No thread on the Girl Talk album, surely some mistake

those... people

i feel like girl talk brings out the music snob in all of us

getting snobby about girl talk records is some omega level point-missing imo

I don't see how girl talk's are any less jokey than the source material. Maybe he just brings out the inherent hilarity of modern day hip hop and pop music.

i'm not being all "HOW DARE YOU!" here, i was probably one of those kids in the early years of the Simpsons but i mean...we live in this culture now where everything is built upon references upon references upon references and there'll always be people who just say context schmontext and enjoy their cultural byproducts while being completely incurious about the source material.

did i just get old, did the novelty wear off, or did this stuff ACTUALLY used to be more fun? it really feels like a bit of a chore to listen to now, rap vocal laid over rock song over and over again, just monotonous.

he just brings out the inherent hilarity of modern day hip hop and pop music

but funny hip-hop and pop is ALREADY funny, it doesn't need some loser signposting it by putting it over rock music

completely unfair imo to use girl talk as a tool to dismiss ppl who aren't really music fans to begin with--i don't even have any of the guy's records but imo the fact that they are lovingly crafted is evident and they should be more enjoyable (or at least enjoyable in a different way) to pan-genre music dorks like a lot of the ppl who post here than they are to non-music fans.

OTM. Girl Talk's motivations != Objectionable Girl Talk fans' motivations.

I recognise about 1% of the verses on GT albums and wouldn't care if they were sourced from vegetable commercials if it worked well in the musical context (actually, I think I'd prefer it). Haven't got round to listening to the new one yet but am looking forward to it.

ya im not really buying this as a covert comedy project

maybe there are people who every single time they encounter a Reese's peanut butter cup go "holy shit! chocolate and peanut butter together! this is amazing! brilliant!"

also i dont really care about whether some of his fans are less elite music lovers than the posters itt

the whole 2manydjs-style mash-up - which is what girl talk is, nothing more and a whole lot less - was such a novelty, such a fad, which made it REALLY BRIEFLY FUN FOR ONE SUMMER - nearly a decade on though, there's no point, cuz those mash-ups really only worked on the surface "lol" level - like it's not as though any of us are still busing out our "smells like teen booty" mp3s any more (i hope fucking not, anyway)

maybe there are people who every single time they encounter a Reese's peanut butter cup go "holy shit! chocolate and peanut butter together! this is amazing! brilliant!"

― some dude, Wednesday, November 17, 2010 11:47 AM (6 seconds ago) Bookmark

this is actually me tbh

the whole 2manydjs-style mash-up - which is what girl talk is, nothing more and a whole lot less - was such a novelty, such a fad, which made it REALLY BRIEFLY FUN FOR ONE SUMMER - nearly a decade on though, there's no point, cuz those mash-ups really only worked on the surface "lol" level - like it's not as though any of us are still busing out our "smells like teen booty" mp3s any more (i hope fucking not, anyway)

― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, November 17, 2010 11:47 AM (9 seconds ago) Bookmark

ya im with ya here, never figured out why this guy in particular got singled out (live shows? american?)

only on ILM are people who have a passing familiarity with many of the songs on the Hot 100 considered "elites" -- not that i should complain, mind you

good to see theres an artist that still has ilxors going "what, do you hate FUN???"

but isn't being a dork on the internet arguing about trick daddy just another mediated channel for you to come into contact with the music of trick daddy, etc, etc

― thomp, Wednesday, November 17, 2010 9:22 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dont learn about trick daddy by arguing on ilx

u learned about trick daddy at the school of hard knocks AKA life

seriously this guy is like critic-proof. "You're missing the point by dismissing ppl who like his music for lame reasons!" maybe lame reasons are the only reason to like it & its not about hating his fans at all

imo girltalk's popularity in america comes from the fact that he's using the songs of the day and mixing them much like a dj set. for the average rube in america girltalk is probably the only 'dj' they listen to

well, y'know, Trick Daddy records are such an "eat your vegetables" kind of obligation, it's more palatable to get your RDA of southern rap mixed with some fun indie rock

seriously this guy is like critic-proof. "You're missing the point by dismissing ppl who like his music for lame reasons!" maybe lame reasons are the only reason to like it & its not about hating his fans at all

― whats goin on witchu iron mane (deej), Wednesday, November 17, 2010 11:53 AM (32 seconds ago) Bookmark

how about i don't like him but i also thing criticizing his hypothetical fans is kinda lame?

Dunno that anyone's arguing for Girl Talk as A GREAT ARTIST OF OUR TIME.

that's not the same as every criticism of him having an easy "you're missing the point!" comeback

I think the criticisms of him as not hugely original are perfectly valid - he's like a really good party DJ that is technically capable, makes sure you and your non-ILM-reading cousin have a good time but doesn't see it as his job to challenge his audience or invent new ways of living. I don't think that projecting uncool traits from his fans onto him is worthwhile.

i don't think he's a good party dj cuz that sort of senseless-puree-of-everything style of djing is really grim to me, and i wouldn't enjoy it at a party

s1ocki fighting the good fight itt. girl talk music is p innoccuous & the appeal is obvious, even if you're not into it. lots of fun music the young generations know and love all played at once. dont know why its necessary to take shots at people who dig it

i don't think he's a good party dj cuz // i wouldn't enjoy it at a party

Ok, he's like a really good party DJ that is technically capable and makes sure you and your non-ILM-reading cousin but not Lex have a good time

but funny hip-hop and pop is ALREADY funny, it doesn't need some loser signposting it by putting it over rock music

OTM. It's 2010, actual rap music is doing a bad enough job of this in its own right now.

i feel like theres a certain amount of condescension from his fans towards him when u dismiss ppl who say "hes not actually a good dj." saying someones not a good dj doesnt mean u think dude should be spinning, like, authentic obscure techno, or like, working in a david mancuso style. A-Trak is a perfect example of a much, much better party DJ working in a similar vein (I dont even like most of the styles a trak spins -- he just has a better feel for 'mindless party kitchen sink' vibes, reads his audience better, does more interesting & more multi-dimensional djing stuff.

girl talk works in a 1-dimensional way -- its alll recognition. 'hey i know this' x 1000

he just brings out the inherent hilarity of modern day hip hop and pop music

i don't agree with this really - changing the soundtrack to funny lyrics is one thing but there's an obvious 'it wasn't funny before but it is NOW' intention behind a lot of this stuff which can be as legit as anything. that's a part of it that GT probably leans too much towards i think but there are plenty of occasions where the combinations work on other levels

girl talk works in a 1-dimensional way -- its alll recognition. 'hey i know this' x 1000

Sure that's a big component, but I don't think it's everything. For me it's more a simple aural pleasure at how the sounds are interacting.

ok i agree that "yr missing the point" is an obnoxious point to make, but even when this stuff is boring to me, it still sounds like a reasonable approximation of what might come up on the stereo at a 20something's apartment party where ppl are just throwing whatever on iTunes. that probably sounds like hell to a lot of you, but it def explains the appeal to loads of ppl that think "girl talk = party!!!!"

xp deej interesting point about the DJing...you basically made my point in that this is mindless party kitchen sink music, full stop. whether its well done is def a point of contention, but it seems clear that's what duder is shooting for, not ironic lolz

never figured out why this guy in particular got singled out (live shows? american?)

yeah i felt that way too but you kinda answered it tbh! he's young and keen to play himself up as an act and what he does as an experience or performance - to an extent this is fair enough considering you obv can't make any money from doing album-length works of this kind. i figure he'll move into original production and remixes more a la a-trak.

also he put 'girl' in his name and people like girls

ppl like to talk too iirc

girl talk works in a 1-dimensional way -- its alll recognition. 'hey i know this' x 1000

YES - it's so lazy and uncreative - it's exactly the same as lazy flo rida records that sample 80s hits that everyone knows and that people like SOLELY because they recognise it. cf also people who jumped all over rihanna's "sos" just because they already knew how the chorus went.

I love some of the breaks he scores from indie (the "creep" and "wake up" riffs, for example), but when he eventually adds the original vocal track it never really pays off - "Hand On The Pump" would not be improved by actually resolving into "Duke Of Earl" on the chorus. And I still find the medley structure of the tracks really tiresome. Maybe I'm being a fuddy-duddy, but someone just making a remix for a rap track using breaks based on unexpected tracks (those moments that are immediately identifiable - the opening of "in your eyes" - but not obvious chorus jacks) would be a lot more rewarding imo.

basically I was Girl Talk was more "what would DJ Muggs do?" and less "what would Jive Bunny do"

basically I wish, rather

In fairness SOS is a pretty good example of how to do the obvious sample thing well because a) the chorus is totally different to Tainted Love and b) Tainted Love is an R&B song in the first place so it's not too incongruous. But yeah, most of the appeal of this stuff appears to be "OMG it's Prince, OMG it's Nirvana!" If I was at a party I'd much rather hear the originals than something that ceased to be a novelty EIGHT YEARS AGO.

ppl like to talk too iirc

some people talk better than they girl imo

don't think "SOS" is a good example at all tbh

I don't really care about whether Girl Talk is a "good DJ" or whether he's better at what he does than anyone else.

What I care about is the effect that his mixes have on me. And when I listen to Girl Talk, there are a lot of interesting things happening, phenomenologically!

There's the simple pleasure of recognition, sure. But the recontextualization of songs I know also creates some distinct pleasures, too. There's the simple sonic joy in hearing lots of different sounds mixed and combined. There's a charge I get from the smushing together of competing musical resonances or associations (the R&B song I sang in the car last summer vs. the rock song I made out to in high school). There's the intriguing way in which, after I've heard the album multiple times, parts that initially seem dissonant (like Ciara vs. Sonic Youth, or Rihanna vs. Fugazi) acquire a strange logic in the mix's overall flow. I like anticipating each musical shift. I like getting sequences stuck in my head. I like having songs transformed for me, having multiple contexts and textures in which to experience them.

^^ This

The "In Your Eyes" bit on "That's Right" is soooooo clumsy.

A-Trak is a perfect example of a much, much better party DJ working in a similar vein (I dont even like most of the styles a trak spins -- he just has a better feel for 'mindless party kitchen sink' vibes, reads his audience better, does more interesting & more multi-dimensional djing stuff.

Is he making albums like this, though?

I mean, I've seen both A-Trak and Girl Talk live, once each, and I think A-Trak probably put on the better live set, but I don't even remember that much of either.