| GIRL TALK - Big Day Out 2010 Artist |
| Written by Elle Hunt |
| Monday, 11 January 2010 10:19 |
 Sometimes, a three-minute-long song is – well, two-and-a-half minutes too long. Sometimes, you want the straight-to-the-jugular hit of a chorus, with none of this messing about with an introduction and a verse and a bridge. And for those times, you can either click-click-click through your iPod without ever listening to one song in its entirety, or you can listen to GREGG GILLIS - otherwise known as GIRL TALK. The reason for this is that Gillis, a DJ based in Pittsburgh, excels in multi-track mashes, which combine around 20-30 individual samples into one track – perfect for those of us who struggle to focus our attention on just one track, with just one hook, by just one artist. His latest album ‘Feed The Animals’ (which was released last year), is a veritable puree of songs that you’d never have dreamt to be complementary until now: Hot Chocolate and Ice Cube! Metallica and Avril Lavigne! Yeah Yeah Yeahs and T.I.! It’s a puree of polar opposites, but it works, thanks to Gillis’ attention to detail and his sense of humour - which is palpable in tracks such as ‘Like This’, in which he pairs explicit raps (Bubba Sparxxx’s ‘Ms. New Booty’) with the kitsch synths of ‘80s pop (Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ – yup, you just got Rick Roll’d, sucker). The individual qualities of each sample, and the seamless transition between tracks, moves the tone of the album in and out of moments of dissonance. Although some samples sound so good together, that you might prefer them in this form, than in their original arrangements.  ‘Feed The Animals’ (more so than Gillis’ earlier albums, which are a little more experimental), is the perfect soundtrack to your workout because it’s high-energy and fun - or your party, because it has hip alternative tunes for your cooler-than-thou friends, as well as Top 40 hits for the more mainstream of us. If you can’t be bothered making playlists (as I invariably can’t), let Gillis do it for you – he doubtless does it better, anyway. Indeed, ‘Smash Your Head’, one of the tracks from his third album ‘Night Ripper’, appeared as #163 in Pitchfork’s list of the Top 500 songs of the decade, applauded for its delicate combination of Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ and Notorious BIG. You’d think that Gillis would be an underwhelming live act – he is, after all, little more than a guy with a laptop – but you’d be wrong. Girl Talk's gigs are renowned for going off. In January of this year, he performed two gigs in New Zealand, at Cassette Number Nine in Auckland and at San Francisco Bath House in Wellington- and those who attended had a great time. Kiwi-born fashion blogger and ‘international playgirl’ Gala Darling wrote of his Wellington show: “I have never been so sweaty in my whole life. I know this does not sound sexy, but it is the truth. The whole room was goings NUTS. It was like someone had gone wild with a hose.”  And this is what you’ve got to look forward to with Girl Talk’s performance at the Big Day Out: a volatile, explosive, perspiring, pumping party – the perfect way to start your 2010 with a bang. He might be a guy with a laptop, but Gillis wants to ‘Feed The Animals’ - and you’d be a fool not to let him.  |
