Feed the Animals [Explicit]

By Illegal Art (MP3 Download) (September 2008)

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Customer Reviews

Over rated!
 

DJ Hero has better remixes. IMO.

I bought this album to get some inspiration as I'm starting my DJ career real soon. I love that there are tons of well known artist/samples on here. The problem I had is that it has a track list of 14 and it feels like 85. I feel that this is an example of to much of a good thing going on here. Don't get me wrong, Girl Talk is extremely talented and really like 40 percent of each song until it takes a complete U-turn then 5 seconds later another u-turn..... very frustrating!

Feed The Animals Historical Context
 

Though "mashups" are a relatively new phenomenon, the general idea behind their creation is not. As with most electronic music, there is a deep connection between the past and present, and this is certainly the case in Girl Talk's album Feed The Animals. Often known more for his piracy than artistic value, Gregg Gillis, or, Girl Talk, successfully places together music from many different genres and decades in a way that allows a multitude of people to appreciate the music in their own way. While appreciating the melodious verses created in Feed The Animals, I also intend to give it a sort of historical perspective in electronic music for a further appreciation of the music.

Being able to listen to only the catchiest or most inventive parts of various songs is one of the many reasons why mashups are so enjoyable. Perhaps my favorite song on the album, "No Pause", blends many of my favorite melodies and lyrics of songs by Jurassic 5, Heart, and Yael Naim, as well as many others. While each of these songs has a great amount of value from start to finish, there are certain parts that stand out above the rest, each of which is highlighted in "No Pause." Putting these different samples together reminds me of an almost modern day version of musique concrète, as the creators Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry were some of the first to splice together parts of electronic recordings. As pioneers of experimental electronic music, artists such as Gregg Gillis still use many of the same ideas as those found in many of the early musique concrète recordings.

Perhaps the only thing better than listening to the best parts of various songs played in one song is when they are layered over one another. Another basic idea of mashups, it is always a treat to hear the voice of one of my favorite vocalists sing to one of my favorite beats. For this reason, my favorite part of the album is the approximately forty-three second interval that "No Diggity" is being played over the beat of "Flashing Lights" in the Feed The Animals song "Still Here." Even though listening to mashups is exciting because uniquely different songs are interweaved into one, it is especially interesting when certain rhythms or beats of individual songs can noticeably play and feed off of each other once they are put into direct communication. Oftentimes songs that are not always noticeably similar become surprisingly alike once certain beats and keys are highlighted, and this layering technique allows this to happen easily. Or, in other cases, the combination of similar sounds and rhythms can create an entirely new and different musical experience. Regardless, again channeling the methods of the innovators of electronic music, the layering of different samples reminds me greatly of Edgard Varèse. A pioneer in composing musique concrète with elektronische Musik, Varèse's work "Poeme Electronique" remains as one of the preeminent examples of layering samples with electronic music.

Whereas other mashup artists such as Negativland often create music to make a point, Girl Talk seems to concentrate on simply enjoying the music of many different artists in one album. Whether the music should be labeled as plunderphonics, mashups, or simply experimental music is debatable, though there are many good reasons for each. The fact of the matter is Girl Talk's Feed The Animals is an extremely enjoyable album to listen to that can appeal to people who appreciate any popular music over the past few decades. While also taking into mind the historic perspective of the piece, Feed The Animals can be appreciated to an even higher degree and can only make us wonder what will come next out of experimental electronic music.

From a different Perspective
 

Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, is an artist that specializes in mixing different bits of popular songs into one song called a "mash-up." He has released four albums, and several EPs. His most recent album, "Feed the Animals," stays close to his roots. Mash-up as a genre has really blown up in recent years with the rise of artists such as Pretty Lights and Milkman. With this having been said, the idea and theory behind the art has been around for decades.
Although the type of music considered mashup uses popular songs as samples, the concept of musique concrete came to fruition in the mid 20th century. Musique concrete was the first type of music that incorporated the idea of sampling and compiling the samples into a piece in and of itself. This genre utilized the technology available at the time by recording sounds previously thought not necessarily to be musical such as rain drops or car horns. The most direct precursor to Gillis' music comes from the music of John Oswald.
Oswald is a composer and musician from Canada who is most famous for his development of "plunderphonics." Just as Girl Talk does today, Oswald would take a previous recording and join it with another recording sometimes with other songs and sometimes with voice recordings. It is the works of Oswald that Gillis and artists like him can thank for creating a genre where there was none before.
Back to album "Feeding the Animals," I found Gillis' work impressive. He masterfully navigates through so many different genres of music is his sampling for instance going from modern rap music directly to a sample from an artist such as Elton John. It is almost as if you are spinning the tuner knob on a radio except that the songs fit together flawlessly. I would say my favorite song on the album would be "Don't Stop." It picks you up right from the beginning with the fast paced "watch my feet" loop before introducing the slower background loop. It impresses me that while keeping the same sample present in "watch my feet" he is able to change the tempo of the song by simply changing the frequency of this inclusion. For so many of his samples, it seems as though that which he chooses to put together fits as if the samples were originally meant to go together. Later in the song he uses a classic Thin Lizzy sample from as a background to a sample from a from a Soulja boy song. In no other type of music, could these two songs be put together and sound so perfect. He chooses to title this song "Don't Stop," and what is magical is that he utilizes his "don't stop" sample as a perfect bridge between two different themes in the middle of the song. While this song is my favorite, I enjoyed each and every song on the album.
The mashup genre is not for everyone. It is has criticized as demonstrating the ADD generation of today in the United States in that the American youth no longer have the attention span to listen to just one song. Gillis' artistry, however, is undeniable. While perhaps a live concert in which he simply stands on stage and presses the space bar on his laptop might not be as enthralling as someone playing an actual instrument, the result of his mastery on the album is magnificent. Girl Talk is not the first to attack this genre, but he clearly has immense talent, and his latest album is a brilliant demonstration of that talent.

One of the Greatest Compilations I've Ever Heard
 

I was introduced to the music of Girl Talk in the summer of 2009 by a group of my friends who attend Duquesne University, a Catholic university in Pittsburgh. Since Pittsburgh is where Gregg Gillis' (otherwise known as Girl Talk) hometown, it is also obviously his biggest fan base. With this said, after hearing the Girl Talk for the first time, I immediately went and found out more about Gillis' music. This was the point at which I discovered Feed the Animals.
This album uses the same plunderphonic techniques that are seen in Girl Talk's other works. Plunderphonics is just the name given to the field of music in which new compositions are made from one or more pre-existing audio recordings which are altered in some way. This field of music was introduced by John Oswald, who at first used the name to describe the editing and restructuring of a single track. He first started using these techniques in the 70s, as his work was influenced by the cut-up techniques of William Burroughs, and in 1989 he released his first major album which applied this technique. Plunderphonics, the name of this album contained twenty five tracks, which were each composed of only one song in themselves. Also at this time a group by the name of Negativeland was influencing the future of the plunderphonic genre by mixing clips of songs and spoken-word recordings together. Today, the term plunderphonics is used to indicate any music that is made completely out of samples or at least mostly out of samples. These two artists made their recordings by cutting magnetic tape, which over time was replaced by using digital technology to make the cuts, however, some DJs have successfully used turntables to produce plunderphonic pieces. Without these crucial influences, music like Girl Talk's may have never existed.
Gillis started making his music in high school, which is when he went gave himself the "Girl Talk" alias. Feed the Animals is his fourth album, and definitely his most successful one as well. It was released in 2008 and since his tracks contain pieces of music that he is not authorized to market, the album is sold in a "pay-what-you-like" fashion. What I like about his work is that unlike some artists, like Legion of Doom, who only mash two different songs together, Girl Talk will mash anywhere from 15-30 pieces of different tracks together just to make one of his own. Also, pieces that are used to mix together are from completely different genres of music. For example, in "Here's the Thing" (track 12), the music of Kelly Clarkson, Nine-Inch Nails, MC Hammer, Elvis Costello, Rick Springfield, Nelly Furtado, and Three Six Mafia, are just a few notably different artists that are present. These few artists represent a broad sprectrum of genres, ranging from pop, hard-rock, 80s hip-hop, pub-rock, classic rock, alternative, and rap. With this said, Girl Talk's plunderphonic compilations aren't for everyone, however, everyone can find something about them that they like. If I was given a list of these names of artists, I would be hard pressed to listen to them individually (except Kelly Clarkson and Rich Springfield, because I still haven't found a better song to sing in the shower than her hit "Since You've Been Gone" and I truly believe that it is un-American to not like Rich's hit "Jesse's Girl"), however they are blended together perfectly in this track. My favorite thing about this album is that it was not recorded as fourteen individual tracks, but rather as one continuous piece of music and then split up into individual tracks. With this said, some of the same songs can be heard at the end of some tracks and the beginning of others. My favorite transition of this sort occurs at the end of the second track, "Shut the Club Down" where Youngbloodz "Damn!" is heard with "Gold and Pager" by The Cool Kids. As "Gold and Pager" fades out at the end of the track, "Damn!" continues into the third track, "Still Here" where the tempo is slowed down dramatically and is played alongside the classic "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procul Harum. I really feel that this transition between tracks accentuates Gillis' ability to make plunderphonic music, and not only is it my favorite transition on the album, but it is my favorite sound clip of the entire album.
This album is truly incredible and I highly recommend it for everyone. Please just listen to it once in its entirety and I can almost assure you'll fall in love.

Girl Talk's Best Yet
 

In 2008 the New York Times called Gregg Gillis' latest album "a lawsuit waiting to happen". Gregg Gillis, known better by his stage name Girl Talk, released his fourth album, Feed the Animals, in 2008 under his cleverly named label, Illegal Art. Feed the Animals is a "mash-up" album, consisting of songs assembled almost entirely of samples of hit songs of all genres. Despite the questionable legalities of Gillis' work, Time Magazine ranked the recording #4 album of 2008, Rolling Stone ranked it the 26th best recording of 2008, and Blender Magazine claimed it to be the second best album of 2008.
Feed the Animals begins with a combination of vocals from UGK's hip-hop single "International Players Anthem" and the instrumentation from the classic rock song "Gimme Some Lovin'" by the Spencer Davis Group. This track is the quintessential piece of Gillis' album. Girl Talk's work generally consists of rock or pop melodies with hip-hop vocals layered over; occasionally songs will include the opposite orientation. Every track is a high-energy mix that will surely get any party going. Gillis samples everything from classic hits by the Jackson 5 to recent chart toppers, such as Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop". The driving melodies of each section of the song are generally sampled for 30-40 seconds, but Gillis also borrows a variety of 2-second noises from songs, such as shouts, drum hits, etc. My favorite mash-up on the album would have to be the very first of the album, with UGK and the Spencer Davis Group.
Girl Talk's genre of music evolved from John Oswald's "Plunderphonics" of the 1980's. Oswald first coined the term in his essay, "Plunderphonics or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative" in which he discussed the legalities of sampling. Plunderphonics is described as "borrowing" music clips or as "sound collage". Other early plunderphonics artists include Negativland, who made explicit parodies of popular artists, and later on DJ Food and DJ Shadow. At the time these artists would make the mash-ups by cutting up magnetic tape or using turntables. Modern artists obviously use computer audio programs- Gillis uses Adobe Audition and Audiomulch. This genre of music has constantly been in a struggle with copyright laws- some plunderphonics artists, including negativland, intentionally made highly illegal and vulgar productions to protest copyright laws. Contemporary mash-up/plunderphonics artists include Super Mash Bros, Milkman, and DJ Earworm, all of whom have gained worldwide recognition through their controversial work.
I had the opportunity to see Girl Talk perform live at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA about six months ago. Gillis is unbelievably energetic and has no trouble getting the crowd going. His performance is almost over the top, as at times he will jump up on his computer desk and dance with his feet literally jumping on his computers (fittingly, Panasonic Toughbooks). His shows are always different, as he makes new mash-ups at each show. He does not sequence any of the mixes from any of his albums, but instead mixes his collection of song samples in new ways. The live show absolutely matched the quality of the album.
Overall, Girl Talk's Feed the Animals is a fantastic album, and is a great example of the power of computer music. I would absolutely recommend this album, as well as his previous three albums, and suggest that you look out for his work to come.