Faith/Void: Bill Callahan at the Parish, Being Great
Pastiche: The Bus Will Get You There Yet
Snapshots: Second Annual Super Hero Show
Music News & Notes: Denim, Harlem, Gamblers & More
Music Preview: Little Gentlemen, Frantic Clam at Trophy's
In an effort to make his music as available to fans as possible, Gregg Gillis is offering his latest (and fourth) full length album online, with a Radiohead-style payment system (users can pick their price). Customers choosing to pay $10 will receive a physical copy in September when it hits record stores.
When we talked to Gregg Gillis back in 2007, we spoke of the culture clash he used to experience when he was still spending 9 to 5 as a biomedical researcher in Pittsburgh, and the multiple lives he inhabited between friends, family and co-workers. "My mom listens to Night Ripper while jogging, and my dad jams it on his iPod while mowing the lawn," he said. This portrait of comfortable dichotomy exists with Animals as well, and it's hinted at before you even press play -- the quiet suburban house and its flaming yard intimate the nightlife persona's intrusion into normalcy, but then again, no one ever said this whole thing wasn't about normalcy invading the night. Likewise, "Feed the Animals" can be mentally summoned with images of tigers or tabbys, and that subtle brilliance is exactly what has made Girl Talk the benchmark in party music.
Musically, the songs realize the prophecy, providing exactly what we've come to expect from the non-mashup remix artist. Where imitators fall flat on their own irony, self-absorption or addiction to a crowd's reaction to their whims, Gillis hones the fine art of using even the smallest pieces to great effect. We're thrilled (though not surprised) at the opening track's ("Play Your Part, Pt 1") juxtaposition of "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)" because we're anxious for the moments that cause the crowds to sigh collectively -- but as Animals unfolds, we find Gillis taking just as much pleasure in the carefully layered combinations of lesser known, more subtly fulfilling choices.
Follow the jump for the rest of the review and more new releases.
In "No Pause" we get a section of Heart's "Magic Man" that's typically considered superfluous and self-indulgent, not to mention downright bad. The bizarre synthesized breakdown occurs at the tail end of a nearly 1:30 minute guitar solo, and accompanies some lilting yet ominous vocal harmonies between the Wilson sisters. All of this buildup in the song makes its end that much more fulfilling, as the song gradually pulls itself back into the chorus. Gillis uses this tiny bit of "Magic Man" as a bridge too, and cuts it off right before the payoff -- its crescendo riding shotgun with Chuck D's "Rebel Without a Pause" -- then falling off a cliff, a cliff that leads to Len's "Steal My Sunshine," no less.
Gillis employs this device dozens of times across Animals -- using the parts of songs we don't expect to hear (Buckingham's hazy solo in "Gypsy", Harrison's guitar riff from "What Is Life", the introduction to the Cranberries' "Dreams", the piano progression from Cat Stevens' "Here Comes My Baby" to name just four), dovetailing them with each other, giving hints of their obscured existence, then handing them encores later in more recognizable and gratifying forms. What is expected is his insistence that we regard all parts equally, nevermind of our affections for a particular genre or time period -- what strikes us as fascinating is the more precise and totally obsessive way in which he curates every minuscule piece. No part is excess, nothing unwarranted. And in an age when dance club remixes and (dare we say) traditional mashups seem to gloss over entire genres in the course of one Sparks, Gillis ignores convention and makes the small parts the most thrilling of all, the challenging choices the biggest payoffs.
Now, that's not to say their aren't absolutely heart-stopping, perhaps more obvious choices being made here. As Faith No More's "Epic" blares against "Drop and Gimme 50" in "What It's All About", or when the Jackson 5 want to show us what it's all about with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", and especially when UGK and Journey triumphantly end the album sharing "Faithfully" and "International Player's Anthem (I Choose You)" (a neat bow on the thing, ending where we began), we're reminded of the primary reason Girl Talk is such a draw for so many: the big choices are always the right ones, and his special world where all parts are equal (even Temple of the Dog) is one we delight in being part of.
Girl Talk [Official] [MySpace]
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Alejandro Escovedo: Real Animal
Alphabeat: This Is Alphabeat
Amos Lee: Last Days At the Lodge
The Anniversary: The Devil Is On Our Side: B-Sides and Rarities
Atmosphere: Sad Clown Bad Spring No. 12 EP
Babyshambles: Oh What a Lovely Tour (Live DVD and CD)
Be Your Own Pet: Get Damaged EP
Billy Idol: The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself (with bonus DVD)
The Black Kids: Hurricane Jane
Black Lips: We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit (reissue)
Blondie: Parallel Lines (deluxe edition)
Boris: Rock Dream
Calico Horse: Mirror
Camper Van Beethoven: Popular Songs of Great Enduring Strength and Beauty
Coffins: Buried Death
Crooked Still: Still Crooked
Cute Is What We Aim For: Rotation
Dolly Parton: Collector's Edition
Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark
Dwele: Sketches of a Man
Edwin McCain: Nobody's Fault But Mine
Electric President: Sleep Well
Fanatix: This Thing of Ours
Feelies: Only Life (reissue)
Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
George Jones: Collector's Edition
Goner: Rock 'N' Roll Always Forgets
Hacienda Brothers: Arizona Motel
Hadouken: Music for an Accelerated Culture
Hercules And Love Affair: Hercules And Love Affair
Immortal Technique: The 3rd World
Jay Reatard: Singles 06-07 (remastered)
Jessie Baylin: Firesight
John Cale: Church of Anthrax (reissue)
Jon Foreman: Spring and Summer
Less Than Jake: GNV FLA
Less Than Jake: GNV FLA [vinyl]
Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville (remastered with bonus dvd)
Los Lonely Boys: Forgiven
Lou Lou & Guitarfish: Lou Lou & Guitarfish
Love as Laughter: Holy
Luke Doucet: Blood's Too Rich
Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog: Party Intellectuals
MC5: Anthology 1965-1971
Motley Crue: Saints of Los Angeles
Mudcrutch: Mudcrutch
N.E.R.D.: Seeing Sounds
Nurse With Wound: Huffin' Rag Blues
Pat Benatar: Ultimate Collection
People in Planes: Beyond the Horizon
The Presets: This Boy's in Love
Raconteurs: Salute Your Solution
Reckless Kelly: Bulletproof
Rocky Votolato: A Brief History EP
Rose Hill Drive: Moon Is the New Earth
Ry Cooder: I, Flathead
RZA: Digi Snax
Sam Sparro: Sam Sparro
The Saturday Knights: Mingle
Scarlett Johnasson: Anywhere I Lay My Head
Seun Kuti & Egypt: 80 Disorient Records
Sigur Ros: Meo suo i eyrum vio spilum endalaust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly)
South: You Are Here
Steve Tyrell: Back to Bacharach
Tangerine Dream: The Vintage Years Anthology
Superchick: Rock What You Got
Thea Gilmore: Liejacker
Three 6 Mafia: Last 2 Walk
Tom Tom Club: Dark Sneak Love Action (reissue)
U2: Under a Blood Red Sky (remastered)
Various Artists: Big Blue Ball
Various Artists: Putumayo Presents: Quebec
Various Artists: The Ultimate Metallica Tribute
Venetian Snares: Detrimentalist
Venetian Snares: Miss Balaton (single)
Warren Haynes: Warren Hayes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 8
Watermelon Slim: No Paid Holidays
Watson Twins: Fire Songs
Watson Twins: Fire Songs
Weezer: Weezer (Red Album)
Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (reissue)
Withered: Folie Circulaire
Wombats: A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation
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Please make it stop. This mix is terrible and sounds like a dj on massive amounts of Ritalin and Crack. These songs are great (if played separately) but not one on top of each other every 15 seconds does not a good album make.
You've wasted precious internet bandwidth that could have been used for Britney Spear's paparazzi news or Amy Winehouse updates. What I'm saying is, this is a worse trainwreck than either of the two.