Pay-what-you-want album available on Web site
NEW YORK -- As promised, Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis released his fourth record, "Feed the Animals," on Thursday via the Web site for his label, Illegal Art. As previously reported, "Animals" is available in a pay-what-you want format, with a few new options for fans to choose from.
At the $5-or-more level, buyers can choose to download the album in MP3 or FLAC format, the latter being exact copies of the original source files without compression. Also included is a single MP3 file featuring the music without track breaks.
At the $10-or-more level, consumers will get the above plus a physical CD when it becomes available this September. Fans can also choose to pay nothing for the music, which prompts a follow-up screen gauging the reason for doing so ("I may donate later," "I can't afford to pay," "I don't believe in paying for music," etc.).
The 14 tracks here continue Girl Talk's rich exploration and mashup of the annals of pop music. Fans have already launched a Wikipedia page detailing the hundreds of samples utilized, but among the most high-profile are the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge," Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," AC/DC's "Thunderstruck," Nirvana's "Lithium," Metallica's "One" and Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike."
Those songs are blended with a wealth of contemporary pop and hip-hop songs from the likes of Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Kelly Clarkson, M.I.A., UGK, Avril Lavigne, Kanye West, Lil Mama, Britney Spears, Hot Chip, Flo Rida and R. Kelly.
"In my mind, it's a highlight reel of my live show since last year," Gillis said. "The core ideas are there, but what takes me a long time is just actually pushing them together. On record, it's like a different art form."
Girl Talk will play sporadic shows this summer, including Lollapalooza and the All Points West Festival. A headlining tour is in the works for the fall.
Here is the track list for "Feed the Animals":
"Play Your Part (Pt. 1)""Shut the Club Down""Still Here""What It's All About""Set It Off""No Pause""Like This""Give Me a Beat"Hands in the Air""In Step"Let Me See You""Here's the Thing""Don't Stop""Play Your Part (Pt. 2)"
