SUPER MUSIC NERD STATUS CHALLENGE

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals [2008]

Girl Talk has finally dropped the follow up to 2006’s non-stop party machine Night Ripper. It’s called Feed the Animals, and about 45 seconds into my first spin this week I got that tingly feeling in the spine that means that everything might just be right with the world.

I’m not even sure what a mega mix is, but Girl Talk takes the mega mix to the next level. Let’s call it the ultra mix – no, even better – the mega ultra mix, the multra mix. Girl Talk is the multra mega phat pharty-starting white boy, Leisure Suit Laptop, the Sheik of Beat, the Cherry on Top of the Pops. He doesn’t so much mash up as mash on down – sure, there’s mash ups galore, but each lasts for about 5-25 seconds before being drowned or devoured by the next indie riff, rap beat, hip hop flow, pop hook, dance... thingo.

It’s hard with words to convey the sheer weight of hedonistic sampling that goes on in Feed the Animals. So here’s what I done. On my third spin the record (yes, first would have been better, but it’s too late now, isn’t it?) I conducted an experiment and a challenge. Of the 300 or so samples on this three quarters of an hour, could I name 100 songs, either by title or band?

Girl Talk draws so thick and fast from the last couple of decades of popular music, any music nerd worth his salt would anticipate a walk in the park in naming a mere 100 samples from Feed the Animals. But would I be up to it? In the days leading up to SUPER MUSIC NERD STATUS CHALLENGE, as it came to be known, I massaged my lobes raw and obsessively studied Spicks and Specks in anticipation. The stakes: any future claim to musical knowledge, and the enviable MUSIC NERD status that it entails.

The Rules:
Target: 100 points.

The Purported Nerd may name either band or song title, or both, of any song sampled. Each successful guess is rewarded with 1 point. A band and title combo is worth 2 points (yes, I'm cheating).

Random comments in (parentheses) will be tolerated.

Markers comments will appear in [square brackets].

No google. No mobile phones. Laptops ok. Girl Talk uses two.

And the result:

Track 1: "Play Your Part (Pt. 1)" - 4:45

“My Sharona” [ed: not actually sampled on this song, apparently. Way to false start]
Kiss: “We’re Not Gonna Take It” [ed: It’s by Twisted Sister. At least I got the men in heavy make up bit right]
(“Gettin’ some head; Gettin’ Gettin’ some head”)

2 "Shut the Club Down" - 3:07

Avril Levine: “You Don’t Need a Boyfriend” [ed: It’s called “Girlfriend”, but close enough]
Butthole Surfers [ed: song’s called “Pepper”]
NWA: “Fuck the Police” (Ice Cube rocks in right at the end here with a “Wit a little bit of gold and a pager”, some other rapper responds “We don’t give a damn, we don’t give a fuck”) [ed: Actually a Cool Kids song which samples NWA. Girl Talk samples Cool Kids sampling NWA. How postmodern]

3 "Still Here" - 3:57

(“Flash…lights”) [Ed: Kanye]
(“I like the way you work it (No diggity) I got to bag it up”) [ed: BLACKstreet feat. Dr Dre]
(That “20 dollar bill” club hit, over some country song)

4 "What It's All About" - 4:15

(“Na na na na na” song)
Faith No More [ed: song’s called “Epic”]
“Say a Little Prayer” [ed: No such song, apparently]
(“I grew up on the crime side/The New York Times side/Stayin’ alive was no jive”)
Outkast: “Miss Jackson”
Jackson 5: “2 and 2 is 4” [ed: It’s called “ABC”]
Queen: “Bohemian Rhapsody”

5 "Set It Off" - 3:42

Radiohead “Paranoid Android”
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five [ed: Song’s “The Message”]

6 "No Pause" - 3:12

(That annoying road trip song) [ed: Len: “Steal my Sunshine” Bad song, but Girl Talk works it.]
“I want you to want me”
Eminem (This is a fucking great Eminem rap. Whatever happened to that guy?) [Ed: Song’s called “Shake That”. As for Eminem, isn't he dead?]

7 "Like This" - 3:21

Beastie Boys: “Bodymovin”
“Ghetto Superstar” over Yo La Tengo: “Autumn Sweater”
Metallica: “One” (the super fast guitar bridge bit - matched with this awesome chick rapper) [ed: She’s called Lil’ Mama]

8 "Give Me a Beat" - 4:12

Air: “Sexy Boy”
Of Montreal (“foooorgeeeet” goes the lyric, apt because I’ve forgotten the song name) [ed: “Gronlandic Edit”]
“America’s Most Wanted” [ed: it’s “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted”, but close enough]

9 "Hands in the Air" - 4:20

“Woop there is it” [ed: Apparently it’s “Whoomp”]
Cardigans: “Love Fool” with Hot Chip
(a dance sample – that fucking song with the video clip of the kid running around with a model airplane that gets sampled fucking all the time!) [ed: Stardust “Music Sounds Better with You”. Der.]

10 "In Step" - 3:23

(A hella Jane Fonda workout song, oh hang on, it’s):
“You got it!”
(That wacky whistling sound. Can’t believe I can’t remember the name of this) [ed: Deee-Lite: “Groove is in the Heart”]
Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” [ed: “Lithium”, you tool]
“Dancing in September” [ed: Just “September”]
The Beatles: “God only knows” [ed: Beach Boys! Lennon is rolling over in his grave! I hate you!]

11 "Let Me See You" - 4:04

(woo-oo, wee-oo)
(Sounds like a young Shaggy singing “I’m a flirt”) [ed: it’s R Kelly]
Daft Punk: “Harder Better Faster Stronger”
Devo: “Whip It” [ed: nope.]
MIA: “Boys Say” [ed: “Boyz”. Close enough]
(Some new wave revival wonderfully mashed up with MIA) [ed: It’s the Cranberries: “Dreams”]

12 "Here's the Thing" - 4:46

“Choo choo Ride” [ed: It’s called “C’mon Ride It (The Train)”. Perhaps even more inane a title than “Choo choo ride” would have been]
Skank Ho: “Since U Been Gone” [ed: Correct! Two points. Also would have accepted Kelly Clarkson]
Prodigy: “Breathe/Firestarter” [ed: yep, Firestarter. Those songs are indeed indistinguishable, so no penalty]
“Jessie’s Girl” (Best call and response sample mix ever. Faggy white boy [ed: Rick Springfield] sings: “I want Jessie’s Girl”. Rapper responds: “But I’d rather get some head”)

13 "Don't Stop" - 2:58

Underworld: “Born Slippy”
The Cure [ed: Nice! “In Between Days” is the song. The Cure’s “Close to Me” also sampled on earlier track “What It’s All About”]

14 "Play Your Part (Pt. 2)" - 3:25

Red Hot Chili Peppers: “Under the Bridge”
ACDC: “Thunderstruck”
(very Family Ties opening sequence piano bit with lage scale synth action… Whitney Houston?) [ed: It’s Journey “Faithfully”. Interestingly, David Chase also chose to end the final episode of The Sopranos with a Journey song. Coincidence?]

The Score:

Named 29 bands + 31 songs = 60.

A “pass”, but shatteringly short of the target. See the work of a real nerd here. Download the album (pay what you want) here.