Girl Talk is an expert marketer.
Once again, Girl Talk decided to drop all pretense of alternate music payment methods, and offered its latest album, All Day, free to the public (with nary a donation request this time around.) This is incredibly savvy, primarily because:
- With Girl Talk’s heightened popularity, clearing the 300+ samples may not have been as easy as it was on Feed the Animals or Night Ripper.
- From a revenue standpoint, Girl Talk albums essentially exist to create demand for the frenetic live show, so why not give away the music? Just more asses on the dancefloor when Girl Talk comes to town.
- No need to recoup promo costs when news of a new album breaks the internet. Not only will this be the most ROI-positive campaign of the year, but it provided an immediate lift to Girl Talk. Conversely, the announcement of the Beatles on iTunes did little to move the needle (Red is “Girl Talk”; Blue is “Beatles”).
What’s more, I’m hard-pressed to think of another artist who can sample with impunity and reap these benefits. More traditional hip-hop producers will still rely on a few samples per track (usually a melody as a basis for a beat), thus necessitating that they clear the rights to use those samples. Other mash-up artists will have a hard time achieving Girl Talk’s level of popularity, and thus might be more reliant upon any money from album sales. And given the all-encompassing scope of Girl Talk’s sampling, it’s not like another artist could take those same pop songs and make them more dance friendly without being seen as unoriginal.
It’s a surprise, then, that just as Girl Talk nails its business model, the music template starts to change. The foundation remains the same: the album is best played as a continuous mix; spans multiple genres; and juxtaposes musical references that should be at least somewhat familiar for those in the 25 to 34 age range. However, there is a conscious effort by Girl Talk to slow down somewhat from his kinetic pace. Mixes here breathe more, more songs feature a verse and a chorus from the sample, and the mix clocks at 71 minutes (for comparison, Feed the Animals was 53 minutes.)
Unfortunately, this ultimately detracts somewhat from the mix for two reasons. One of the pleasures in Girl Talk’s previous two albums was that if you didn’t like the section of the mix, it would transition quickly. This could also be construed as a drawback for one’s favorite sections, but Girl Talk utilized expert mixing skills and a keen ear to – more often than not – know when to let a mix ride (the famous Biggie v. Elton John; Nas v. Pixies; Blackstreet v. Kanye v. Radiohead; Jay-Z v. Radiohead)
On All Day, more songs receive the minute-plus treatment, making each section more reliant upon the source material. And, man, Girl Talk equates “slower pace” with “easy listening-song-from-childhood”. “With or Without You”; “Heaven is a Place on Earth”; “I Melt with You”; “In Your Eyes” – all feature prominently throughout All Day, and each time I lost interest.
More successful are the more traditional Girl Talk mash-ups:
- Hip-hop song with grunge-era sample (Wale v. Beck)
- Hip-hop song with indie rock sample that had latent beat potential (Ludacris v. Phoenix)
- Seemingly incongruous songs that just click (Fine Young Cannibals and Gucci Mane)
Attempts to re-contextualize songs have a similar hit-and-miss pattern. As much as I love Fugazi, the “Waiting Room” sample didn’t work for me. The Arcade Fire “Wake Up” sample sounds neutered when embedded in a mix. On the other hand, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” complements “Bust a Move” perfectly, and Portishead v. Big Boi is my personal highlight in the mix.
Ultimately, it’s worth the time to download All Day, and to see Girl Talk live as well. When you’re at the show, just hope for a few more remixes.
