Girl Talk: Feed the Animals
Girl Talk
Mash-up is nothing new to the music scene, but Girl Talk (or Gregg Gillis) brings a refreshing spin to the 80’s induced music genre. In Feed the Animals, Gillis takes a bit of the old, a bit of the new, and creates a 53 minute 14 track mix that will leave its listeners craving the next music clip. The listener finds gems within familiar songs that may not have been obvious with Gillis’ guiding hand.
Gillis uses a backbeat to tie together 30 to 90 second music clips. He faces up Fergie’s “London Bridges” to Kenny Lodgen’s classic “Footloose,” the Motown classic “The Rubber Band Man,” to Bubba Sparxxx’s “Miss New Booty,” to Dexy Midnight Runners’ ” Come on Eileen,” and Unk’s “Walk it Out” to Twisted Sister’s hit 80’s single, “We’re Not Going to Take It.” To a music lover, Feed the Animals continuously throws curveballs that highlight the root song’s best attributes. And it works.
Unfortunately, the novelty of Gillis’ mash-ups do wear, and by track 10 the listener isn’t shocked by the sudden appearance of “Pop, Lock, and Drop It” or the two second clip of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” What keeps Feed the Animals going is the high-energy tempo that capitalizes on a familiar retro melody; without it, Gillis just lets the drums click and the song very quickly dies. Most pointedly, in “What It’s All About,” there are several seconds of waiting time before the Jackson 5’s “ABC” comes into the mix. Sometimes the randomness doesn’t work. Fortunately for Gillis, he gets it right most of the time.
Overall, Feed the Animals is a quality album from Girl Talk. I suspect that the Gillis’s style of mash-up will grow old as Girl Talk ages, but as of yet, Feed the Animals is a solid album.
Recommended and Tossed Songs: This album is a 56 minute playlist; one track does not stand on its own.
Rating: B+