage Unlimited V2
Songwriter(s)	Kylie Minogue Towa Tei
Producer(s)	Kylie Minogue Towa Tei
Music video
"Sometime Samurai" on YouTube

"Sometime Samurai" is a song written for Tei's album Flash (2005). It was originally recorded as a demo alongside "GBI (German Bold Italic)" in 1996, but remained unreleased for eight years until Minogue had the opportunity to re-record her vocals in 2003, with Chisato Moritaka's drums being included.[13][72] "GBI" was released as a single in 1997, while "Sometime Samurai" was left uncompleted.[72] Before its inclusion on Flash, the song was mentioned in Minogue's book Kylie: La La La. The song was written about Minogue's then-boyfriend, photographer Stéphane Sednaoui.

Minogue especially liked "Sometime Samurai", but her record company did not understand it, and it was ignored. By the time Tei was working on his fifth studio album Flash in late 2003, Minogue contacted Tei for the first time in years, saying: "I can't get over that song either. I should be able to sing it better now, so I'd like to re-record it. Can you come to London?" The song was finally completed in London and included on Tei's album.[73][13] Dan Grunebaum from Japanese English-language magazine Metropolis described the track as "about as kitschy as they come, with the lithesome Minogue burbling over a four-to-the-floor house beat and elastic, sampled sitars."[71]

It was released in Japan as a promotional radio single to promote the release of Flash. A music video was also made for the song, but did not feature Minogue as she was busy touring her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. The song was used for a commercial celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Kewpie, the most popular brand of Japanese mayonnaise, in 2005.[74][71] The music video for the song was directed by Daniel Gorrel and edited by Evan Andrews.[75] "Sometime Samurai" is featured as a backdrop interlude video on Minogue's KylieX2008 concert tour.

Formats and track listings

• Japanese promotional radio CD single[76]

1. "Sometime Samurai" (Radio edit) – 3:39

• Japanese limited released Melody / Sometime Samurai 12" EP[77]

1. "Melody" – 6:13
2. "Melodypella" – 2:24
3. "Risk Some Soul" – 4:33
4. "Sometime Samurai" – 3:58
5. "Red Card Jumbo" – 0:44

Credits and personnel

• Lyrics and music – Kylie Minogue and Towa Tei
• Vocals – Kylie Minogue
• E.Guitars – Hiroshi Takano and Hajime Tachibana
• Bass and Moog – Yumiko Ohno
• Drums – Chisato Moritaka
• A Samurai – Stéphane Sednaoui

Credits adapted from the CD single liner notes:[22]