Album Review

Girl Talk – Feed The Animals

• 22nd Oct 2008

Girl Talk still rules the mash up world with perfect nuggets of hip hop pop. Gregg Gillis’ party hooks take the art of sampling to another level putting wide smiles upon 80s and 90s kids high on nostalgia.

This truly is the ultimate party album. If somebody told me a mash-up album based around hip hop samples would be at the top of my 2008 album list it would have caused as big a smile as this incredible, non-stop barrage of classic song snippets. More than 300 in 50 minutes to be precise. That may sound ridiculous but the editing is meticulous and franky to dream up pairings as insane as Florida’s ‘Low’ over Velvet Underground’s ‘Sunday Morning’, MIA and the Cranberries plus Eminem and Yael Naim will have you falling off your chair at such genius. Not that you will be able to sit still.

Skipping down the street to track one ‘Play Your Part (Pt.1)’ a piece of magic turns up among plenty. Sinead O’Connor sings ‘Nothing Compares To You’ while Lil Wayne raps ‘I was gettin’ some head’ through the gaps. It works better than you could ever imagine. This could go on forever so let’s try and keep this short and sweet like these fleeting flickers of tracks.

Seamlessly linking in to one of the disk’s many highlights ‘Shut The Club Down’ provides the most enjoyment we’ve ever had from Avril Lavigne. She is drowned out by Aphex, a glorious Sigor Ros ‘Von’ undertone, Butthole Surfers and a little bit of Rod Stewart. There is a slight lull through the core of ‘Feed The Animals’ as humourless hip hop muscles in too heavy but ‘Like This’ truely gets the juices flowing again. ‘Ghetto Superstar’ sounds better than ever as a mournful organ haunts around its edges before Metallica bang Lil Mama to life.

Nothing beats ‘In Step’, which is brought to life by Roy Orbison’s warbling and Nirvana’s ‘Lithium’ mixed to the Beach Boys ‘God Only Knows’ for another moment of genuine emotion. Except the madly euphoric ‘Don’t Stop’. If you heard some of these tracks in isolation you would be sure to proclaim hatred. Together and in such quick bytes ‘Soldier Boy’ and hard trance are transformed while moments of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Underworld and the Cure just make you want to jump.

Of course it isn’t about individual songs. Pittsburgh artist Gregg Gillis could have passed this about without any kind of track list. The samples flow and sit together so perfectly, when apparently repellent, that this could have been the greatest ever mix-tape loved by few and lost to many. Thank God it’s out there in the mainstream. Just pray for Girl Talk that this herd of 300 artists doesn’t go stampeding to the lawyers. When they hear what he has done to their work that’s not even a concern.