“Shut the Club Down“
from the album Feed the Animals
2008
Radiohead shook up the music industry when they released their latest disc for digital download only. The band had no idea their two-part plan might forever change music sales. They sold their seventh album, In Rainbows, only through the Radiohead website, and allowed fans to pay however much they wanted. Although industry execs scoffed, the plan worked; Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke bragged that In Rainbows earned more than any of their previous discs.
Mash-up genius Girl Talk noted Radiohead’s success, and followed a similar route for the release of his new disc. Girl Talk, the stage name of Pittsburgh DJ Gregg Gillis, released his fourth full-length album, Feed the Animals, this summer through the Illegal Arts website.
Following Radiohead’s lead, Girl Talk allowed listeners to “pay as you like” for the disc; those who pay less than $5.00 can download the MP3 at 320kbps, those who pay between $5.00 and $9.99 get the higher-quality FLAC files, and those who pay $10 will receive the disc in the mail sometime after its September 23 release date.
So, is Feed the Animals worth downloading? Without a doubt.
Girl Talk’s music is vastly different from anything you’re probably used to: it’s almost entirely sampled from other artists. A typical Girl Talk track is a mash-up of over twenty different tracks. The song “Play Your Part” starts with a Outkast sample, dips in and out of songs by Roy Orbison, Huey Lewis, Lil Mama, wrapped up with a line from Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin.” The rest of the disk follows the same pattern.
Mash-up as a music form isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for something to bump at a house party, you can’t go wrong with Girl Talk.