Girl Talk Albums (4)
What The Critics Say
Released two years after 2006's Night Ripper, in the same pay-your-price fashion as Radiohead's In Rainbows, Girl Talk's Feed the Animals finds Gregg Gillis continuing to reinvent the mash-up with his everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. For his last album, Gillis took the concept of bastard pop to a new extreme -- not by merely syncing up two unlikely artists, but by taking up to 20 unlikely artists and mashing them together on particular tracks. Like a sequel to a big-budget summer blockbuster, Feed the Animals follows the formula that made Night Ripper a success and piles on even more action. This time, the material is taken from a wider genre pool, the samples are more fragmented, and the breakneck pacing is stepped up a notch. Where Night Ripper had approximately 150 samples scattered throughout, Feed the Animals scurries through 322 samples. Where Night Ripper succeeded because of its use of records that typical DJs wouldn't dare spin, Feed the Animals is comprised of even riskier choices -- with Gillis pulling more frequently from the annals of rock (borrowing from Megadeth, Argent, Temple of the Dog, Thin Lizzy, and AC/DC, among others), and diving deeper into the pool of irony (with Kenny Loggins, Chicago, Rick Springfield, Big Country, Journey, and on and on.) The old-school and Dirty South theme runs rampant over the backing beats, no matter their vibe, as thuggish lines like "Where I'm from, I see a dead body every day" and "You know that I'm liable to bust a cap 'cuz it's all about survival" coincide with the peaceful coos of Sinéad O' Connor and the disco-funky keys of Hot Chocolate. With such a vast wealth of content, there's a little of something for everybody: nostalgia for those who recall the originals, singalong hooks for fans of modern and old-school rap (courtesy of E-40, Chuck D, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, ODB, T-Pain, Eminem, Ice Cube, Ray J, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West), an anarchistic attitude and element of danger for fans of a bad boy aesthetic (no, he didn't pay to use these samples -- who could afford to?), and enough uber-precise slicing and dicing to inspire a new generation of DJs to follow in his footsteps. An enthralling post-modern mosaic of found art -- a true masterpiece that you can dance to. ~ Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Gregg Gillis has been cutting up and gluing bits and pieces of songs together as a DJ in Pittsburgh since his 2002 debut, Secret Diary, an album that, though a lot of easily identifiable samples (the Price Is Right theme, for example) were used, was so delayed and skipped and glitched that it was too obfuscated to do much in the mainstream. Such is not the case with Night Ripper, however, which, thanks to Gillis's ability to draw from a myriad of musical sources (the names of the artists used, though not their songs, are listed in alphabetical order inside the liner notes, and in fact make up the entirety of the liner notes), can appeal to anyone who's heard the radio (particularly rap radio) in the past few years. Because of the recognizability of the pieces used, Night Ripper is a good tool for showing listeners unfamiliar with the art of sampling what a talented DJ can actually do; Gillis' favorite trick on the album is to play a long vocal track, preferably something from the Ying Yang Twins or Ludacris, over rock (be it classic, indie, or grunge) beats, which he speeds up or slows down as necessary. It's pretty impressive, and at first listen, it's pretty fun. On the opener, "Once Again," Luda's "Pimpin' All Over the World" moves into the Twins' "Wait (The Whisper Song)" over the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony," which then turns into Slim Thug's "I Ain't Heard of That" plus the acoustic guitar of Oasis's "Wonderwall," all of which ends with the Five Stairsteps' oft-sampled "O-o-h Child." Actually, "ends" is not really the right term, as the whole album works as one piece, the track titles only serving to help those more song-inclined not feel as if they are in foreign electronica territory, with its 50-minute sides and incomprehensible blips and bleeps. The thing is, this openness to pop culture, while it may increase and amuse his audience, also serves to make the album a fleeting affair. How many times do you really want to hear Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" trade off with the 69 Boyz's "Tootsie Roll?" Or Sophie B. Hawkins mix with Panjabi MC and Better Than Ezra while the Game's vocals from "Hate It or Love It" play over? The very thing that makes Night Ripper entertaining, its basis on current hits and long pop-song breaks, is also the thing that kills it, that makes it lose its appeal after a few spins; good for one party, one car trip, one afternoon at the beach, and that's all. Which isn't to say, however, that that one hour can't be a whole lot of fun. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The first album by Girl Talk, aka DJ Gregg Gillis, was like a club-oriented version of John Oswald's Plunderphonics, filled with bits of familiar pop songs that were mostly teasingly too short and too sonically manipulated to fully grasp. Unstoppable, on the other hand, is more like an album-length mash-up as created by a well-stocked DJ with both ADHD and a wicked sense of humor. The samples on Unstoppable are nose-thumbingly blatant in the manner of the classic early KLF singles, but they're far more expertly mixed, and they come from a wider frame of reference that includes Lisa Loeb's "Stay" next to crunchy Bon Jovi power chords. But what's most remarkable about Unstoppable is how the samples are never the whole point of the album: Gillis folds, spindles, and mutilates these bits and pieces of musical memory into entirely new songs with hooks, lyrics, and grooves of their own; before "Pump It Up," who knew that the piano riff from Coldplay's "Clocks" could rock so hard? Great fun for trainspotters, sure, but the true delight of songs like "Cleveland, Shake" and "Touch 2 Feel" is that they're exhilarating dance music. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The chaotic orchestral-noise sounds of Greg Gillis' Girl Talk is loud and abrasive on Secret Diary. The frenetic pace of some of the songs is downright confusing at times, with the listener mentally rushing to figure out the method to the madness. Gillis is somehow able to piece together some timeless pieces of music into a dizzying, yet listenable, collection of collage songs. The disc starts, appropriately, with "Let's Start This Party Right," which is chock-full of computer samples and a wealth of infectious beats. What follows is a lively and irreverent cover of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." Cyndi Lauper, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, and C&C Music Factory are also borrowed from to create an album that is refreshingly new, despite its use of very familiar songs. "What if..." is a noisy and eclectic take on Sheryl Crow's cover of Joan Osborne's "What if God was One of Us." He mixes rap and abrasive electronic beats on top to create a truly original sample. The use of the Price is Right theme song on "Unicorn Vs. Gravity" is pure genius. On "Fun in the Sun," he blends a deafening series of beats over the Fresh Prince's "Summertime." Matt Wellins collaborates with Gillis on the disc's final track, the disorienting and ambitious "Friends 4-Ever." With Secret Diary, Girl Talk impressed many in the electronic noise community. Illegal Art released the disc in 2002. ~ Stephen Cramer, All Music Guide
