Night Ripper
An image featuring the words "Night Ripper" written in yellow lettering and the outline of a ghost. In the background, the words "Girl Talk" are repeated several times.
Studio album by
Girl Talk
ReleasedMay 9, 2006 (2006-05-09)
GenreMashup
Length42:05
LabelIllegal Art
ProducerGregg Gillis
Girl Talk chronology
Stop Cleveland Hate
(2004)		 Night Ripper
(2006)		 Bone Hard Zaggin'
(2006)

Night Ripper is the third studio album by American musician Gregg Gillis, released under his stage name Girl Talk on May 9, 2006 by Illegal Art. It is a mashup album primarily composed of samples taken from other artists' music, while also incorporating minor amounts of original instrumentation recorded by Gillis himself. Produced as one seamless piece of music before subsequently being broken into individual tracks, Night Ripper was composed by Gillis in a period of around eight months, during which he divided time between production of the album and his work as a biomedical engineer.

Illegal Art initially released Night Ripper as a digital download on their website, later making the album available on other sites and shipping the album to select record stores due to strong demand. None of the samples used on the album was cleared prior to release, causing several online retailers to pull the album from their listings. Night Ripper was later re-released for download on the Illegal Art website through a new "pay what you want" pricing system.

Night Ripper received generally positive reviews from critics, who commended Gillis' choice of samples and his efficiency at layering them together to create new tracks. It appeared in numerous publications' year-end lists of the best albums of 2006. The album has been described as Gillis' breakthrough album, helping boost his reputation and leading several artists to commission him for remix work.

Background and production

A Caucasian man wearing a tie performs music using a laptop. Several people dance around him.
Girl Talk performing in 2006

The second studio album by Girl Talk, Unstoppable, marked a shift away from the glitch style of his debut Secret Diary.[1] While still retaining the sample-based nature of Secret Diary, Unstoppable focused more on beatwork as well as structuring and layering samples into full tracks.[2] The album's stylistic change was brought about by Gillis' experiences performing live, which influenced him to "make the music more accessible and push the party vibe."[2] Following the release of Unstoppable, he spent an additional two years touring before beginning work on his third studio album.[2]

Described by Gillis as "a record that reflects [his] own personal music tastes," Night Ripper features over 300 samples of other artists' songs, spanning several decades and genres.[3][4] Commenting on the process of choosing samples to use, he explained: "I'll just hear something on the radio or at a party and go ahead and sample it off a CD or record or download it. I sample loops and breaks and vocal clips all the time. So I've been cataloguing samples for years, I have this massive library. Songs come out everyday so it's never ending."[5]

The entirety of Night Ripper was produced using a WAV digital audio editor, with Gillis manipulating samples by chopping, layering and transitioning them.[5] He also recorded original synthesizer and keyboard instrumentation for certain tracks.[7] The album was created by Gillis as one long piece of music, which he subsequently split into individual tracks.[7] He was also working as a biomedical engineer at the time, obliging him to divide his time between his day job and his music career, including production of the album;[2][8] production of the album took around eight months to complete.[9] Subsequent audio mastering was done by Jonathan Schenke.[10]

Release

Illegal Art released Night Ripper on May 9, 2006 as a digital download on their website.[3] Strong demand prompted the label to produce physical CD and LP copies of the album for shipping to select record stores,[3] as well as make it available for purchase on several online retailers.[11] Illegal Art did not clear any of the samples used on Night Ripper, leading to several problems in the album's distribution and release.[12] At least one CD manufacturing plant refused to press the album,[13] and the head of another plant asked Gillis and his label to justify the use of two specifically chosen samples.[5] Online music stores eMusic and iTunes both pulled Night Ripper from sale due to sample clearance concerns.[2][14] Anticipating lawsuits, Illegal Art prepared a defense citing the fair use trademark law as a legal backbone for the album's use of samples.[11] The label also went over the possibility of a royalty system, but ultimately scrapped it when they decided that it would only weaken their fair use argument.[12] When asked about the possibility of suing Gillis and Illegal Art, however, one major-label executive stated his belief that filing a lawsuit against a minor independent label – especially for an album which, at that point, had barely sold 10,000 copies – would only bring bad publicity.[15] Ultimately, no lawsuits materialized in wake of the album's success, which Gillis described as "liberating."[16]

The album's positive reception boosted Gillis' popularity and reputation, and Night Ripper has been described as his breakthrough album.[17] Following the album's release, American musician Beck asked Gillis to open for him at a concert in London.[9] Blender also invited him to perform at their MTV Video Music Awards after-party.[9] Several artists commissioned Gillis to produce remixes of their tracks, including Beck, Good Charlotte, Grizzly Bear and Peter Bjorn and John.[9] Night Ripper has sold over 20,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[12] Recalling in a 2016 interview, almost ten years after the release of the album, Gillis said, "Night Ripper was clearly the album that took off for me and definitely changed my life."[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubA−[19]
Blender[20]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A−[21]
NME5/10[22]
Pitchfork8.4/10[23]
PopMatters7/10[24]
Q[25]
Tiny Mix Tapes5/5[26]
Uncut[27]

Night Ripper was generally well received by contemporary music critics.[28] In a rave review, Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! praised the album's "extraordinary" cohesion and wrote: "Gillis is a rigorous craftsman, and his assembling skill is near perfect down to the second, introducing the next song at the most opportune moment."[29] Pitchfork's Sean Fennessey also responded favorably, commending the "pure precision" of Girl Talk's sampling and naming the album the "soundtrack of the summer" for 2006.[23] Robert Christgau, in his "Consumer Guide" column for MSN Music, called Night Ripper "the best mash-up album since 2002's The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever" and compared Girl Talk to prominent samplers DJ Shadow and The Avalanches, "only with obvious samples rather than obscure ones".[21]

While stating that the album's reliance on samples of popular music makes it "lose its appeal after a few spins", Marisa Brown of AllMusic wrote that Girl Talk's "ability to draw from a myriad of musical sources" allows Night Ripper to "appeal to anyone who's heard the radio... in the past few years."[6] Similarly, Nate Dorr of PopMatters remarked that the album "holds undeniable appeal, both for sample trainspotters and music geeks... as well as, more importantly perhaps, for the much broader cross-section of listeners who just want to put on a consistently catchy, entertaining record."[24]

Dan Silver of NME said that while the "sheer scope" of Girl Talk's sampling sets him apart from other mash-up artists, Night Ripper "begins to feel much less than the sum of its samples," ultimately describing it as "not so much a work of art, then, as the basis for a 21st century parlour game."[22] Cameron Macdonald of Stylus Magazine dismissed the album as "nothing more than a DJ mix with escapist fun so thick that it is unlikely that listeners will pause the record after every minute to discuss how Gillis battles tentacles of the corporate record industry's squid."[30] While writing that the album "isn't exactly high art", Noel Murray of The A.V. Club described Night Ripper as "one of the most purely fun albums to come along since The Go! Team's debut" and advised readers to obtain the record "before it gets sued out of existence."[19]

Accolades

Track listing

All songs composed by Gregg Gillis (Girl Talk).

  1. "Once Again" – 2:40
  2. "That's My DJ" – 2:08
  3. "Hold Up" – 2:50
  4. "Too Deep" – 2:29
  5. "Smash Your Head" – 3:01
  6. "Minute by Minute" – 3:12
  7. "Ask About Me" – 2:26
  8. "Summer Smoke" – 2:17
  9. "Friday Night" – 3:12
  10. "Hand Clap" – 1:53
  11. "Give and Go" – 2:53
  12. "Bounce That" – 3:24
  13. "Warm It Up" – 2:15
  14. "Double Pump" – 1:45
  15. "Overtime" – 2:15
  16. "Peak Out" – 3:20

Personnel

Credits for Night Ripper adapted from album notes.[10]

In addition, 164 artists sampled on Night Ripper are thanked in the liner notes of the album.[42]

References

  1. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "Girl Talk". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Eyl, Eryc (October 4, 2007). "Ripper Offer". The Pitch. Kansas City. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Monrgomery, James (August 2, 2006). "Waiting For A Ying Yang Twins/ ABBA Collabo? Girl Talk Has Your Record". MTV News. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ Klinge, Steve (January 19, 2007). "Mashing it up with Girl Talk Worlds merge at the hands of the 'Night Ripper' creator". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Dombal, Ryan (August 30, 2006). "Interviews: Girl Talk". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Brown, Marisa. "Night Ripper – Girl Talk". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Girl Talk/Gregg Gillis On New Album, Music Industry". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. July 29, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ Bilton, Nick (February 28, 2011). "One on One: Girl Talk, Computer Musician". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Mervis, Scott (December 21, 2006). "Q&A with Girl Talk". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  10. 1 2 Night Ripper (back cover). Girl Talk. Illegal Art. 2006. IA113.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. 1 2 Anderson, Kyle (October 2006). "The Monster Mash-Up". Spin. New York. 22 (10): 32. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 Ayers, Michael D. (June 14, 2008). "White Noise". Billboard. New York. p. 29. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  13. ↑ Otterbein, Holly (September 4, 2007). "Interview: Girl Talk's Greg Gillis". The Temple News. Philadelphia. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  14. ↑ McLeod & DiCola 2011, p. 183.
  15. ↑ Kot 2009, p. 166.
  16. ↑ Newton, Matthew (September 22, 2008). "The Inquisition: Girl Talk". Spin. New York. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  17. ↑ Kosner, Anthony Wing (October 7, 2012). "Girl Talk's Gregg Gillis On Copyright, Curation and Making Mashups Rhyme". Forbes. New York. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  18. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (January 29, 2016). "Girl Talk on How His 'Night Ripper' Album "Changed My Life": Class of 2006 Interview". Fuse. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  19. 1 2 Murray, Noel (July 5, 2006). "Girl Talk / Nino Moschella: Night Ripper / The Fix". The A.V. Club. Chicago. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  20. ↑ Weiner, Jonah. "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". Blender. New York. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  21. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (June 2007). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  22. 1 2 Silver, Dan (February 21, 2008). "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". NME. London. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  23. 1 2 Fennessey, Sean (July 17, 2006). "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  24. 1 2 Dorr, Nate (June 21, 2006). "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". PopMatters. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". Q. London: 107. Pennsylvania laptop whizzkid Gregg Gillis takes DJ mash-ups to a new level.
  26. ↑ Tamec. "Girl Talk − Night Ripper". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Girl Talk: Night Ripper". Uncut. London (110): 87. July 2006.
  28. ↑ Ayers, Michael D. (June 6, 2008). "Girl Talk Prepares To Unleash 'Animals'". Billboard. New York. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  29. ↑ Lindsay, Cam (September 2006). "Girl Talk − Night Ripper". Exclaim!. Toronto. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  30. ↑ Macdonald, Cameron (June 5, 2006). "Girl Talk – Night Ripper – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  31. ↑ "Paste's Top 100 Albums of 2006". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2006". Pitchfork Media. December 18, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  33. ↑ "20/20". Refinery29. December 12, 2006. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Rolling Stone’s Best Albums Of ’06". Stereogum. SpinMedia. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  35. ↑ "40 Best Albums of 2006". Spin. SpinMedia. p. 15. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  36. ↑ "The best music of the decade". The A.V. Club. November 19, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  37. ↑ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. September 27, 2009. p. 5. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  38. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (February 6, 2010). "Rest of the Best of the Aughts: Albums & Singles (#101 - 250)". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  39. ↑ "The Stylus Decade / Top Albums 100–81". Stylus Magazine. January 2010. Archived from the original Archived August 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine on January 11, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Top 10 Mashup Albums Of All Time". Vibe. SpinMedia. June 14, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  41. ↑ Watercutter, Angela (April 24, 2007). "The 2007 Rave Awards". Wired. San Francisco. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  42. ↑ Night Ripper (liner notes). Girl Talk. Illegal Art. 2006. IA113.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

Bibliography

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