Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Inexplicable Music Review: Girl Talk and the human response.


I have a deep, deep problem - A crippling addiction to Girl Talk. By that, I don't mean I love chatting with women about their day and what not. (I mean, that can be OK from time to time; I'm not some Neanderthal.) Rather, I mean the musical artist, a "band" that consists of one guy remixing and mashing-up songs.

My latest find was the above video on YouTube, which painstakingly culls music video and live performance clips from the dozens of bands that make up a single track. It must have taken the creator hours to do - he only did four of the tracks as a result. The end of this track, with Metallica mixed with Lil Mama, is especially good. The quick cuts between the ridiculous heavy guitar music and the rapping is incredible, as are the transitions at the start and the end of the sequence. There are some other people doing the same thing on YouTube, although I find the other efforts to not be as well done.

My problem with Girl Talk is the same one I have with ice cream cakes - It's so much of a good thing that it is hard to transition back to "normal" music. Once you hear Metallica with Lil Mama, you think to yourself, "Well Ride The Lightening is good, but it sure would be better with some crappy rapping mixed in. Imma go listen to Girl Talk instead..."

The issue works in opposite as well. Because he uses so many unusual samples (and by unusual, I mean bad pop music), I find myself humming along to some horrible music now. The best example on Feed The Animals is probably "Girlfriend" by Avril, which is used to great effect on a track. But now, whenever it comes on, I must say that I'm supremely interested in it. Sigh. Damn you, Girl Talk!

7 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this, but I can totally see what you're saying. :)

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  2. 1. I have a hard time believing that you don't have a legitimate interest in girl talk. Girl-talk-with-boys is much tamer than girl-talk-with girls. And by "tamer" I mean "boring."

    2. I have an unhealthy love for the song "Ghetto Superstar." I love that it was included.

    3. I am ashamed to admit than Lil' Mama was my second favorite song included in this mash-up. Quite possibly because it would be included on the soundtrack if my senior year of high school was a movie.

    4. I like to think that if I eat enough regular cake, I'll be rewarded with some kind of ice cream cake paradise in the after life.

    5. How DARE you refer to Avril in the same paragraph as bad pop music! I didn't buy her last album the day it came out because she sucks! Okay, she does. Sometimes. But I still bought that album. And two others.

    6. I'm semi-addicted to mash-ups. (I have an unhealthy love for Nick Pitera's Take a Bow/Touch My Body mash-up. Mariah just isn't the same now.) I need to listen to more of what this dude did. If I had a trustier internet connection, I'd be all over this.

    7. I now realize that I've referenced six different bands/artists in this novel of a comment. None of them are a convincing argument for two fundamental truths about me: 1.) I have great taste in music. 2.) I'm a rehabbed soft-core punk.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ The Frisky Virgin - You should definitely check them out, they're a solid band. Actually, they let you download the CD for free if you'd like, to try it out, I believe:

    http://illegal-art.net/shop#release117

    Then, if you like it, they humbly request that you donate.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Alison - Responding to some of your (excellent!) points:

    1) heh, True! One time I was around girls as they were discussing what they did talk about with just other girls, and it was vicious. It will also happen sometimes if you're the only guy in a group of drunk girls, when the inhibitions are lower.

    2) That is a shockingly good song, I agree. All three of the people in the song were at their peaks. This isn't really saying that much, but still.

    3) I honestly have no idea who she is - I only know because she's mentioned in the comments for that video :/ That one little snippet of her song is pretty good though.

    6) I'm also a big fan, although it can be hard to find good ones. I like The Grey Album (Beatles and Jay-Z) and The Black N Blue Album (Jay-Z and Weezer) quite a bit. Outside of that though, I just have some scattered tracks here and there. We should trade mash-up libraries at some point.

    7) My taste in music is horrible, so I feel you. I love some really bad pop music and a bunch of pop punk.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Girl Talk offers a good, fast beat to run/ train to. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love your blog. Immensely. But at the same time I'm sort of upset with you right now because I know I'm going to be spending the next couple of hours on youtube watching more of these videos.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Anon 10:18 a.m. - I also use them to play hoops to, when no one else is there to play with.

    @ Amber - Aw, why thank you! Your compliment is all I heard. :D

    ReplyDelete

Try not to be too much of an ass, unless completely necessary. You are subject to tyrannical moderation.

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