Girl Talk is an awesome dude/digital artist. His real name is Greg Gillis, age 28, and according to some graffiti artist at Bonnaroo, God speaks through him.In 2009, David and I slept through the Beastie Boys show just for the chance to attend this late night dance party (circa 3 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning) - just to give you an idea of what you're in for this week.
I was never a fan of DJs thanks to late weekend night mixes on z107.7. I often wondered to myself what made these people think meshing two songs together (badly, I might add, in a way that made me long for the true versions of the songs) made them talented musicians. The truth is, it didn't.
If nothing else, this week is going to be interesting, as we haven't really ventured into this type of music yet on Music Togetherness. At the same time, it satisfies my need for a closer look at more pop music on the blog.
DJ Shadow is of a similar genre, yes, but does more of his own thing on the turntables, whereas this is more upbeat, more familiar (you'll see), and gives off more of a party vibe.
I was never a fan of DJs thanks to late weekend night mixes on z107.7. I often wondered to myself what made these people think meshing two songs together (badly, I might add, in a way that made me long for the true versions of the songs) made them talented musicians. The truth is, it didn't.But what Girl Talk does is a lot more than that. He mixes songs using a laptop, not turntables - and instead of blending two songs that still sound a lot like the original versions, he blends samples and sound bytes from 12+ songs to create one of his tracks alone.
He's got a real ear for music and tends to work with two genres I love - classic rock and cheesy, sometimes nostalgic/sometimes current, pop. He takes itty bitty sound samples here and there like some musicians would use a sample on a keyboard and finds a new and exciting way to present them to music fans with each effort.
It's the samples that grab my attention, and the way he holds them together that keeps me coming back for more.
It should be noted that a lot of his earlier stuff (namely "Secret Diary") is a lot of electronic noise... and probably appeals to a more specific audience that doesn't include me. With his two most recent albums, however, ("Night Ripper" and my favorite, "Feed the Animals") he has developed a much smoother technique that appeals to pop fans and music snobs alike. His live shows are literally giant dance parties. Balloons everywhere. He performs using a computer on a platform in the MIDDLE of the crowd rather than on a stage, and he invites fans to surround him and dance. Just don't think it's all lights and trickery and him just pressing play, because it's anything but. You'll never hear a Girl Talk show that sounds the same as one of his albums, and you'll never see two Girl Talk shows exactly alike. He tests a lot of his new stuff on audiences via live shows as well.
Because I want to make this weekend fun and easy, suggested listening is:
- Night Ripper (2006)
- Feed the Animals (2008)
If you want a little bit more of a challenge (Justin and David, since you've heard these two), skim over "Unstoppable" (2004) to hear a little bit about where he came from. I mentioned above that his earlier stuff is a lot of electronic noise (literally - like discs skipping, white noise, etc.) and "Unstoppable" is a blend of that style (heard predominantly on 2002's "Secret Diary") and what you hear on your required listening.
I'm not sure what everyone will think - but I want all of you to explore the art of "mashing" rather than simple mixing, and to think about how extensive this guy's musical tastes are and how much knowledge he has to know where to pull obscure references together to create his masterpieces, versus blending two songs for a late night radio DJ mix. Should be a fairly easy week, but I hope interesting nonetheless.
Whether you like the finished product or not by the end of the week, I think you'll at least enjoy the fact that even if you've never heard these songs before that they will be familiar to you - and have fun on what I'll call this week's musical treasure hunt (from Beach Boys to Jackson 5 to Avril Lavigne and Busta Rhymes and Radiohead). Let's see how many references you can point out ;)
P.S. This week is the ultimate workout playlist, if you're interested in that sort of thing.
The sound isn't great here but this is the finale from that Bonnaroo 2009 show:
I think a great word to describe GirlTalk is schizophrenic. I remember first listening to him at Laura and David’s house one evening while we were hanging out. I remember thinking at the time I was listening to it, that it reminded me a lot of something that Z107 would be playing on Friday nights. Just a whole bunch of random songs melded together, that somehow sync up as if they were made to do so. The first track has some high and low moments for me, and I kind of dislike how frequently things get changed up as you go through the track. On “Hold Up” it starts off with some James Taylor “Smiling face” and then heads into some crazy rapping. I can appreciate his creativeness in taking all different types of styles and incorporating them into one wild ride of a song. I am just not sure this type of music is for me. “Smash your head” was almost unbearable for me, It got better about halfway through when they incorporated Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” in the background to kind of smooth out the rocky edginess of the beginning. “Ask About Me” is pretty funny, with some pretty vulgar lyrics, that I can actually appreciate and bring me back to high school years nostalgia. This is probably the best track for me, as no aspect of it really turned me off and I think it had one of the best flows. “Friday Night” was another fun song, and I can definitely see why this music would be good for background music at a party. I also understand what Laura meant by this music is good for workouts. It goes from one upbeat track to the next, so you never really have a lull in action. “Bounce That” had such a great tempo to it I couldn’t help but bob my head as I listened to it. While this has been the hardest music for me to write about, I am definitely impressed by how Greg is able to come up with unique ways of blending music together.
ReplyDelete“Feed the Animals” starts off on a fun pace with the backdrop of “Gimme Some Lovin” by the Spencer Davis Group. For people who did not grow up on oldies, I can see them getting into this song and really loving the backdrop to it. However if I were the Spencer Davis Group, I would probably be a little upset that our lyrics were taken out and replaced with “F*** that bitch up.” This album is hard to keep up with just like the other one, in that I have to constantly watch which track I am on, so I know what I am writing about. “Still here” catches my attention with the use of Kanye’s “Flashing Lights.” That is one of my all time favorite Kanye songs, and I also like how the song incorporates “No Diggity” into it as well. This track is the best one of the week so far for me, I think it incorporates a lot of songs that I can really get into. For some reason this album does not annoy me, which is not what I could say about “Night Ripper.” I am going to apologize for not doing a more comprehensive write up, however there are so many elements going on in each song to sit here and dissect what I like about each and every song would probably take me a month or so. Some of the tracks I enjoyed were “No Pause,” “Hands in the Air,” “Let me see.”
While this is not necessarily my kind of music, there are certain elements to it that I found appealing. Overall though, it just was too all over the place, and I found myself getting into the song one minute, only to be totally turned off in the next minute. I will keep this in mind next summer when I am trying to get back in shape post pregnancy and need some upbeat music to get me motivated.
Within Night Ripper, I find it amazing how Greg can take songs that have no business being together, and reinforce the fact they have no business being together. Perhaps I am just not predisposed to this concept, but I don’t get it. I am an album kind of guy. Meaning, if I am in the mood to listen to Rage Against the Machine, I am ready to listen to at least 10 Rage Against the Machine songs. What I hear on ‘Night Ripper’ is a scavenger hunt for a 2 second segment of songs I like. Therefore it is just a tease for me. In addition, I don’t understand the reason for multiple tracks on an album when each track has over 100 different unique sounds and run into the rest of the album. Call me traditional, but I usually go to a concert to hear my favorite artists perform my favorite studio tracks live. With Girl Talk it sounds like you are going to hear a different set of dance beats but not necessarily ones you are familiar with. I think the reason they have different radio stations is in the mood to hear a specific genre, they can choose the corresponding station. I don’t know of too many people that are in the mood to hear Paula Abdul, Better than Ezra, Salt N Peppa, and Warren G simultaneously. Even from a music I want to dance to perspective, I do not see the difference between Girl Talk and a MTV party to go album.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I am really only left with enjoying the few seconds I hear a familiar track. The album actually starts off light with maybe only 10 different clips in ‘Once Again.’ ‘Hold Up’ took be back to high school when it closed with Nas and Puff Daddy’s ‘Hate Me Now.’ I used to really like that song, but hadn’t heard it in forever. The Fall Out Boy and Nirvana segments were the standouts in ‘Smash Your Head.’ If I was familiar with some of these rap songs, I may be a bit more appreciative. The segment with what sounds like 50 cent rapping over a Better Than Ezra riff was one of the more puzzling moments for me on this album. ‘Ask About Me’ was probably the best track on the album as the Nine Inch Nails industrial beat actually worked well with Cassidy’s ‘I’m a Hustla’. ‘Hand Clap’ was another standout as I can handle Gwen Stefani, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Missy Elliot, and some Busta Rhymes. Hearing Britney’s ‘Slave 4 U’ will forever remind me of the night Cory and I bought Super Troopers the day it came out and instantly hosted a party for to view it. My Britney Spears the videos disc served as the opening previews. I may be mistaken, but I am pretty sure I heard Fergie singing ‘My Humps’ over Paula Abdul’s ‘Cold Hearted’, instantly followed by Kansas singing over some Ludacris. Another rather confusing moment for me, along with Three 6 Mafia rapping over Smashing Pumpkings.
ReplyDelete‘Shut the Club Down’ was the first stand out for me on ‘Feed the Animals.’ Although brief I appreciated the shout outs to Avril Lavigne and Butthole Surfers. The Rod Steward part was the best though. The Blackstreet over Kanye West was actually the best mashing I have heard so far on ‘Still Here’. This was quickly ruined by what sounds like Dolly Parton over Outkast, but then redeemed with someone rapping over Ace of Base. I guess I don’t understand why this can’t be three different tracks. Stick with one success and ride it. Busta over the Police along with the Paula Cole section was atrocious, but at least the Beastie Boys, the Hot Stepper, and Alice in Chains got a spot on ‘What’s it All About’. Switching from the Carpenters (makes me think of Tommy Boy) to Metallica’s One with some chick rapping leaves me even more puzzled. I have no idea how this can be considered a successful mash. ‘In step’ was another bad example with Earth, Wind, and Fire transitioning into the Beach Boys which I guess sounds good on paper, but not on the track. The last highlight was on ‘Play Your Part (Part 2.)’ (Hate the track title) was someone rapping in sync with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good pick from the perspective that I learned such a genre exists and that there is a crowd that appreciates it. I however learned rapping to beats layed out by Fleetwood Mac, the Cranberries, the Police, Metallica, James Taylor and Paula Abdul are actually painful to my ears. Sorry, guess I just don’t understand. Perhaps it is more the rap than the mashing that turns me off. If he mashed a bunch of death metal together and this was the only exposure you had to this concept, perhaps you may not enjoy this style either.
Girl Talk is an interesting pick because you have varied and justified praises and criticisms geared towards Greg’s style of making music. What he does is not easy, I’m not sure if everyone understands how well versed in music you have be to create a mix that flows like this for an hour or more. Being that I am over 30, worked in radio and am a fan of nearly all genres of music I can find this music equally gratifying and aggravating. Putting aside my music snobbery and enjoying this music exactly for what it’s created for, partying, it’s very good. I feel the biggest problem Beth and Thomas may have had is that they listened to this week in headphones and not through stereo speakers with a cold beverage in hand. I was telling Beth this weekend that outside of a party atmosphere, I have only on a handful of occasions ever listened to GT in my car and never on my Ipod because the experience just isn’t the same.
ReplyDelete“Night Ripper” was THE party soundtrack for nearly a year straight when it came out. The mashing-up of alternative and rap/pop music had already been attempted with limited success, but not in the schizophrenic yet calculated way that GT displays here. He is juggling accapella vocals with sometimes 3 different genres of instrumentals and beats. A music purist would gag at the thought of mixing the Ying Yang Twins raunchy lyrics of sex play with the angelic orchestration of the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” but it’s amazing how well they play off of each other. GT mixes these things together for 3 reasons: to shock you, to impress you, and to ultimately get you to groove. He succeeds on all 3 counts. This is not a hastily thrown together mix from a standard “club”dj; Greg is down with Musictogetherness artist The Pixies and takes the epic guitar riff from “Where Is My Mind” and blends it with the street bravado of Nas and Puff on “Hate Me Now”. Even when he misses directly after this with the noisy electronic mess under the ignorant D4L vocals it’s quickly forgotten because we are moving at lightning speed and the music doesn’t get a chance to get stale. “Too Deep” is a highlight for the hip hop fan that I am, with the spooky Dr. Dre instrumental from “Deep Cover” that opens the track and the KRS-One vocal over John Lennon’s “Come Together”, which for me makes sense because KRS and John are/were very political/conscious artists. GT understands BPM’s (Beats Per Minute) and just like all great party dj’s he knows how to keep his transitions smooth by carrying a steady beat underneath them. Steve Winwood, Britney Spears and Big Mike all co-exist peacefully on “Bounce That”. Fleetwood Mac and 69 Boyz are a match made in heaven. I could go on forever about the interesting mixes GT has crammed on here but I think you get my gist.
Feed The Animals’ opening track sounds forced and doesn’t marry the vocals with the instrumentals with the ease that we found often on Night Ripper, until we get to the too brief marriage of Temple of the Dog with Luda, which he should have expanded on more. Kanye and Blackstreet are a natural fit on “Still Here” and it makes me wonder what a Teddy Riley and Kanye studio session would be like. As I’m listening to FTA there are some very rewarding mashes but Greg is unable to keep the great pace he achieved on Night Ripper; there is a lot of “look what I can do” and not enough of “keep shaking your ass” which, for me, is the whole reason I put on GT. “What It’s All About” flounders around with a noisy Faith No More/ Ini Kamoze backdrop that leads into Paula Cole?! I’m pretty sure we all could have lived without this! But then halfway through, this track gets awesome with Raekwon rapping over the triumphant “Hold Your Head High” and then Little Michael singing over a mash of Rihanna and Queen. Too bad I had to sit through 2 and a half minutes of waste to get a little over a minute of goodness. “Set It Off” is a winner all the way through with Jigga rhyming over “Paranoid Android”, how can I be mad at that?! Mary J looking for real love with assistance from The Guess Who is blissful to say the least, only to end with Doug E. Fresh clearing his throat over Dexy’s Midnight Runners is what I’ve come to expect from GT. Greg hits his stride at this point blending one of my all time guilty pleasure songs “I Can’t Wait” from Nu Shooz with Missy Elliot. His knowledge of pop music through the decades is very impressive but with this album it’s way more of “can I do it” instead of “should I do it”. I did enjoy the inclusion of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You”; my God that song is amazing. Greg is a gifted artist, and I do mean artist because what he creates is truly unique.
ReplyDeleteGreg Gillis is a master at taking music that I would never have any interest in listening to and making it somehow interesting anyway. His knowledge of music runs extremely deep, and while most of his choices run along the pop/rap spectrum, every now and then he'll throw in something that amazes me. This music is perfect for parties, but I've also used each of these albums when I'm at work driving around and feeling drowsy. It's impossible for me to hear a Girl Talk album and not be instantly energized.
ReplyDelete'Night Ripper' is really southern rap based. There are a lot of vulgar lyrics throughout the album, and Gillis does a nice job of pairing those choices with some very pretty background music, such as in the case of coupling Ying Yang Twins with The Verve's classic "Bittersweet Symphony", which has one of the most beautiful symphonic lines I've ever heard. "Hold Up" features our very own Pixies backing Nas and Puffy's "Hate Me Now", and it's awesome hearing my favorite rapper along with one of my favorite bands. "Smash Your Head" is Girl Talk's most famous track, based mostly on the mix of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and Biggie's "Juicy". The lyrics featured in this section are some of my favorite in hip-hop, as Biggie talks about where he came from to where he is now, and "Tiny Dancer" works perfectly to make it seem like a very nostalgic piece. On "Minute by Minute", Gillis takes one of the most obscure songs (and also one of my favorite bands) with Neutral Milk Hotel's "Holland, 1945" and throws it together with some Jefferson Airplane and Juelz Santana. I'll never forget sitting down at my computer and listening to this the day that it came out and being amazed that I was hearing Neutral Milk Hotel on a mix. Time just seems to fly when I listen to this album, and even if there's a section of the mix that I don't like, it all goes by so fast that I don't have enough time to get aggravated with the music. Out of all of the albums released in 2006, I've heard this one the most, and while it not be my favorite, that's a huge testament to the staying power and overall listenability of this album.
'Night Ripper' Album Rating: 87%
'Feed the Animals' follows the same basic template as 'Night Ripper', but a couple of things are just a little different. For one, this album is quite a bit heavier on the classic rock. Along with this, the tracks are in general a little longer in length, which basically just allows it to be played at a party even longer. I love the section on the opening track with Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" and Lil' Wayne and Birdman, and segwaying that into "Nothing Compares 2 U" is pure genius. The next track features the terrible "Throw Some D's", but when it's put together with Aphex Twin's amazing "Girl/Boy Song" it actually becomes easy to listen to. My favorite part of the album is obviously the Radiohead/Jay-Z pairing, because well, it doesn't get any better than those two in their respective genres. At the 1:13 mark of "Like This" comes my other favorite section, with "Ghetto Superstar" mixed with my favorite Yo La Tengo song, "Autumn Sweater". Quickly behind that on the same track is The Carpenter's "Superstar", which I could never get tired of hearing. Overall, I like this album only a very tiny bit less than 'Night Ripper' (actually, the rating ended up being .3% behind it, so that's how close my opinion is), but I could still listen to this album at any time and feel good about it. Greg Gillis takes pop music and makes it sound timeless and important, and songs that would have been lost forever (some of which should have, still) have been saved in a relevant form forever. This was a different pick than anything we've listened to, but it was a great way to incorporate some different sounds into Music Togetherness.
ReplyDelete'Feed the Animals' Album Rating: 87%
After reading your reviews, I was genuinely surprised that Thomas and Beth didn’t see the quality in Girl Talk week that I hoped would shine through. Before this week, I seriously didn’t think a person on this planet could dislike Girl Talk. I see all of your arguments, but wanted a chance to chime back in, even if it is a week later.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Girl Talk is a lot like the TV show Supernatural, with which I have been obsessed as of late. As far as TV goes, Supernatural has everything that could possibly appeal to me in a TV show. It’s got hot guys (hot girls for the men, even if they don’t last as long), ghosts, vampires and other monsters of the week, an underlying biblical mythology, bad ass angels and the devil himself, as well as the ability to balance the horror of the Apocalypse one week with insane laughs (including parodies of other shows I tend to love including “Grey’s Anatomy” and “CSI”) the next. (Have I sold you on Supernatural yet? Anyway… back to music). Girl Talk is everything I love about music. You might even say it defines my musical tastes. It’s pop culture at its finest, all blended together in a yummy music smoothie. Most of the rap used in the tracks are or were on popular radio, which is why I’m familiar with most of them, and why they actually do have a connection with Paula Cole and Avril Lavigne and the like. A lot of the background samples and pretty music you hear under the rap are taken from indie songs, as David pointed out. And on “Feed the Animals,” and this is probably why it’s my favorite of the two, he’s incorporated a lot of classic rock and pop into the mix.
Find me, and name for me, ten people you know who listen to Z107.7 on a daily basis, yet who spend all their vacation money every year on tickets for Bonnaroo (and then run a blog about it), and who have a soft spot for the classic rock they grew up on all at the same time. Sure, there are people who have a general interest in all three, and those who can tolerate all three, but I think you’ll find a lot of people who are hardcore into (and I hate to name names) bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and Yo La Tengo typically have absolutely no interest in popular radio. Yet I happen to be one of them who does.
ReplyDeleteTo hear such a talented artist (whose mashups go WAYYYYYY beyond late night DJ mixes on the radio) with such an appreciation for music itself across sometimes polarizing genres is refreshing, and familiar for me. I think being familiar with indie, pop, rap and rock all at the same time helps because you’re able to pick 4-5 songs out of a one-minute span that might just sound like a two song mashup to someone who’s less familiar with the basis of these songs. My favorite track of the week, as always, was “Still Here” on Feed the Animals. Around the 1:18 mark, he comes in over “No Diggity” with this clapping sound you probably didn’t recognize. I don’t even know if David picked up on it at first and he’s a huge Radiohead fan, but that’s just one sound ripped from an incredibly complicated “15 Step,” off In Rainbows, which you’ll hear during David’s upcoming week, and it’s the first thing I heard in that track. You see, he’s not just blending one song with another, he’s picking intricate portions off one track and infusing them with several others - sometimes for only a 20-second clip, then he does it all over again with new songs (and blends them quite well if I do say so myself). I have no idea how long an album of this takes him to put together, but all hail Greg Gillis for doing it.
I know Justin chalked your disappointing experiences up to listening to Greg’s mashups through headphones rather than in a party atmosphere, but for me, the music translates fine to headphones, boomboxes and car speakers alike, without the need for inebriation or a cold beverage in hand. That’s obviously not going to be the case for everyone, so to each his own, but I do have to disagree with, while finding it interesting, Beth using the word schizophrenic to describe the selections this week. I do see the correlation in that bits and pieces of the tracks come and go quickly and he’s always transitioning into something new, but for me that’s less a turn off and more of a draw. Sure, that clapping part in “Still Here” only lasted 10 seconds or so, but by the time it was over I was waiting for what other fun mashups he had in store. I think it’s less schizophrenic and more a jab at Americans’ incredibly short attention spans.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I’m glad you guys got to hear it at least. I should have made you listen to one of his earlier albums, and you probably would have a greater appreciation for these two ;) Thanks for your opinions on all sides.