Tuesday, October 14, 2008

OMG!! Girl Talk @ The Orange Peel tonight!!!


Girl Talk (or Gregg Gillis) ain't just the king of mash-ups, Girl Talk is your wittiest friend who's gone through every item in the stockpile of pop-culture you call a memory, a musical mad scientist with a short attention span and the DJ that you've wished for at every dance party you've ever been to all rolled in to one. No seriously, I'm serious!! Also yes, he IS the king of mash ups.
To get me all hyped up to write this I've just listened to and am still listening to "Feed the Aninmals", Gillis' fourth album under the name Girl Talk. After 50 minutes and around 300 different samples I should be, by all rights, exhausted. The way Gillis builds, mixes and unfolds his compositions keeps the listener's energy up however. The elements switch up often, sometimes before you want them to to be honest, allowing the momentum ebb and flow while the beat keeps up a consistently brisk pace.
As with any good mash-up, most of the fun is in hearing a familiar song (or two or six) in a completely different context. It's just fun to hear Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" playing on top of some dirty, dance club hip hop. No matter who you are there is at least one familiar element running through every second of "Feed the Animals". Be they snatched from classic rock, dirty south, top 40 pop or any era of R&B, Girl Talk's musical constructs always keep you guessing where they'll go next and pull you through deftly balanced juxtapositions that are anywhere from neat to exciting to fucking rad.
Tonight's sold out show at The Orange peel looks to be the dancinest event of the season. I feel bad for you poor sods who'll be on the outside come 9 O'Clock.