As some of you may be aware, Pittsburg DJ Girl Talk (real name Gregg Gillis) is a master-crafter when it comes to mashups and mixing. He currently has four albums out, with the latest (Feed the Animals) being released a little over week ago. As with Radioheads In Rainbows, you can download the whole album completely free off his labels website. Just put in $0.00 as your price.
Girl Talk has become somewhat of a celebrity in certain music circles due to his repeated use of unlicensed samples comprising essentially all of his music, and he's not breaking that tradition in his latest musical incarnation. He gets away with all of this under the moniker of fair use, something that has no doubt infuriated the major music labels.
A defining factor in the composition of Feed the Animals is variety. There are underlying tones of hip-hop permeating a lot of the album, but samples come from much further afar, with Procol Harem, Radiohead, Aphex Twin, Jackson 5, and Cheap Trick amongst the many artists sampled to produce the album.
Most importantly, the album is a whole boatload of fun. There's something inately satisfying about hearing Rick Ross's Hustlin' getting mixed in alongside David Bowie's Rebel Rebel. Brings a smile to my face every time, and this whole album is filled with moments like that, where you realise the tune you're tapping your feet to is actually mixing in a song from 'back in the day' that you were crazy about.
My rating? 7.5/10
If you still need convincing, check out this appetiser:
Girl Talk - Set It Off (not completely representative of the album, as each track is so different, but a good start nonetheless)
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