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.