On today's mix...
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals (2008)

Two years after Night Ripper shattered people's perceptions of what a mash-up could be, Girl Talk has finally delivered a follow-up, and it's more of the same--by which, I mean it's the party album of the year. I could make an arbitrary list of my personal favorite moments--"Work It" combined with Nu Shooz, "I'm a Flirt' meets Bizarre Inc's "I'm Gonna Get You", etc.--but it's really counter to the fun of Girl Talk. Once again, Greg Gillis takes hits from all over the mainstream American consciousness (plus a few notable indie songs for good measure) and turns the tables on the listener, offering an impossibly good time, an idiosyncratic experience, and an challenge. It's immediately accessible in a way that's almost cheating--you already know these songs--and yet it mixes them up in a context that's both disorienting and a little enlightening. It asks the listener to compare decades, genres, and genders--everyone here has that same unnaturally high, sped-up voice--and get down to what really makes all this music similar and, further, what keeps them all from blending together. Listening to Feed the Animals does not match the incomparable thrill of hearing Night Ripper for the first time, but really, few things can. Feed the Animals is Night Ripper's equal in quality, and it's an instant classic.

10/10