By Zachary Swickey

NORMAN, OKLA. – I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that the world’s greatest party-thrower, Girl Talk, was going to be at the Opolis – a tiny venue in the college town of Norman, Oklahoma, that showcases indie acts and local bands with a capacity well below 200. This must be some kind of mistake, I thought, but just the thought of seeing such a huge act in such an intimate setting was awesome.

Turns out, Girl Talk – also known by his common name, Greg Gillis – is in the midst of a guerilla tour of sorts that is hitting up only eight college cities across the states. For the AXE One Night Only Tour 2011, Gillis is going old-school by performing secret shows in low capacity venues, announcing details of the gigs just days before show time via the AXE Facebook page (four more secret stops are scheduled for this Tuesday through Friday, so be on the lookout). Gillis treated me to a quick phone chat before the show and said this tour is a way to give back to the fans and reminisce over his pre-breakout gigs. "Prior to 2006, I would play anyplace, anytime," he told MTV News. "The circumstances did not matter."

Gillis performs anywhere from 150-200 plus times a year, so I knew he'd have some strange show stories. Asked if anything stuck out, in particular, he recounted opening for Blues Traveler and the Violent Femmes at Colorado’s famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the 4th of July in 2007. "I think they were expecting me to be some kind of background DJ or something who played music as everyone walks in," he said. "Instead, I was up there shirtless and screaming doing what I do right as the doors were opening and the first 100 people were shuffling to find their seats."

I was also curious as to whether any of the musicians that Gillis has sampled have approached him to give their seal of approval, and was surprised when he told me that Big Boi caught his show in a "small, sweaty club" in Atlanta sometime in 2007-08. An even bigger glowing sign of approval apparently came from Mike Patton (singer of Faith No More). Gillis samples Patton’s group along with Busta Rhymes in a song and when a reporter asked Patton how he felt about it, he responded, "It was an honor to work with Busta Rhymes." (How’s that for a glowing recommendation?)

When Gillis finally took the stage Saturday night, the crowd showered him with applause before things even began, and it didn’t take long for our party commander to lead us into "Oh No," the opening track of his 2010 release, All Day, which finds the mash-up mastermind mixing the rhyming talents of Ludacris over the notorious "War Pigs" riff from Black Sabbath. I was wondering what a Girl Talk show without his onstage party henchman was going to be like, but lo and behold, he brought them! Two or three crew members (it’s hard to tell who was official or not) still managed to fit into the small venue to shoot confetti cannons and blast spiraling toilet paper rolls over our heads (not to mention the hundreds of small and giant-size balloons being tossed about).

It’s a good thing Gillis wraps his laptops in saran wrap for protection – he told me he’s had "only one" computer casualty this year – because by the time he got to "Bodies Hit the Floor" (which is the only time you’ll hear Foo’s "Hero" next to Luda’s "Move B**ch") midway through the set he was drenched in sweat from head to toe and dripping all over the place as he danced while hovering over his laptop.

One of the crowd favorites – another All Day track, “Steady Shock” – was a trip down memory lane that brought together Outkast’s "B.O.B.," Nirvana’s "Aneurysm" and some Bones Thugs N Harmony, while also keeping it modern with a little Nicki Minaj and J. Cole thrown in the mix. Time flew by as the show soon ended and Gillis flung himself into the crowd with high-fives coming from all directions.

I asked Gillis if he’ll be continuing his pattern of giving us a new release every two years (we’re due for one in 2012), and while he wouldn’t comment specifically on what he’s up to, he assured me he'd be releasing something in 2012 and that it might be "something different."

With the biggest names in baseball flying into town this week for what will be the last-ever
All-Star Game to be played at New York's legendary Yankee Stadium, we here at MTV News' New York offices have been stricken with baseball fever. It's hard to escape baseball this week. No matter where you turn, there's some sort of reminder that the fastest fielders, the strongest arms and the biggest bats in the game are all here, to ensure home-field advantage for their respective league in the fall classic.

All this baseball in the air got us thinking about music's all-stars — the artists who've shattered sales records this year, produced hit after hit and have been packing out arenas coast to coast. If music had an all-star game, who would we want to see in the dugout? After careful consideration, here are some of our picks — and feel free to let us know who'd go in your team in the comments section below. So, here goes.

Disturbed: With their new album, Indestructible, topping Billboard's albums sales chart last month, selling 252,800 copies its first week of release, there's no denying Disturbed are some of rock's heaviest hitters. Over the course of their career, they've sold millions of records and have seen three of their records debut at #1. With that kind of consistency, Disturbed might be a solid starting pitcher for our all-star team, and with them co-headlining the inaugural RockStar Mayhem Festival with Slipknot this summer, there's no question they're big draws. Plus, frontman David Draiman does a wicked impression of late baseball announcer Harry Carey, which is kind of awesome.

Katy Perry: In three short weeks, Perry has gone from unknown to flavor of the month, and her debut LP, One of the Boys, has sold nearly 115,000 copies, mostly on the strength of her infectious summer hit, "I Kissed a Girl," which is dominating the nation's airwaves. While a rookie, this kid's got some spunk and could be a perfect fit for first base. She'd also be valuable at the plate, because, let's face it — she's a self-proclaimed switch hitter.

Santogold: Andrew Millard's casting his vote for this former lead singer of Philadelphia-based ska-punk outfit Stiffed. After spending nearly seven years in the minors writing music for Res, Lily Allen and Ashley Simpson, Santogold finally earned a call up to the "Show" when she released her eponymous debut album back in April. Though this Cracker Jack's indie-rock/electronic-dub sound seemed straight out of right field, it scored big with some industry Hall of Famers (Rolling Stone gave her four out of five stars). Not only can she come through with hits, but she can pitch, too. Singles "Creator" and "Lights Out" got major playing time in Bud Light commercials — what's more American than that? And most recently, she teamed up with Pharrell of the Neptunes and Julian Casablancas of the Strokes to record "My Drive Thru," a tune performed for team Converse.

Girl Talk: Could he be the perfect head coach for our team? John Ochoa thinks so. "Compare his music to any release of the year, and you'll see that his broad knowledge and embrace of musical genres and influences will drive the team's overall offense (sound)," Ochoa explained. "Plus, he's perfect party music for the halftime show."

Spencer Krug: Between Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown, Spencer's been responsible for at least one of the top 10 albums of the year (in Matt Harper's humble opinion), for the past four years, his most recent being Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer. Talk about consistency. How many musicians can say that they front two bands that are both amazing? With his versatility and speed (his two bands aside, he also finds time to work with side-projects Swan Lake, Frog Eyes and Fifths of Seven), perhaps Krug would be an ideal outfielder and lead-off hitter.

Lil Wayne: The man comes through in a clutch. When you need a single, you can always count on Weezy, and he's music's MVP right now. The ultimate team player, sparking every guest appearance he's on (and there a million of them) like a ninth-inning rally, and at the plate, he took out the park with a mammoth shot called Tha Carter III. He's your slugging third baseman, makes the entire infield better and is a Barry-Bonds-in-his-prime threat to go deep every time at the plate.

T-Pain: According to our hip-hop editor, Shaheem Reid, T-Pain is "my Derek Jeter." Like Jeets, Pain would make any team better, à la his guest appearances. Also, like Jeter, when he does his thing on his own (solo LP and singles), his stats aren't monster, but mostly above average and formidable.

The Ting Tings' Katie White: Aside from her fun, poppy indie-rock creations, some of us feel she could probably win in a fistfight. That winning spirit could come through big for our team when the chips are down. Plus, she can do backflips. With that kind of athleticism and spring in her step, she'd be dangerous at the warning track, climbing the outfield wall and pulling those deep shots back into the park.

Slipknot: If White can't handle the yard, Slipknot certainly could. Not only do these guys have egos bigger than Steinbrenner, there are so many of them, we could stick all nine guys out there, and nothing would get by them — although they may lose some pop-ups if they insist on wearing those masks on the field. Unfortunately, we'd have to relegate all of their fans to the bleachers — don't want them ruining the game for everyone else.

Nas: Rahman Dukes' pick for our team. According to Rahman, the veteran Queens native "releases the best hip-hop album of 2008 (sorry Lil Weezy), arguably the best in his 10-plus-year career, so it's only fitting Esco represents the East Coast rap squad, which this year has seen OK releases from G-Unit, Prodigy and Fat Joe." Because his album's called Untitled, the verdict's out on his exact position. But Rahman thinks "he'd be a great umpire, only because Nas calls the shots."

Mariah Carey: Our resident Mariah fanatic Kristin Grimmett thinks Mrs. Cannon would provide a nice boost to our all-star squad, because of her sales prowess and her five-octave range. She's one of music's best comeback stories and, unlike Jason Giambi, she didn't have to cultivate a mustache to turn her career around. And don't be fooled by the fact that she couldn't even reach the plate when she tossed out the first pitch during a major-league game in Japan a few months back — when the pressure's on, Mariah steps up her game and could prove a valuable asset for our team. But, of course, there are no bikinis in baseball, so perhaps Mariah would be best suited as a bench coach.

Amy Winehouse: Gil Kaufman's pick for our fantasy team is Wino, "because her antics — from the alleged drug snorting in videos to the emphysema diagnosis, fan-punching and banana-sandwich diet — are like the drama of an extra-inning World Series game seven between the Yankees and the Red Sox, multiplied by a seventh-inning stretch featuring a slow tango by A-Rod and Madonna across home plate ... times two." Assuming she wouldn't have the strength to actually stand for an entire inning, let's make Amy our designated hitter. After all, you can't really rely on her to show up to play her position, and it's hard to balance a smoke, a highball and a mitt when trying to catch a pop fly.

Now, you go. Who's on your all-star music team?

Hardcore fans of pop culture have been waiting with baited breath for the latest Girl Talk album, Feed The Animals, which is like a musical spot-the-reference game. I am one of those people, so I was over the moon at the opportunity to spend a day hanging out with the man behind Girl Talk, Gregg Gillis, in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Here's a quick bit of background if you're not familiar with Girl Talk:

· He's not really a DJ — technically speaking, he's a "laptop producer."

· He uses music samples to create something completely new and amazing. Technically his songs are mash-ups, but that's not giving him proper credit: At a rough estimate, there's somewhere around 300 music sources in Feed the Animals, (which drove our James Montgomery crazy on a recent transcontinental flight), maybe more.

· His last album, Night Ripper, was one of the best releases of 2006 (and not just according to me: Pitchfork, Paste, and Rolling Stone all put it on their "Best of the Year" lists).

Anyway, we started the day off at the Coal Hill Steakhouse at the Grandview Saloon, where we had a beer, talked about his start in music, and reminisced about some of his more memorable performance experiences — my favorite being the time he brought $500 worth of Taco Bell to a show to give out to his fans.

Then we hit up the famous Pittsburgh sandwich establishment Primanti Brothers for one of their amazing sandwich creations. While eating our capricola and cheese sandwiches (complete with coleslaw and fries), we discussed some other awesome things to do while hanging out in Steel Town.

Finally, we wrapped up our day by heading over to Gregg's apartment, where we talked about Feed the Animals and went through the album track-by-track. Hearing the whole thing for the first time blew my mind. I tried desperately to pick out as many samples as I could, but I'm sure I missed most of them (if you check out the Wikipedia page for the album, intrepid users are already hard at work trying to pick each track apart).

And here's what he had to say ...

"Play Your Part (Pt. 1)," "Shut the Club Down," "Still Here," "What It's All About":

"Set It Off," "No Pause," "Like This":

"Give Me a Beat," "Hands in the Air," "In Step," "Let Me See You":

"Here's the Thing," "Don't Stop," "Play Your Part (Pt. 2)":