Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Whooomp! There it Is!

Ack! I actually have that ridiculous song from 1993 stuck in my head now. Which really sucks because I am trying to write a review of The Sims 3 for the folks at EA here, and it's really hard to write with that phrase repeating itself endlessly in your brain.

The reason for this particular malady is the otherwise freaking *awesome* mashup CD Feed the Animals, made by a DJ calling himself Girl Talk. Now, mashups have been done to death, I know. You don't need to think I just discovered this because I'm old. I had Danger Mouse's Grey Album back when you were still in diapers, and since that only came out four years ago, I think that says something quite disturbing about you.

Anyhoo, this CD is great. The mashups are funny, surprising, and ever-evolving with every song. The "Whooomp! There it is!" line stuck in my head is actually superimposed with, of all things, Big Country's "Big Country" song, with that cheesy fake bagpipe guitar line. I know, it sounds ridiculous and impossible. But, whooomp, there it is: it works, and how the heck this guy ever thought to put those two songs together is a mystery that points either to genius or insanity or both.

So that link I pointed to, if you check it out, will reveal to you that you actually can just get it for free, if you want. He's doing a Radiohead deal here, where you can pay what you want, even though Amazon is selling it for $10. Still, if you like it, do the right thing and pay. Even a little. One should support such creative endeavors. Like this blog! Feel free to send me money. LOTS of it. Then I could do things like stay home and play WoW all day, and sleep, rather than be here at EA, trying to write a mock review of Sims 3 and thinking about old Miami rap songs instead.

EDIT: Ya gotta love Wikipedia. Here is a link to a work-in-progress cataloging all the samples on the CD. However, don't cheat right away! Listen first and check this list later!

45 comments:

Chris Tilton said...

Jeff, I think this blog entry clearly shows your lack of manhood and passive aggressive tendencies.

Thomas Mulford said...

Yeah Jeff, why so passive aggressive! (sarcasm). How difficult do you find it to be objective given your current position? I'm sure it’s not too difficult for you, but there is a natural tendency for some to have an apologetic understanding of the development process when critiquing personal or cooperative work.

Jeff Green said...

It's difficult, for sure. Thus my procrastination. :) My "learning process" here will definitely be the subject of future, more serious, blog posts.

And to those who still insist I'm passive aggressive: I'd say fuck you, but that's not something that a guy like me would do. I might blog about it, though!

:)

Anonymous said...

I wish that the guy has samples so I could give a listen before making a decision, then again, I suppose I can enter $0.00 and get sample it that way. Your taste in music is kinda surprising. If I didn't know you any better, I'd suppose I was expecting you to be a Barry Manilow/Michael Bolton kinda dude.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps "Whoomp! There it is" resides in your head because that is the perfect phrase to describe Sims 3... Think about it, or don't.

Anonymous said...

Great discovery.... have been listening to him since the beginning.... Great artist... His first CD is terrible and way to glitch poppy.

Anonymous said...

I love Girl Talk. Another mash up CD that might interest you is "Fix Your Face" by DJAM and Travis Barker. You can listen to the whole album at:

http://www.trvsdjam.com/main.html

Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

So let's talk about your current assignment for the corporate overlords: writing a review of The Sims 3.

Is the goal just to hear what a "reviewer from a major gaming publication" would say about the game and address criticism during development? Is it like market research, to tailor the game to critical tastes to guarantee a higher Metacritic? Can you even talk about it?

Or have you been rendered incapable of giving your opinions except in review form, and EA is nice enough to accommodate your disability?

Anonymous said...

Everyone I know loves Girl Talk. I've yet to listen to anything of his.

Seth said...

A writer isn't worth his/her salt unless he/she can fit "Whoomp! There it is!" into any given story.

Kevin Barboro said...

Make sure you tell them that the Sims 3 needs more Taurens.

Gentry said...

So Jeff, just how good are the Sims 3 water effects? I've heard they are fabulous! But really, how amazing are they? Please tell us.

Anonymous said...

For those who want to try before you buy, here are some mashup videos based on the CD (I swear they are not RickRolls):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBAxkZun3s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMyyg3G1bt4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKqkcHvJN9k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLOAcMVmCiU

Anonymous said...

Jeff and I are best friends! :)

Anonymous said...

Is "whooomp! There it is!" followed by some "shakalaka shakalaka"?

Grubber said...

I've seen Girl Talk live. It's quite a show.

Anonymous said...

You love his album. But I bet you won't love his live show.

Or maybe you will. I dunno. You like sweating in a large crowd of hipsters?

Also, I've been editing that Wiki non-stop ever since the official list of samples got released.

Anonymous said...

Which is to say, my respect for you has risen now that I know you love Girl Talk. :)

Derek said...

Girl Talk is pretty swell, even if the only album I like is Night Ripper. Danger Mouse has some really great beats, almost on par with J Dilla. But of course J Dilla will always be tops.

Peter Saumur said...

Jeff,

Be sure to mention that the graphics on level 2 need "tightening up".

Anonymous said...

Hey, that cheesy fake bagpipe guitar line summed up the sound of an entire nation...god I hate the bagpipes! They are Indian for crying out loud, INDIAN! We already have a national instrument, the fiddle, and it sounds nice!

Sean Boocock said...

Your post made me think of Wired's recent article "Weird Al: The Forefather of the YouTube Spoof" http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/16-10/ff_weirdal?currentPage=all

With mashups now a dime a dozen (and even less!) do satirists like Weird Al have a market? It would be a shame to see his brand of clever comedy die out but as the article's author suggest I bet people will always recognize the creativity behind "White and Nerdy" no matter how much mashups, youtube, etc proliferate.

mattholomew said...

Yes! My taste is validated yet again! This album is pure delicious candy, one of those rare ones that I listen to several times a day. Girl Talk has an older album that you might want to check out too. Keep up the good work (i.e., liking things that I also like).

Ben said...

I guess I'm going to take the minority opinion here, but I personally found Girl Talk to be all frosting, no cake. It certainly takes a lot of skill to cross-mix the phattest tunes and catchiest hooks from such a myriad of songs, but it kind of makes me wonder where his compositions could be if he couldn't stand on the shoulders of those who've gone before.

But yeah, the Grey Album? Me and the wife luvvit

Anonymous said...

Oh my god... I can't believe I just read that.

The guys on The Sims 3 team asked Green to play an early version (or rather, a nearly finished version) of The Sims 3 and write an in-house review of the game?

Ock!

This means that Green has already played The Sims 3!!!

(Yes, that sentence deserved 3 exclamation marks)

Let me guess: One of the chief criticisms of The Sims 3 is that it feels a tad hollow, in that there's room being left for the many expansion packs that will inevitably follow?

I suppose that most of us Sims junkies have already accepted that by now, though, eh?

My only real fear for this game is that the developer set down an all too lofty goal for this game, and wasn't be able to reach it. Did any of you guys read Sean Malloy's amazing Sims 3 preview over at 1up - if you haven't, then you should head on over there and check it out. I thought that Malloy really covered all the bases with that one.

The game that he described sounded like The Sims game that I had originally wanted (and didn't get) the first time out.

Man, I've got my fingers crossed for this one. I can't understand why more male gamers don't dig this franchise? Didn't you guys play with Barbie dolls when you were younger?

Anon E. Moose.

(I've got to stop writing that stupid Anon E. Moose down - how in the hell do you register at this forum? I'd better man up and register myself.)

Unknown said...

Jeff,

Why must you keep telling me to do things?

Why must I keep doing these things?

Unknown said...

Jeff,

Another question,

In The Sims 3, can your Sim randomly jump out of bed, possibly into the nightstand, possibly into the air with arms extended shouting simlish?

Anderson said...

Girl Talk is one of those things that I appreciate on a technical basis but can't listen to for more than 5 minutes without feeling a bit ridiculous. It's brilliant, but hard for me to listen to.

The Grey Album is stil the bee's knees.

Mitchell Dyer said...

Klepek and Davison hooked me on Girl Talk earlier this year. What a rad album.

Nick Kunst said...

Well, even just a minute in, this album brought a huge smile to my face. Thanks for the recommendation Jeff!

Anonymous said...

So, if the review is a glowing one, will that mean it's distributed to the media with the Reviewer's Guide, along with the usual bag of assorted goodies?

That would so make me life easier! Even better if there are jelly beans in that bag of assorted goodies.

Brian said...

If you liked Feed the Animals check out GT's Night Ripper as well. I find myself hearing the songs he uses in their natural state and feeling disappointed. That's the impressive thing to me, his ability to take a song I'm indifferent to and make me want to listen.

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha my word verification was "fackin"

Jeff said...

3OH!3 is another Girl Talk clone that is pretty cool.

http://www.myspace.com/3oh3

J said...

The cure for any Earworm is a more powerful Earworm. Might I suggest "Surfin' Bird"?

Anonymous said...

If you payed $13 for the download before the real CD came out you got the CD for free! I did that and listening to it on the drive to and from school is awesome :)

Logan said...

Your perceived age has decreased a decade just now, Mr. Green. Girl Talk is fantastic. If you like Feed the Animals, you'll enjoy his previous album, Night Ripper, just as much. The average year of the music used is about the same, but he used MANY of those classic "Oh snap! THAAAT song!" songs in it, making it that much more of a joy to listen to and reminisce. And like the new album, it too is great for white-guy-in-a-chair-dancing.

Yuzun said...

Jeff, if you liked Girl Talk, you should check out the mother of all mesh up albums, MINESWEEPER SUITE by DJ/Rupture (SHOTGUN WEDDING VOL. 1 is also worth checking out).

I've been meaning to ask you since that epic Minutemen post, did you ever see The Wipers live?

Phil said...

"I've got the power"

TheToiletDuck said...

i would recommend "Girls Just Wanna Fix Up Look Sharp" (http://hypem.com/track/286834), apart from that and DM i'm very skeptical of mashups

Unknown said...

If you want to "try before you buy" you can listen to the whole album on the Girl Talk Myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/girltalk

Anonymous said...

Longtime 97.5 The Brodeo listener here. Wow thanks Jeff, that's some awesome music. All the best at EA to you!

J T 0 N said...

Your blog post introduced me to amazing music. Thank you, Green. You have got today's generation on the pulse.

OwlBoy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
OwlBoy said...

You listen to Girl Talk. I did not think you could get any more awesome.