You know you're a Girl Talk fan when...

This morning I was flipping around the dial (some of us still do that) and landed on Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". But when the chorus came, I was disappointed. I sat there going, where's the "kick butt, kick butt" part? I was imagining Girl Talk's "Here's the Thing," where "Since U Been Gone" is juxtaposed with Hammer's "2 Legit 2 Quit."

Turns out, I can no longer enjoy Kelly's song by itself. Because of Gregg Gillis, it is now forever linked in my brain with "2 Legit 2 Quit." He has a way of ruining songs like that, and I love him for it.

Girl Talk's latest album Feed the Animals came out a few months ago, and I never got around to writing about it, but after witnessing his manic set at Lollapalooza, now is an appropriate time for me to hype our Pittsburgh boy.

The best way to show my approval would be to present my top 10 favorite moments from Feed the Animals:

10 Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" & T.I.'s "What You Know" & Shawnna's "Gettin' Some"
“Play Your Part (Pt. 1)” 3:41-4:31
I'm not crazy about the instances when Gillis has to speed up songs to make them fit, as he does with Sinead, but it's funny to hear her beautiful ballad played behind the lyric "I was gettin' some head, gettin' gettin' some head."

9 Metallica’s “One” & Lil Mama’s “Lip Gloss”
“Like This” 2:28-3:21
I'll be honest, I'm slightly disappointed in this. The "One" riff is such a great choice for a mashup, but I think he could've pulled it off a little better. "Lip Gloss" without its backing beats is a pretty unremarkable track. It still rocks because it's "One," but it had the potential for something greater.

8 Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen” & DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat”
“Shut the Club Down” 2:57-3:31
Even the biggest hip hop haters on the planet have to love "Let Me Clear My Throat"- even more so when it's juxtaposed with the Celtic fiddles from the Dexy's Midnight Runners classic.

7 Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” & Big Country’s “In a Big Country”
“Hands in the Air” 0:00-1:15
"In a Big Country" is secretly one of my most played songs on iTunes, and "Whoomp! (There It Is)" is pure party music. If Tag Team really had any skill, they would've recorded "Whoomp!" exactly this way, with the Big Country song as a sample.

6 Jay-Z “Roc Boys” & Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”
“Set it Off” 0:21-1:21
This surprised me a bit because you don't often see two modern giants like these mashed together. In fact, some of the album's least impressive moments involve music from superstars, like when Gillis samples Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." But Radiohead's guitars and Jay-Z's rhymes are a perfect union.

5 Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait” & Missy Elliot’s “Work It”
“No Pause” 0:18-0:54
I love the experience of listening to a new Girl Talk record to hear which obscure '80s songs he's going to pilfer. Here, it's "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz, which blends magnificently with Missy Elliot's ode to sexing.

4 Journey’s “Faithfully” & Huey’s “Pop, Lock & Drop It”
“Play Your Part (Pt. 2)” 1:55-3:25
The final singalong chorus of "Faithfully" is such an awesome anthem that it would be a slam dunk no matter what song it was mashed with. Gillis smartly made this the final moment on his album, as well as his final, glorious number at Lollapalooza as he crowd surfed away.

3 Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” & Nine Inch Nails’ “Wish” & Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit”
“Here’s the Thing” 1:05-2:06
Using "Wish" in a mashup song is an obvious idea because of its explosive guitars, but it works with Kelly Clarkson even better than might be expected, and the touch of Hammer is genius.

2 Yael Naim’s “New Soul” & Eminem’s “Shake That”
"No Pause" 2:27-3:12
This moment got the biggest ovation during Girl Talk's performance at Lollapalooza. I don't know what it is about "New Soul" that is so appealing, but it's undeniable. And this track reminds us that Eminem still exists. I'd almost forgotten.

1 Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks” & Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” & Ray J’s “Sexy Can I” & Ahmad’s “Back in the Day”
“Shut the Club Down” 2:09-2:54
"Young Turks" is one of my favorite '80s songs, so hearing almost a minute of it here is pretty sweet. Mixing it with two rap songs and a subtle dash of "Maniac" makes this my favorite Feed the Animals moment.

Download the album (pay what you want) here. Or sample a couple of tracks:
MP3: Girl Talk - No Pause (Feed the Animals)
MP3: Girl Talk - Here's the Thing (Feed the Animals)