Home > Music > CD Review > Girl Talk, 'Feed the Animals'

Girl Talk, 'Feed the Animals'

ADD-friendly producer proves there’s still life in the mashup

By Matt Rodbard

Metromix
June 23, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Backstory: Mashups, blends, rainy afternoons or whatever you want to call it, fusing two songs together to create a new composition (with varying degrees of irony) is pretty much over these days—we’re anxiously awaiting the release of Mashup Hero, played with a plastic iMac. But apparently nobody told this to Gregg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, the mix master who’s been holed up in his Pittsburgh apartment for the past year chopping up a lifetime’s worth of songs for this release, which features nearly 300 samples spread over 14 tracks.

Why you should care: The album is pay what you want, including the $0.00 option, with a physical copy (liner notes!) thrown in for those coughing up $10 or more. So there’s no real financial risk to caring here.    

Verdict: Judging Girl Talk tracks is not an exercise in picking the “best,” but rather what most hits your musical wheelhouse. (For us: Motown, commercial hip-hop and anything played by John Garabedian in 1991). Opener “Play Your Part (Pt. 1)” starts with the vocals from UGK’s pimping manifesto “International Player's Anthem” blasted over a sweet blend of “Gimme Some Lovin,” “Oh, Pretty Woman” and that Unicorns song from 2003. The track ends four minutes later with “Stuntin' Like My Daddy” and “Nothing Compares 2 U” trading leading and backing roles. Huey Lewis, Lil Mama and Temple of the freaking Dog show up in between. You can check out Wikipedia for the 284 other samples on the album.

X-Factor: Gillis creates his tracks using minimal bells and whistles: a simple WAV audio editor and a calculator (to make sure the beats match, which they do…perfectly).

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