Girl Talk creates music 'explosion' BY JENNA DENOYELLES STAFF WRITER JHDSO3S@PSU.EDU A musical explosion occurs when genres collide on Girl Talk's latest album "Feed the Animals." By using around 300 different samples from various artists, Girl Talk truly takes advantage of the fair-use principle of the United States copyright law. "Feed the Animals" is the follow up to 2006's "Night Ripper" and uses only the best hip-hop, pop and rock hooks and beats combining them together creating a 54 "supermix" mash-up dance party. There are samples from UGK with OutKast, Pete Townshend, Temple of the dog, Jay-Z, Kelis, Aphex Twin, Michael Jackson, Beastie Boys, Beck, 50 Cent, The Cure, Phil Collins, The Carpenters and Soulja Boy just name a few. Their sound can be best described as experimental music, mash-up, dance party and electronica -- though not quite electronica. Girl Talk a one-man project and is the stage name of Gregg Gillis, who resides in Pittsburgh, Pa. His only instrument is his laptop. Gillis has released four LP's on the record label Illegal Art, which By JAKE COYLE AP ENTERTAINMENT WRITER LOS ANGELES —No Madonna kiss. No Michael Jackson cameo. No flying Howard Stem. Not even a Kanye tantrum. MTV has set a high standard for the unexpected at its Video Music Awards, but on the show's 25th anniversary, the network instead settled for throwing its full support behind Britney Spears' comeback. Spears won a leading three awards, including video of the year for "Piece of Me." Any spontaneity was left to host Russell Brand, the British comic whose rock star style and outlandish candor gave the Los Angeles show a pulse. But at the end of the night Sunday, even the manic and mangy Brand a confessed former sex addict could only summon a comic semi-feud with the young Jonas Brothers over their premarital celibacy. But while Brand was Photo courtesy of myspace.comigirltalk One-man-band and mashup artist Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) made his new album, "Feed the Animals", available for free download at is Myspace page. is a sampling label. More than just another mash up artist (and do not call him a DJ), Gillis has an incredible attention to detail in "Feed the Animals." Each track seamlessly transitions to the next effortlessly. Everything in each song seems to fit, and Gillis even revamps some VMA's get new stage, odd host unpredictable, witty and offensive, Spears was resolutely careful, determined to set right her pop star image. She was, after all, returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. At last year's VMAs Britney Comeback 1.0 her unpolished performance was roundly disparaged. In each acceptance speech Sunday, Spears spoke briefly, thanked God and dedicated the of samples completely changing the music, making it his own in a sense From beginning to end, the high impact energy never stops. This album is perfect for a party or any good workout. Sometimes the unexpected is heard, for instance in the song "Like This." Photo courtesy of MTV.com, by Wirelmage awards to her fans. Even while opening the show, she was all business, zipping through her few lines of introduction. "Thank you so much," s MTV has a habit of reengineering the VMAs every year, and, true to form, took this year's show to the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. After last year's awards, splashed throughout a Las Vegas hotel, MTV re-centered the It layers the song "Lip Gloss" by Lir Mama and "One" by Metallica in a portion of the song. Yes, Metallica, the frontrunner of the copyright infringement movement. Also, the lyrics in some songs appear darker and it is as if Gillis takes the lyrics from sampling action to a more traditional main stage. The performances, though, often traveled back into the reaches of the Paramount lot. The Jonas Brothers played their song "Lovebug" on a fake building's stoop, before the set fell away and throngs of screaming fans ran down fictional city streets to surround them. Brand was happy to apologize for any hurt feelings, but only to such a degree. After the show, he told The Associated Press, "I feel a bit bad that I kept talking about their vows to chastity and I'd like to take this opportunity to say no one ever have sex again. It's a mad idea. What a way to spend an evening." A celebrity in England but relatively unknown in the States, Brand proved an interesting mix with the VMA crowd, who seemed unsure of how to react to his lack of political correctness. songs to create his own message. In the song "Set it off," Jay-Z's "Roc Boys (And the Winner 15)..." is combined with Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" for a more serious tone and a different meaning. Be warned, Girl Talk may not be for everyone. The lyrics are extremely sexually explicit at times and may be downright offensive to some listeners. Heck, it's been said that Gillis strips down to his boxers or nothing at all during his performances. There are also some who don't even consider mash-up artists as real musicians. Some people just may not be into hearing Ace of Base and Lil' Scrappy or. Busta Rhymes and The Police layered together. College students eager for new music and short on cash should consider Girl Talk's new album "Feed The Animals." Following the trend of Radiohead, Girl Talk, among other artists, jumped on the pay-what-you-want bandwagon. The name alone is intriguing, but the music is genius and technically free. The fact that it's downloadable for free is reason enough to listen. Formore information: http://www. myspace.com/girltalkmusic. In his opening monologue, he joked about Madonna, virgins and President Bush, whom he called "that retarded cowboy fellow." He pleaded, "Please, America, elect Barack Obama. On behalf of the world." Some in the star studded crowd cheered, while others like Spears sat quietly. T. 1., who is currently serving 1,000 hours of community service and will afterward serve a year in prison for federal weapons charges, performed with Rihanna. Closing the night was Kanye West who, like Spears, was hoping for a second chance after a disappointing VMA experience last year. In Las Vegas, he had a Kanye-sized hissy fit backstage and vowed never to appear at the VMAs again after he didn't get a Moonman trophy despite several nominations. West again went home without an award this year; there were only eight awards in total.
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