Girl Talk - All Day

I don't like Girl Talk's new album. There. I said it. Happy now?

All Day is the follow-up to 2008 breakthrough album Feed The Animals, which itself was preceded by 2006's Night Ripper. For me, both these records represent a seminal moment in my consumption of music. They made me get the mash-up art form. Both where pacey, energetic, fun and intelligent. Somehow, Greg Gillies - aka Girl Talk - managed to coherently knit together five generations of music that seemingly spanned every genre known to man.

I heard All Day was two years in the making. A good thing, right? Such a length of time would allow an artist to consider their work, re-evaluate it, make changes. But for this kind of gonzo-genre, has it proved fatal? All Day sounds flat and lifeless, the fun surgically picked out of it. Samples are drawn out and hang around for way too long, a serious problem for this kind of record. There are moments that hark back to the genius of Night Ripper and Feed The Animals - Triple Double for instance - but they are few in number and only point to what could have been. Girl Talk was meant to be music for the ADHD generation. Well, this album is dedicated to those kids adequately medicated, attending after school catch up lessons and eating their greens.

All Day has been roundly praised on the blogs, but in the long run I fear the album will end up in the cupboard like a toy with a flat battery. On the plus side, All Day was released as a free download via the Illegal Art website.

MP3: Girl Talk - Triple Double DOWNLOAD

Immuzikation

Who the hell does this Immuzikation kid think he his. Currently riding high on the Hype Machine (always a good sign), here's his latest mash-up. "Not typically typical", maybe, but these tracks really work well together.

MP3: Immuzikation - Jeumie (Yelle Vs. Weezer) DOWNLOAD

The E.L.F. (3)

I've been championing The E.L.F. ever since their (or rather his) sweet sound of summer hit my ears back in June of last year; so it's with great pleasure that I post this interview of Darren Cross (the man behind The E.L.F.) hosted by Angus of Twelve Major Chords.


Stevie Nicks Hearts, The E.L.F.'s first extended player, is to be released on 16/02/08 through Oaks Records.

MP3: The E.L.F. - Stuck In Vanilla DOWNLOAD

Gutted

Imagine my excitement when scrolling through the Hype Machine's Popular list I came across a blog post containing a Justice remix of When The Sun Goes Down by little known indie band, the Arctic Monkeys. Alas, we (I say we as a hell of a lot of folks checked this track out) were collectively duped by the offending blog, Pretty Much Amazing, as the initial excitement quickly faded after the first 30 seconds of listening revealed the remix to be nothing more than a disappointing mash-up bearing little resemblance to the Frenchies trademark sound. Anyway, every cloud has a silver lining as they say as I thought it'd be a worthwhile exercise to breakdown the track, revealing some great music of old. Here goes:

MP3: The Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Urban Shakedown - Some Justice DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Liquid - Sweet Harmony DOWNLOAD/Zshare
MP3: Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out DOWNLOAD/Zshare

The Urban Shakedown and Liquid tracks themselves contain samples from this CeCe Rogers track from 1987:

MP3: CeCe Rogers - Someday DOWNLOAD/Zshare

...aaaand in case you missed the original track posted on Pretty Much Amazing:

MP3: Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down ('Justice' Remix) DOWNLOAD/Zshare

Odd Couple

OK, I know!!! I'm pretty sure you've all had just about enough of Gnarls Barkleys Crazy for one lifetime. If I'm totally honest, I don't blame you. That said, I happened across a version that is certainly worth adding to your Crazy collection.

This is a somewhat odd coupling of Crazy and Kelly Osbourne's One Word, a song which I confess to be somewhat oblivious to. It comes courtesy of Frenchman ElectroSound, who aptly describes his art as 'music recycling'. It's a damn good pairing if I'm frank. It even comes complete with stirring Martin Luther King speech. I will say however, I don't believe for one second that Kelly's voice is that impeccable. I could post Changes to re-jig your memory on the matter...that would be just mean.

To change the subject, remember the E.L.F. track I posted? Well, the man behind the project, Darren Cross, contacted me to say that he'd put together a video to accompany the song. I watched it while recovering from a hangover. It cheered me up no end. Thanks Darren.

MP3: ElectroSound - Crazy Kelly MP3 DOWNLOAD

VIDEO: The E.L.F. - Cockroaches YOU TUBE