wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

I see three separate questions that people usually want to ask but often conflate
1) Should it be allowed at all?
2) Should the artists be compensated?
and
3) Is it good music?

As to the first question, yes, I think it should be allowed. But I also think the artists should be compensated. If long, recognizable samples are an essential part of your work and you refuse to pay for them you're essentially getting a free ride off other artists. I see it as bit like not paying the drummer and the bass player on your album -- just because you're making original use of their playing doesn't mean they're not contributing a key part and don't deserve credit and compensation.

As to the third question, I find what Girl Talk does with the music pretty boring and unimaginative. I think DJ Shadow does much more impressive and artful things with samples, to the point that they really do become like instruments in his own hands, which I don't think you can say of Girl Talk.

Sampling is grasping at straws. I really find this stuff uninteresting and emblematic of a lack of innovation and, of course, original composition in the context of music and it's history.

What makes Girl Talk different is the way Greg combines samples to make a multi-layered sound, beat, style. It is actually recognizeably Girl Talk, rather than any other random sample artist. He has a unique sound.

I saw him play at a small Georgetown University venue last fall and for someone leaning over a computer, it was the most exciting, sweaty, stage thumping show I have been to. Boys, especially, were hanging all over Greg with visible idol worship. Just a normal guy from Pittsburgh making all the kids scream.

sampling is a form of making music just as i play my drums or my guitar or my bass it is fresh to do it this way i've been waiting for something like this to become music

What a stupid name, Girl Talk.
Sampling means no talent.

Check out the Kleptones!
Amazing stuff. all sampled. Truly great stuff, and FREE to download off his website!

I think Girl Talk is brilliant and completely original. I think the unique brilliance is the combination of different styles and feelings of music - the nostalgia of hearing a song i grew up with along with the hardest core hip hop creates a combination of happiness and revulsion that is the higher form of art than either of the original pieces.
should add in general i am a huge fan of copyright law, it's just that he's created something new and that should be allowed!

I LOVE GirlTalk. He brings together music from different decades and genres and show how they can sound amazing together. Plus, it's like playing a game of 'guess that song.'

Why shouldn't the original artist get a piece of any money made from these "new works"?

is he a fan of The Avalanches? A sample-heavy based Australian band, "Since I Left You" has a plethora of rich samples that really set a foundation for this sort of thing...

was that the staples singers with the band or the the band sped up?

SOUNDCHECK SAYS: Sounds like The Band's version, but it could be the one with the Staples Singers. It definitely sounds sped up to match the tempo and key. Here's a breakdown of the samples heard on "Feed the Animals":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_the_Animals