Girl Talk- Bone Hard Zaggin' (2006)

Girl Talk- Bone Hard Zaggin'

Inspired by mashup DJ Gregg Gillis’, aka Girl Talk, performance at Atlantic City’s House Of Blues on Saturday night, I thought I would do a little write up on Gillis’ rarely heard Bone Hard Zaggin’.

Bone Hard Zaggin’ is a 7” single released in 2006 by 333 recordings, shortly after the release of Girl Talk’s breakout LP Night Ripper. Despite only featuring two tracks, both tracks have a distinct, fresh sound and are amongst Girl Talk’s best. Gillis’ mashup techniques are much more frenetic than those used on Feed The Animals. Side one’s “Pure Magic” has Gillis’ mashing up classics such as Genesis’ “In Too Deep,” Birdman’s “What Happened To That Boy,” Kanye’s “Jesus Walks” and Hall & Oates’ “Rich Girl.” In a somewhat recent article, Gillis mentioned that for his next album he is going to experiment with recurring themes and even verse-chorus structure, like Feed Your Animals' use of “International Players Anthem (I Choose You) ” as an opening and closing theme, but on a much smaller, song by song scale. “Pure Magic” may be the most pertinent of example of what that might sound like. In addition to the use of repetition, Gillis’ mash-up work is much more overdriven and glitchy sounding, unlike the smooth layering of Feed The Animals. Both of the aforementioned techniques make “Pure Magic” one of Girl Talk’s most interesting tracks. Side B’s “LC and Lo” continues in the same manner, with Gillis’ dropping instantly recognizable tracks like Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps.” The track has the similar uncharacteristic, chopped up style of “Pure Magic” and also succeeds at being one of Gillis’ exciting tracks.

Despite it’s short length, Bone Hard Zaggin’ is a must for any fan of Girl Talk, especially those who enjoyed the more complex style of mashup of Night Ripper. If Gillis really does expand upon the concepts of song structure and repetition, Bone Hard Zaggin' must just be the best example of what we might be in for.

Click the album artwork to sample Bone Hard Zaggin’ and make sure you don’t miss Girl Talk next time he stops by your area, his live show is one of the best I’ve seen.