"Minimal" is a song by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 synthpop

Synthpop

Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 and is featured on their 2006 album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Fundamental

Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album)

Fundamental is the sixteenth album, the ninth of entirely new music, by the British band Pet Shop Boys. It was released in May 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and Canada, and was released in late June 2006 in the United States. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five on 28...

. It was released 24 July 2006 as the second single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from that album in the UK, entering the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 at #19 in the first week of its release (see 2006 in British music

2006 in British music

This is a summary of 2006 in music in the United Kingdom including the official single and album charts.-Summary:*At both ends of the year, the chart was dominated by acts from series 2 and series 3 of the television show The X Factor...

). It was their 37th Top 20 hit in the UK. The B-side "In Private (Stuart Crichton 7" Mix)" is a new version of a song originally written for Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

, this time recorded as a duet between Neil Tennant

Neil Tennant

Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 and Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

Overview

The lyrics, built around a chant of "M-I-N-I-M-A-L", are an abstract description of expressions of minimalism

Minimalism

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...

, such as "more is less" and "an empty box, an open space". This is contradicted by the upbeat, busy instrumentation and production.

Originally planned as the first single from Fundamental, it was subsequently moved down the release schedule when "I'm with Stupid" was chosen instead.

CD: Parlophone / CDR6708 (UK)

1. "Minimal" (radio edit) - 3:40
2. "In private" (7-inch mix) - 4:13

CD: Parlophone / CDRS6708 (UK)

1. "Minimal" (radio edit) - 3:40
2. "Minimal" (Tocadisco
   DJ Tocadisco
   -Biography:Tocadisco was born Roman Böer on 8 June 1974, and grew up in a small city near Cologne, Germany. He plays several instruments and played in different bands in his youth....
   
   's Sunday at Space Remix) - 8:04
3. "Minimal" (M Factor Remix) - 8:49
4. "Minimal" (U-MYX software)

DVD: Parlophone / DVDR6708 (UK)

1. "Minimal" (Telex
   Telex (band)
   The Belgian synth-pop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers, with the intention of "Making something really European, different from rock, without guitar — and the idea was electronic music." Mixing the aesthetics of disco, punk and experimental electronic...
   
    Hell mix)- 6:19
2. "Blue on blue" - 3:15
3. "No time for tears" (7-inch mix) - 3:39
4. "Minimal" (video)

CD: Parlophone / 00946 371144 2 1 (UK)

1. "Minimal" (radio edit) - 3:40
2. "Minimal" (Tocadisco's Sunday at Space Remix) - 8:04
3. "Minimal" (M Factor Remix) - 8:49
4. "Minimal" (M Factor dub) - 7:44
5. "Minimal" (Tiga
   Tiga (musician)
   Tiga is the stage name of Montreal-born DJ/producer Tiga James Sontag . His album Sexor won the 2007 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year.-Career:He graduated from Selwyn House School, a prestigious school in Westmount...
   
   's M-I-N-I-M-A-L remix) - 5:38
6. "Minimal" (Tiga's M-I-N-I-M-A-L dub) - 5:38
7. "Minimal" (Superchumbo's Light and Shade dub) - 8:28
8. "Minimal" (Telex Hell remix) - 6:19
9. "Minimal" (Telex Heaven remix) - 4:29
10. "In private" (Tomcraft 7" mix) - 3:51

• Remix Promo

12": Parlophone / MINIMAL001 (UK)

1. "Minimal" (Tiga's M-I-N-I-M-A-L remix) - 5:38
2. "Minimal" (Tiga's M-I-N-I-M-A-L dub) - 5:38
3. "Minimal" (Telex Hell remix) - 6:19
4. "Minimal" (Telex Heaven remix) - 4:29

• Remix Promo

Another remix of "Minimal" by Lobe appears on the limited edition bonus CD of Fundamental, Fundamentalism. The Tiga remix was included on the Japanese release.

Another remix of Minimal by Radio Slave appears on the b-side of a 12" promo with two remixes of Psychological on the a-side by Ewan Pearson

Ewan Pearson

Ewan Pearson is an English electronic music producer/remixer who works under various aliases including Maas, Sulky Pup, Villa America, World of Apples, and Dirtbox. He is also in Partial Arts with Al Usher. He has remixed for artists such as Cortney Tidwell, Seelenluft, Ladytron, Depeche Mode,...

. These are part of the Numb

Numb (Pet Shop Boys song)

"Numb" is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their album Fundamental. It was released on 16 October 2006 as the third single from that album, peaking at #23 in the UK Singles Chart...

 promotion.

In addition, it was the first PSB single release to feature the U-MYX

U-MYX

U-MYX is a music format launched in 2004 which allows a user to arrange and create their own mix of songs by known music artists. The U-MYX Software is available on CDs and as digital downloads from U-MYX's own digital store. Digital U-MYX Sales are UK Chart eligible and count towards the...

 software on the maxi-CD which allows people to create their own version of the single. On 25 July, Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 himself created a new version of the track using the software and uploaded it onto the U-MYX website.

Music video

On 5 June 2006, it was announced that the video, directed by Dan Cameron

Dan Cameron

Dan Cameron is an American art curator based in New York City and New Orleans.Cameron's early years were spent in Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky and in Hudson Falls, NY. He attended Hudson Falls Public Schools , Syracuse University and Bennington College , where he earned a BA in 1979...

, was completed in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. It features a pair of dancers manoeuvering to form the letters of the chorus, while Tennant and Lowe perform in front of a light display.

External links

• Official artist site
• PSB U-Myx microsite

Chart performance

Chart (2006)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	19
U.S. Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...	3
Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...	7
German Single Charts	63