Girl Talk

Albums like "Paul's Boutique" and "Fear of a Black Planet" are one thing — the samples used were ultimately cleared and given safe legal license. Girl Talk (the musical alter ego of Gregg Michael Gillis) is a whole other matter: His bizarre dance music collages and mashups are constructed from so many short fragments of other music that it can be difficult to even identify them. Though the songs are catchy and ingenious constructions, the project feels a bit like a statement about that hottest of hot-button issues: copyright law. Not only are all Girl Talk recordings released through Creative Commons licenses, allowing fans the right to sample them, but the label that releases them is called Illegal Art. The New York Times famously called Girl Talk "a lawsuit waiting to happen." Time will tell.

(RD/Kabik/Retna Digital)