Mashup Breakdown interactively breaks down every sample used in Girl Talk's latest album
November 22, 2010 11:20 AM   Subscribe

Mashup Breakdown interactively breaks down every sample used in Girl Talk's latest album "All Day"
posted by livejamie (41 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
The amazing thing is it looks like this in HTML 5, not flash. Of course, just the interface and visuals are HTML - the audio seems to be coming from the Youtube flash player, which is being controlled via javascript.
posted by heathkit at 11:27 AM on November 22, 2010 [3 favorites]


Not working for me...no sound.
posted by schmod at 11:38 AM on November 22, 2010


Me neither.

Wired did this a while back.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:52 AM on November 22, 2010


I think it is amazing that so much internet stuff has been dedicated to a guy who's music nobody actually listens to.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:01 PM on November 22, 2010


works for me in chrome! i had to enable flash for the site first. so good!
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 12:02 PM on November 22, 2010


I find Girl Talk works surprisingly well as workout music. I guess it probably helps if you recognize/like the songs that he's mixing together in the first place.
posted by penduluum at 12:06 PM on November 22, 2010


The audio didn't work for me, so I made a quick side journey to Youtube, if nothing else than to confirm that Girl Talk still kind of irritates me.


There I found this video, which is pretty cool. Even though Girl Talk still kind of irritates me.
posted by louche mustachio at 12:08 PM on November 22, 2010


I think it is amazing that so much internet stuff has been dedicated to a guy who's music nobody actually listens to.

I was actually just listening to it earlier today. I like it.
posted by empath at 12:13 PM on November 22, 2010 [3 favorites]


I guess it probably helps if you recognize/like the songs that he's mixing together in the first place.

Yeah, he samples the most underground shit. And who's this Notorious BIG that keeps popping up his tracks? I bet he's gonna get rich.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:13 PM on November 22, 2010


Does anyone know how he gets his sample isolation to be so complete and crisp? This doesn't seem to be a case of just filters and messing with levels. I'm really interested to know if anyone has read a "how I work" story with him.
posted by proj at 12:15 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


The appeal of Girl Talk, explained:

1. Throw huge party
2. Queue entire Girl Talk catalog
3. Proceed to not worry about party music for the rest of the evening
posted by windbox at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2010 [11 favorites]


Yeah, he samples the most underground shit. And who's this Notorious BIG that keeps popping up his tracks? I bet he's gonna get rich.

Not to get in the way of your snark, but the samples don't have to be "underground shit" to be difficult to identify. Some of them are pretty short, at times they're layered over a bunch of other stuff, and frankly, I'm going to bet a lot of us just don't have that much familiarity with things like Jordan freaking Knight.
posted by juv3nal at 12:26 PM on November 22, 2010


What happens if you aim Shazam at this? Does it explode?
posted by The Bellman at 12:30 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


I think it is amazing that so much internet stuff has been dedicated to a guy who's music nobody actually listens to.

Equally amazing that you think anyone cares about your opinion. What a world we live in!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:32 PM on November 22, 2010


Couldn't this have just gone in the open thread?
posted by secretseasons at 12:34 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Yeah, he samples the most underground shit. And who's this Notorious BIG that keeps popping up his tracks? I bet he's gonna get rich.


Q: How many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: You don't know?
posted by shakespeherian at 12:36 PM on November 22, 2010 [9 favorites]


The old lightbulb was better.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:38 PM on November 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


i really disliked girltalk when night ripper came out. i understood the appeal, but it just didn't seem listenable - it was more like a tinkerer holding up an amorphous shape and saying "look what i can make!" - feed the animals was instantly better, seemed like he was less in the proof of concept phase and more in the appealing to the listeners - and this new album - it's perfect. it's the right length of samples, the right transitions, the right mood. i love this album. it's going to be great to listen to while cleaning the house.
posted by nadawi at 12:40 PM on November 22, 2010


Man, I really wish people would hold off on these awesome visualizations until after people finish sample-spotting the album. If y'all want to help out, there's a couple dozen left to spot listed at the bottom of the official Wikipedia page.
posted by flatluigi at 12:41 PM on November 22, 2010


It's a number you've never heard of.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:42 PM on November 22, 2010


I enjoy the music, although All Day doesn't hit me as much as the layers of Feed the Animals. This site I think is quite amazing, especially considering how it can pull track info from multiple sites, updating the sample lists dynamically.
posted by shinynewnick at 12:43 PM on November 22, 2010


Man, I really wish people would hold off on these awesome visualizations until after people finish sample-spotting the album.

It pulls the sample info dynamically from Wikipedia (which isn't the best, as it doesn't have sample duration) or AllDaySamples.com.
posted by zsazsa at 12:58 PM on November 22, 2010


I think it is amazing that so much internet stuff has been dedicated to a guy who's music nobody actually listens to.

I've been listening to the album almost non-stop since its release and I know several others who have also enjoyed it. My data point may not be worth much, but how about Google's? Twitter's? Or even Gillis' own apology for breaking the internet? Girl Talk's fans certainly number more than 'nobody'.

Here's another site that lists the samples as each track plays. And a neat little Q&A with Gregg about the release of All Day.
posted by youngergirl44 at 1:00 PM on November 22, 2010


zsazsa: "It pulls the sample info dynamically from Wikipedia (which isn't the best, as it doesn't have sample duration) or AllDaySamples.com"

Yes, I understand. Neither of the two sites are anywhere near complete, hence my complaint.
posted by flatluigi at 1:00 PM on November 22, 2010


I'm an a-hole. My 'another site' link is one of the original sources for the OP.
posted by youngergirl44 at 1:01 PM on November 22, 2010


Q: How many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: You don't know?


Nevermind, its some really obscure number you've never heard of...
posted by SirOmega at 1:06 PM on November 22, 2010


i like Girl Talk
posted by Addiction at 1:17 PM on November 22, 2010 [3 favorites]


@secretseasons I'm new to MeFi, so I apologize if this is against etiquette, I figured since the original post was a week ago that this was the appropriate spot.
posted by livejamie at 1:40 PM on November 22, 2010


I have really mixed feelings about Girl Talk. It's impressive, for sure. But when I hear Rhianna singing over Fugazi, I first think "Neat!", then I think "Wait, this is the total opposite of what Fugazi intended to convey"

And maybe intention doesn't matter to you, but it matters to me. GT seems like all flash and no thunder. Like the names of the songs are totally arbitrary because he doesn't mean anything by them.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:41 PM on November 22, 2010


Threeway Handshake: I think it is amazing that so much internet stuff has been dedicated to a guy who's music nobody actually listens to.

Perhaps equally amazing is a guy whose music nobody listens to has managed to put together a 45 city tour of 1000+ capacity venues.

PS: Lightbulbs? So over. It's all about whale oil lanterns and tallow candles now.

posted by mhum at 1:44 PM on November 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


And maybe intention doesn't matter to you, but it matters to me.

Yeah, but I think it's both possible for intention to matter, and for works in violation of that intention to still be interesting. There's friction there, and there's something worth looking at in the friction. The intent of the original artist is material to the work, but it's not the end of the story.

And just to be clear, when I said earlier that the songs were more interesting when you recognized the samples, I didn't mean to imply they were difficult to recognize. I just meant that maybe you got more out of the songs as songs if you didn't need a website telling you where all the pieces came from.
posted by penduluum at 2:08 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Like the names of the songs are totally arbitrary because he doesn't mean anything by them.

uh, yeah.

All Day is intended to be listened to as a whole.
It is broken up into individual tracks only for easier navigation.




also: intention is nice and all and i understand the complaint - but once you create something and release it, especially something like music or film, it's no longer solely yours. the piece of art is now a collection of what your intent was and what the audience receives. if any artist wants to keep their work all to themselves, controlling every single aspect or influence that can be derived from it, they shouldn't play it outside of their bedrooms.
posted by nadawi at 2:39 PM on November 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


I have no support for this, but he seems to heavily rely on lyrics and songs that could be considered misogynistic, and his name is Girltalk(!), and it comes out as an incredibly fun listen. I can't tell if this is some kind of statement, or if I am just over-thinking it.
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 4:07 PM on November 22, 2010


I have no support for this, but he seems to heavily rely on lyrics and songs that could be considered misogynistic

More so than in pop music in general? I doubt it.
posted by ssg at 8:25 PM on November 22, 2010


Well, have you listened to GT? I guess I don't keep up with pop music so I can't comment too much on that side of things, but I love me some Girl Talk. With mashups the artist draws from any song s/he feels like. Girl Talk (to my ears) seems to select a lot of lyrics that can be viewed (by some) as degrading. I like to think that this may be on purpose, but I could be justifying my enjoyment. Either way, I have listened through twice and I think this is my favorite album to date.
posted by pickinganameismuchharderthanihadanticipated at 9:08 PM on November 22, 2010


I can't really see any way to read Girl Talk as subversive, rather than just a straight-up celebration of pop. Nothing wrong with that, though.

And hey, a quick search confirms that - check out this interview:

I want to make new pop out of old pop. I’m not trying to be subversive. [...] I’m not trying to be subversive with my work. I am celebrating Top 40 as the soundtrack to many peoples’ lives.
posted by ssg at 10:42 PM on November 22, 2010


I'm new to MeFi, so I apologize if this is against etiquette, I figured since the original post was a week ago that this was the appropriate spot.

No sweat livejamie. The mods would have deleted if it needed to be deleted. Either they saw it and gave it a pass, or it didn't trip their radar. Either way, you're fine.

But since you (didn't) ask, I'd steer clear of using @ notation to reply to people while you're here. A lot of people get up in arms about it. The general feeling is that people should be reading everything, so many people do something like I've done here. Copy the text you're responding to, and put it in italics.

Back on track: I've probably listened to All Day a dozen times now, and count me among those who find it better than Night Ripper but worse than Feed the Animals. Plenty of great moments (Shimmy Shimmy Ya vs. Creep is delightful) but not quite the start to finish masterpiece that FtA was.
posted by SpiffyRob at 10:01 AM on November 23, 2010


I'm still just puzzled as to why he uses mostly Audtion and Audiomulch.
posted by Theta States at 11:20 AM on November 23, 2010


But when I hear Rhianna singing over Fugazi, I first think "Neat!", then I think "Wait, this is the total opposite of what Fugazi intended to convey"

What about Rhianna?

Or, say, Girl Talk?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:31 PM on November 23, 2010


I am celebrating Top 40 as the soundtrack to many peoples’ lives.

Clearly. Also, it drones out the humming of my coworker while having a high enough tempo to keep me focused on working.
posted by beerbajay at 9:17 AM on November 27, 2010


I've been listening to All Day pretty much since it came out and I think that GT is getting progressively better. The progression of quality from Night Ripper to Feed the Animals to All Day is an almost linear progression. I think that GT is getting smoother and keeps hitting these sample combos that make me go wow. I first got that same wow feeling when I listened to the Grey Album.

Radiohead's Creep with ODB over the top? Genius. Instant earworm.

My only regret is that when I hear the songs that GT samples at work on the muzak, I tend to start rapping over the song (in essence creating a live GT mix.) The fun thing is that usually I am not the only one doing this. Instant fun.
posted by schyler523 at 11:18 AM on November 29, 2010


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