Girl Talk goes EBN.
August 18, 2009 10:04 AM Subscribe
A video playlist of the entire 'Feed the Animals' album by Girl Talk, aka mashup wunderkind Greg Gillis.
GT, previously. Also, Gillis' label Illegal Art appears to have all their albums as a 'pay-what-you-like' plan, not just Girl Talk stuff. Nice!
GT, previously. Also, Gillis' label Illegal Art appears to have all their albums as a 'pay-what-you-like' plan, not just Girl Talk stuff. Nice!
I can't even begin to fathom how much time that must have taken to pull together...
posted by modernnomad at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2009
posted by modernnomad at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2009
I wasn't expecting to get drawn in on that as much as I was. Very cool.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:14 AM on August 18, 2009
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:14 AM on August 18, 2009
Bunny Greenhouse also did this, but using the music videos for the original songs when available. Unfortunately, it looks like a few were taken down, because there are only 6 of the 14 tracks up in his collection.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:26 AM on August 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 10:26 AM on August 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
Holy fucking shit this is awesome.
posted by chunking express at 10:34 AM on August 18, 2009
posted by chunking express at 10:34 AM on August 18, 2009
filthy light thief: "Bunny Greenhouse also did this, but using the music videos for the original songs when available. Unfortunately, it looks like a few were taken down, because there are only 6 of the 14 tracks up in his collection."
It was more that he never finished the rest. :)
Anyway, thanks for this, I'm really glad to see one of these projects completed. Here's the videos Negyxo's completed of Girl Talk's previous album, Night Ripper; he did a good job but he hasn't uploaded anything for a full year so I think that project might be dead.
posted by flatluigi at 10:37 AM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
It was more that he never finished the rest. :)
Anyway, thanks for this, I'm really glad to see one of these projects completed. Here's the videos Negyxo's completed of Girl Talk's previous album, Night Ripper; he did a good job but he hasn't uploaded anything for a full year so I think that project might be dead.
posted by flatluigi at 10:37 AM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
Awesome. And this just reminded me to go donate $$ (which I just did)...I had downloaded the album last year and got hung up on why the $$ page wasn't working and never went back to figure it out. Now I feel good about all that free listening I've been doing!
fyi, you have to put values into both the dollars AND the cents box in order to move onto the next step.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:49 AM on August 18, 2009
fyi, you have to put values into both the dollars AND the cents box in order to move onto the next step.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:49 AM on August 18, 2009
The whole album is good. My favorites:
Track 9, 2:25 - 3:10
Track 10: 1:00 - 1:38. ( Dee Light + Salt N Peppa + Nirvana = genius )
Track 11: 1:13 - 2:03.
I love the album because of the variety of samples. I hear the original songs all over the place. Thanks, box.
posted by tayknight at 11:13 AM on August 18, 2009
Track 9, 2:25 - 3:10
Track 10: 1:00 - 1:38. ( Dee Light + Salt N Peppa + Nirvana = genius )
Track 11: 1:13 - 2:03.
I love the album because of the variety of samples. I hear the original songs all over the place. Thanks, box.
posted by tayknight at 11:13 AM on August 18, 2009
Very well done. It was worth watching if only to see Thom Yorke be all: "No diggity." Seriously.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:14 AM on August 18, 2009
posted by joe lisboa at 11:14 AM on August 18, 2009
By the by, I think the most transcendent pop moment on the record is the Bohemian Rhapsody - Jackson 5 bit. Something about it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. In a good way.
posted by joe lisboa at 11:29 AM on August 18, 2009
posted by joe lisboa at 11:29 AM on August 18, 2009
I keep wanting to listen to Girl Talk, but I don't have money for new music. And then I find out that I can download it on a pay-what-you-can scheme, which is great, but the way their "checkout" system is configured means I have to type in $0.00 to proceed, which makes me feel so goddamn guilty that I can't continue.
posted by Shepherd at 12:10 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by Shepherd at 12:10 PM on August 18, 2009
I'm sure Greg gets it, Shepherd. He's a pretty kind-hearted dude.
posted by joe lisboa at 12:20 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by joe lisboa at 12:20 PM on August 18, 2009
This is fantastic. Worth mentioning that Gillis didn't do these, though- they're fan videos.
Shepherd: I keep wanting to listen to Girl Talk, but I don't have money for new music.
I can't stand it when people say crap like this. Music is cheap compared to most things considering how much "use" you get out of it. You found $5 to join MeFi. Agricola runs about $50. Are you telling me you couldn't find a few bucks to toss Greg's way?
posted by mkultra at 12:32 PM on August 18, 2009
Shepherd: I keep wanting to listen to Girl Talk, but I don't have money for new music.
I can't stand it when people say crap like this. Music is cheap compared to most things considering how much "use" you get out of it. You found $5 to join MeFi. Agricola runs about $50. Are you telling me you couldn't find a few bucks to toss Greg's way?
posted by mkultra at 12:32 PM on August 18, 2009
I'm torn between the desire to watch this before it gets taken down and the desire to actually be productive at work for the next hour.
posted by Johnny Assay at 12:32 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by Johnny Assay at 12:32 PM on August 18, 2009
I think the most brilliant part of Feed The Animals is how it leads in with a sample of "Play Your Part" which so happens to be the last sample on the album -- meaning, of course, you can leave it on a loop and barely notice when it repeats.
posted by flatluigi at 1:08 PM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by flatluigi at 1:08 PM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
I can't stand it when people say crap like this. Music is cheap compared to most things considering how much "use" you get out of it. You found $5 to join MeFi. Agricola runs about $50. Are you telling me you couldn't find a few bucks to toss Greg's way?
God damn, it's creepy when people trawl through your posting history to make minor sniping points against you.
And since I bought Agricola, a few things have --
oh hang on, it's NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS WHY I DON'T HAVE A LOT OF SPARE INCOME RIGHT NOW, YOU CREEPY FUCKING METASTALKER.
Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Shepherd at 1:10 PM on August 18, 2009 [9 favorites]
God damn, it's creepy when people trawl through your posting history to make minor sniping points against you.
And since I bought Agricola, a few things have --
oh hang on, it's NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS WHY I DON'T HAVE A LOT OF SPARE INCOME RIGHT NOW, YOU CREEPY FUCKING METASTALKER.
Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Shepherd at 1:10 PM on August 18, 2009 [9 favorites]
(pant pant pant)
Now that that's off my chest: I don't know why, but the one avenue I currently have to support bands like this -- eMusic (it's a pre-paid long-term contract with monthly downloads, purchased in happier times, before any jackholes start carping at me) -- seems to be giving me more and more "this album is not licensed for download in your country (Canada)."
I might e-mail them about that; it could be a good workaround to the "spirit is willing but the wallet is weak" situation.
posted by Shepherd at 1:33 PM on August 18, 2009
Now that that's off my chest: I don't know why, but the one avenue I currently have to support bands like this -- eMusic (it's a pre-paid long-term contract with monthly downloads, purchased in happier times, before any jackholes start carping at me) -- seems to be giving me more and more "this album is not licensed for download in your country (Canada)."
I might e-mail them about that; it could be a good workaround to the "spirit is willing but the wallet is weak" situation.
posted by Shepherd at 1:33 PM on August 18, 2009
You can give the guy a quarter for the album, you know. If free is too cheap for you, give him a few cents.
posted by flatluigi at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by flatluigi at 1:34 PM on August 18, 2009
Technically, I don't think the album is licensed for download in any country - none of those samples are 'cleared'. There's a reason his label is called Illegal Art...
posted by FatherDagon at 1:38 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by FatherDagon at 1:38 PM on August 18, 2009
Shepherd: God damn, it's creepy when people trawl through your posting history to make minor sniping points against you.
Not trawling though your history, I just remembered you as the guy who posted about Agricola a while back (it's one of my favorite games)- it's a post that comes up a lot when I'm looking for posts about boardgames for when the weekly "what boardgames would you recommend?" question pops up on AskMe.
Shepherd: YOU CREEPY FUCKING METASTALKER.
You should be so lucky.
posted by mkultra at 1:50 PM on August 18, 2009
Not trawling though your history, I just remembered you as the guy who posted about Agricola a while back (it's one of my favorite games)- it's a post that comes up a lot when I'm looking for posts about boardgames for when the weekly "what boardgames would you recommend?" question pops up on AskMe.
Shepherd: YOU CREEPY FUCKING METASTALKER.
You should be so lucky.
posted by mkultra at 1:50 PM on August 18, 2009
You can give the guy a quarter for the album, you know. If free is too cheap for you, give him a few cents.
I know, and you're right, I just feel awkward when anything gets under the (thoroughly personal and arbitrary) $5 mark. I feel guilty downloading netlabel stuff that's supposed to be free, for Pete's sake.
posted by Shepherd at 1:52 PM on August 18, 2009
I know, and you're right, I just feel awkward when anything gets under the (thoroughly personal and arbitrary) $5 mark. I feel guilty downloading netlabel stuff that's supposed to be free, for Pete's sake.
posted by Shepherd at 1:52 PM on August 18, 2009
I can't stand it when people say crap like this.
You can't stand it when people actually express complicated feelings about taking music for free even in contexts where doing so is explicitly allowed by the artist, born out of the speaker's respect for the effort that goes into making art? That's objectionable?
There's "lol i'm torrentin'" and there's "music is tooo expeeeensive", but this isn't either of those things. It seems ungenerous to seize on what Shepherd said in that way.
posted by cortex at 2:25 PM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
You can't stand it when people actually express complicated feelings about taking music for free even in contexts where doing so is explicitly allowed by the artist, born out of the speaker's respect for the effort that goes into making art? That's objectionable?
There's "lol i'm torrentin'" and there's "music is tooo expeeeensive", but this isn't either of those things. It seems ungenerous to seize on what Shepherd said in that way.
posted by cortex at 2:25 PM on August 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
Also, Gillis' label Illegal Art appears to have all their albums as a 'pay-what-you-like' plan, not just Girl Talk stuff. Nice!
Thanks, I didn't know this and I just went and bought copies of everything they sell that I didn't already have...!
posted by rollbiz at 2:40 PM on August 18, 2009
Thanks, I didn't know this and I just went and bought copies of everything they sell that I didn't already have...!
posted by rollbiz at 2:40 PM on August 18, 2009
FatherDagon: "Technically, I don't think the album is licensed for download in any country - none of those samples are 'cleared'. There's a reason his label is called Illegal Art..."
I downloaded Night Ripper from eMusic last week before i knew about his Pay-What-You-Like scheme. I'm in Ireland if that's relevant...
posted by minifigs at 3:19 PM on August 18, 2009
I downloaded Night Ripper from eMusic last week before i knew about his Pay-What-You-Like scheme. I'm in Ireland if that's relevant...
posted by minifigs at 3:19 PM on August 18, 2009
You can't stand it when people actually express complicated feelings about taking music for free even in contexts where doing so is explicitly allowed by the artist, born out of the speaker's respect for the effort that goes into making art? That's objectionable?
An artist goes out of his way to make his music affordable and people still manage to gripe about the cost. Yes, I find that objectionable. Swallow your pride, buy one less beer, and toss the guy a buck or two.
posted by mkultra at 3:23 PM on August 18, 2009
An artist goes out of his way to make his music affordable and people still manage to gripe about the cost. Yes, I find that objectionable. Swallow your pride, buy one less beer, and toss the guy a buck or two.
posted by mkultra at 3:23 PM on August 18, 2009
Gillis seems like a decent unaffected guy, still living in Polish Hill in Pittsburgh and hanging out at Gooski's (home of the best jukebox ever).
posted by octothorpe at 3:31 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by octothorpe at 3:31 PM on August 18, 2009
The greatest moment on this album is when Boy/Girl Song kicks in. And the video accompaniment in this playlist is just magnificent... there are a couple of background scenes from the Boy/Girl Song video, but whoever put it together opted for the Windowlicker footage instead. Just amazingly subtle how it's worked in with the traditional hip-hop imagery, and a wonderful highlight on how it's used in exactly the same way in the music.
Great link!
posted by synaesthetichaze at 3:40 PM on August 18, 2009
Great link!
posted by synaesthetichaze at 3:40 PM on August 18, 2009
synaesthetichaze, I'm with you on that being the best moment on the album. Just last week I had the pleasure of swimming off a boat in the Pacific amidst jellyfish, and that song was playing ... floating facedown while listening to that is one of my favorite recent memories.
posted by mannequito at 4:02 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by mannequito at 4:02 PM on August 18, 2009
Oh Jesus Christ, it's like injecting crack cocaine... into my eye.
Want. Moar. NAO!
posted by bpm140 at 4:04 PM on August 18, 2009
Want. Moar. NAO!
posted by bpm140 at 4:04 PM on August 18, 2009
An artist goes out of his way to make his music affordable and people still manage to gripe about the cost.
He was griping about not feeling like he was in a position to give the artist as much money as he felt the artist deserved, with the implication that at some point he would be and that he was holding off on grabbing that artists work for free in the mean time, implicitly as an incentive to keep himself honest on the subject.
In other words, the worst case scenario is a choice between no money for Gillis now vs. no money for Gillis later. The more favorable outcome is some money for Gillis later. You find me a working musician who wouldn't pick that option out of the three given the choice, I'll ask if I can borrow either his halo or his dad's Porsche.
Your peeve, much though I can agree with it in spirit, is being directed at precisely the wrong sort of person in this case.
posted by cortex at 4:27 PM on August 18, 2009
He was griping about not feeling like he was in a position to give the artist as much money as he felt the artist deserved, with the implication that at some point he would be and that he was holding off on grabbing that artists work for free in the mean time, implicitly as an incentive to keep himself honest on the subject.
In other words, the worst case scenario is a choice between no money for Gillis now vs. no money for Gillis later. The more favorable outcome is some money for Gillis later. You find me a working musician who wouldn't pick that option out of the three given the choice, I'll ask if I can borrow either his halo or his dad's Porsche.
Your peeve, much though I can agree with it in spirit, is being directed at precisely the wrong sort of person in this case.
posted by cortex at 4:27 PM on August 18, 2009
My favorite parts are the Metallica/Lil Mama part, the Kelly Clarkson/Nine Inch Nails part, and of course the beginning. As soon as the keyboard from "Gimme Some Lovin'" kicks in, I am dancing, no matter where I am.
posted by Lucinda at 9:11 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by Lucinda at 9:11 PM on August 18, 2009
I opted to get the CD in addition to the FLAC downloads. My 65 year-old partner loved it just as much as I did, if not more.
posted by deusdiabolus at 11:29 PM on August 18, 2009
posted by deusdiabolus at 11:29 PM on August 18, 2009
First, apologies for going off the rails above. Financial stress compounded with a creepy drag-your-posting-history-out-and-throw-it-in-your-face-to-make-a-sweeping-judgment-about-a-total-stranger attack compounded with a bad mood compounded with an already bad day. It was entirely inappropriate in terms of tone and tact (though I stand by the central point: my personal financial situation is nobody's business but my own, and if you're going to assume bad faith and dredge through somebody's posting history to malign them, it's high time to back away from the keyboard and start working on your Getting A Life merit badge). So: sorry about my terrible presentation and thanks for not letting it derail the thread.
Second, I think attacking the person who isn't downloading the music because they feel they can't pay an artist what they deserve is, well, kind of misplaced. I'm not torrenting Girl Talk, I'm not downloading it for free, I'm abstaining from taking their music until I can pay them for it. That may be slightly crazy, but at least it's a position that aims to enjoy an artist's work only when I can give them some compensation. If you think my desire to not freeload makes me a bad person, well, I guess there's not much I can do about that.
Third, there's something slightly passive-aggressive about the "you can download this album for free, but you have to type in that $0.00" that has a chilling effect on... well, people like me, I suppose. Were it a page that says "hey, we recorded this album! It's awesome! Download it here and if you feel like it, give us a few bucks!", I'd have an entirely different reaction than I do to the "checkout system". As a basis of comparison, I think I'd like Girl Talk because I love the Kleptones, but the Kleptones generally opt for the "here it is, go for it" distribution option. For another comparison, I didn't download the Radiohead "In Rainbows" album when they were following the "pay what you can" distro model: in that case, I didn't like Radiohead enough to pay for the album, but the psychological "type in $0.00" barrier again kept me from downloading the album on spec.
I'd rather go to a free concert in the park than one where I have to walk past a doorman who demands to know how much I can pay to get in, if you know what I mean. The free concert in the park is "supposed" to be free, on the one hand; on the other hand, I always feel like the doorman is scowling at me, even if he isn't.
So from a purely personal/anecdotal standpoint, if your goal is to make the music as widely heard as possible, and benefit from ancillary stuff like follow-up CD sales, t-shirts, merch and etc., the "zero dollar shopping cart" might hinder that. On the other hand, the no-pressure download button is probably a lot less profitable, because it short-circuits the "artist should be paid" line of thought in favour of just a "hey this is free, whoopee" response.
There are tons of netlabels out there doing the "free download" approach; the "zero-dollar shopping cart" thing seems newer, and it'd be interesting to see how the approaches stack up. It can't be an easy thing to juggle, as conventional distribution systems collapse, but I can't be the only person that this shopping cart approach drives off, at least initially.
posted by Shepherd at 6:39 AM on August 19, 2009
Second, I think attacking the person who isn't downloading the music because they feel they can't pay an artist what they deserve is, well, kind of misplaced. I'm not torrenting Girl Talk, I'm not downloading it for free, I'm abstaining from taking their music until I can pay them for it. That may be slightly crazy, but at least it's a position that aims to enjoy an artist's work only when I can give them some compensation. If you think my desire to not freeload makes me a bad person, well, I guess there's not much I can do about that.
Third, there's something slightly passive-aggressive about the "you can download this album for free, but you have to type in that $0.00" that has a chilling effect on... well, people like me, I suppose. Were it a page that says "hey, we recorded this album! It's awesome! Download it here and if you feel like it, give us a few bucks!", I'd have an entirely different reaction than I do to the "checkout system". As a basis of comparison, I think I'd like Girl Talk because I love the Kleptones, but the Kleptones generally opt for the "here it is, go for it" distribution option. For another comparison, I didn't download the Radiohead "In Rainbows" album when they were following the "pay what you can" distro model: in that case, I didn't like Radiohead enough to pay for the album, but the psychological "type in $0.00" barrier again kept me from downloading the album on spec.
I'd rather go to a free concert in the park than one where I have to walk past a doorman who demands to know how much I can pay to get in, if you know what I mean. The free concert in the park is "supposed" to be free, on the one hand; on the other hand, I always feel like the doorman is scowling at me, even if he isn't.
So from a purely personal/anecdotal standpoint, if your goal is to make the music as widely heard as possible, and benefit from ancillary stuff like follow-up CD sales, t-shirts, merch and etc., the "zero dollar shopping cart" might hinder that. On the other hand, the no-pressure download button is probably a lot less profitable, because it short-circuits the "artist should be paid" line of thought in favour of just a "hey this is free, whoopee" response.
There are tons of netlabels out there doing the "free download" approach; the "zero-dollar shopping cart" thing seems newer, and it'd be interesting to see how the approaches stack up. It can't be an easy thing to juggle, as conventional distribution systems collapse, but I can't be the only person that this shopping cart approach drives off, at least initially.
posted by Shepherd at 6:39 AM on August 19, 2009
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posted by box at 10:11 AM on August 18, 2009 [4 favorites]