Though "mashups" are a relatively new phenomenon, the general idea behind their creation is not. As with most electronic music, there is a deep connection between the past and present, and this is certainly the case in Girl Talk's album Feed The Animals. Often known more for his piracy than artistic value, Gregg Gillis, or, Girl Talk, successfully places together music from many different genres and decades in a way that allows a multitude of people to appreciate the music in their own way. While appreciating the melodious verses created in Feed The Animals, I also intend to give it a sort of historical perspective in electronic music for a further appreciation of the music.
Being able to listen to only the catchiest or most inventive parts of various songs is one of the many reasons why mashups are so enjoyable. Perhaps my favorite song on the album, "No Pause", blends many of my favorite melodies and lyrics of songs by Jurassic 5, Heart, and Yael Naim, as well as many others. While each of these songs has a great amount of value from start to finish, there are certain parts that stand out above the rest, each of which is highlighted in "No Pause." Putting these different samples together reminds me of an almost modern day version of musique concrète, as the creators Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry were some of the first to splice together parts of electronic recordings. As pioneers of experimental electronic music, artists such as Gregg Gillis still use many of the same ideas as those found in many of the early musique concrète recordings.
Perhaps the only thing better than listening to the best parts of various songs played in one song is when they are layered over one another. Another basic idea of mashups, it is always a treat to hear the voice of one of my favorite vocalists sing to one of my favorite beats. For this reason, my favorite part of the album is the approximately forty-three second interval that "No Diggity" is being played over the beat of "Flashing Lights" in the Feed The Animals song "Still Here." Even though listening to mashups is exciting because uniquely different songs are interweaved into one, it is especially interesting when certain rhythms or beats of individual songs can noticeably play and feed off of each other once they are put into direct communication. Oftentimes songs that are not always noticeably similar become surprisingly alike once certain beats and keys are highlighted, and this layering technique allows this to happen easily. Or, in other cases, the combination of similar sounds and rhythms can create an entirely new and different musical experience. Regardless, again channeling the methods of the innovators of electronic music, the layering of different samples reminds me greatly of Edgard Varèse. A pioneer in composing musique concrète with elektronische Musik, Varèse's work "Poeme Electronique" remains as one of the preeminent examples of layering samples with electronic music.
Whereas other mashup artists such as Negativland often create music to make a point, Girl Talk seems to concentrate on simply enjoying the music of many different artists in one album. Whether the music should be labeled as plunderphonics, mashups, or simply experimental music is debatable, though there are many good reasons for each. The fact of the matter is Girl Talk's Feed The Animals is an extremely enjoyable album to listen to that can appeal to people who appreciate any popular music over the past few decades. While also taking into mind the historic perspective of the piece, Feed The Animals can be appreciated to an even higher degree and can only make us wonder what will come next out of experimental electronic music.