If Greg Gillis insists on dodging the title of “DJ,” he should likewise be spared the abominable title of “mash up artist”. Girl Talk (Gillis’ moniker) is pop art experimentation at heart, even if Feed the Animals suggests otherwise. Yeah, Girl Talk uses a computer and a mixer and nods his head to the beat during live performances. He plays the Top 40 hits that folks love to dance to. Believe me, I’m shaking my booty just thinking about this record. But even Feed the Animals, undoubtedly Gillis’ most club-friendly release to date, is more original than the tired circle of DJ’s and “mash up artists” Girl Talk is unfairly pooled with. If the doomed mash up genre ever had a future, it lies in the patient, intentional hands of Gillis. (Danger Mouse is on to bigger game) In truth, Gillis is Andy Warhol. He’s a pop purveyor who collects widely accepted images, phrases, and sounds and explores their potential in another context, sometimes with hilarious results. But where Girl Talk’s contemporaries recombine songs just for the novelty of it, Gillis creates subtle polyrhythms, unexpected mood changes, and moments of sheer beauty. Sometimes the experiments fall flat on their face, especially as the momentum grinds to painful stop as the album closes with the unfortunate union of Journey’s “Faithfully” and Huey’s “Pop, Lock & Drop It”. But almost without fail, Girl Talk produces sincere, enjoyable art, and that’s a lot to ask of a summer dance record like this. Feed the Animals is the perfect reflection of a generation almost devoid of attention span. But we do love to dance.
[ED.]-Although he may have different motivations, what with his albums being “a lawsuit waiting to happen,” I felt it important to point out that he has also chosen to go with the whole “pay what you want” tactic to get his album out. I also felt it important to make the readers aware that as creative and entertaining as this music is, due to the explicit nature of the lyrics, a fair amount of Girl Talk’s songs are not suitable for children, or anyone in some cases.
So other than my addiction to tv on dvd, there hasn’t been hardly any tv watching for me over the past year or two. But with the constant syndication of the Olympics on NBC I have watched more television in the past month than I have in the past year, at least that is commercialized television. And to my delight I discovered that over the past year commercials have developed great taste in music. My buddy JC wrote a couple days ago about the relationship between music and movies. So today I would like to highlight the relationship between music and commercials. Well I actually don’t have a lot to say. We all understand and have even experienced how it works. You see a commercial, you like the song, not only do you look up who sings the song, but you also find yourself thinking about that commercial more often. It’s a win win situation for all. I’m actually surprised it has taken so long for it to catch on the way it has. Because I think most of you all would agree that there have been a plethora of great songs in big name commercials over the past month. So today I am going to highlight some of the ones that I loved the most. And then if you want you can share any that you have seen and loved.
First of all I would say that for the most part the car manufacturers have shown the most improvement in their musical taste. Like for instance the new GM commercial that features the ever so talented Brandi Carlile singing the title track off her most recent album.
Then there is the ever so addictive song by Sea Wolf that is found in the new Chevy Malibu commercial. I seriously cannot get enough of that song. I first heard it over a year ago and it is still in constant rotation on my ipod. For some reason I can’t find that one on youtube. But here is the song.
And I can’t leave out the AT&T Olympics commercial that ever so wisely features a song off of The Crane Wife by The Decemberists, not to mention the incredibly talented Gold Medalist Nastia Luikin. Which this one doesn’t surprise me. AT&T have been filling my sporting event breaks with creative and entertaining commercials for years.
And last but certainly not least, my favorite commercial that I have seen during my many hours of watching the Olympics. The very touching and inspiring Coca Cola commercial that shows tons of athletes from both the Olympics and the Special Olympics bowing to receive their medals. It makes me think of my absolutely fantastic and brilliant little cousin who has down syndrome, and it almost makes me cry every time. And they seriously could not have picked a better song. This song evokes so much emotion out of me even with out the images it accompanies here in the commercial.
Now I realize that unless you are incredibly unpatriotic and have chosen to watch the trash like Deal or No Deal instead of the Olympics, that you have already seen these commercials. But I thought you might enjoy learning who the artists were behind this great marketing scheme. And feel free to let me know if there are any you were disappointed to not see on here. Or if you there was another commercial that you liked the song but didn’t know what it was, maybe I could help you out. Until next time…keep bleeding.
So I’ve done a remix by DFA before, and it went over pretty well. They have a way of breaking apart a song, and bringing it down to it’s most basic nature, then rebuilding it back to its original form one piece at a time (more like one minute at a time). DFA are known for some really lengthy remixes. Ten minutes into the mix, I forgot I was still listening to it. It does that to you; it shatters the perception of what a song is supposed to be. And I like it, I like it a lot. The remix itself is mediocre at best, not one of my favorites. But the remixers, do it in a way that evokes emotion, and inspires curiosity. I’m writing this at one a.m., and I’ve had more than my share of daylight and energy drinks today. I’d like to think it’s not the sleep talking, and that I really did have this crazy emotional ride that is the Dare (DFA Remix). I thoroughly recommend the remix a million times over. Not because I like it, but because it evokes ideas. Ideas that are more than worth embracing; ideas worth stealing. Ideas worth plagiarizing and calling your own. Ideas that inspire you to look around differently, if only for a few minutes.
Occasionally I will stumble across something fantastic and think to myself, “well, the musical gods must just be favoring me today.” While I was perusing the video site Vimeo I happened across this video:
Maybe you are like me and don’t care much for hip hop, but every so often an artist like Snob Scrilla does something so fun and unique with the genre that it is hard to ignore. Quite unfortunate, however, is the fact that I haven’t found a way to buy his album, since he is on an indie label based out of Austrailia. Check out his Myspace until America decides they want their ears to bleed the music of Snob Scrilla.
If Greg Gillis insists on dodging the title of “DJ,” he should likewise be spared the abominable title of “mash up artist”. Girl Talk (Gillis’ moniker) is pop art experimentation at heart, even if Feed the Animals suggests otherwise. Yeah, Girl Talk uses a computer and a mixer and nods his head to the beat during live performances. He plays the Top 40 hits that folks love to dance to. Believe me, I’m shaking my booty just thinking about this record. But even Feed the Animals, undoubtedly Gillis’ most club-friendly release to date, is more original than the tired circle of DJ’s and “mash up artists” Girl Talk is unfairly pooled with. If the doomed mash up genre ever had a future, it lies in the patient, intentional hands of Gillis. (Danger Mouse is on to bigger game) In truth, Gillis is Andy Warhol. He’s a pop purveyor who collects widely accepted images, phrases, and sounds and explores their potential in another context, sometimes with hilarious results. But where Girl Talk’s contemporaries recombine songs just for the novelty of it, Gillis creates subtle polyrhythms, unexpected mood changes, and moments of sheer beauty. Sometimes the experiments fall flat on their face, especially as the momentum grinds to painful stop as the album closes with the unfortunate union of Journey’s “Faithfully” and Huey’s “Pop, Lock & Drop It”. But almost without fail, Girl Talk produces sincere, enjoyable art, and that’s a lot to ask of a summer dance record like this. Feed the Animals is the perfect reflection of a generation almost devoid of attention span. But we do love to dance.
