Girl Talk ready to mash at the ‘Knit’
The latest Girl Talk album, “All Day,” is intended to be heard as a whole – all 71 minutes and 372 samples of it, nonstop.
The fact that it is parsed into individual tracks is merely for easier navigation.
Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, took a break from a relentless touring schedule to create “All Day,” and then immediately released it for free download on the Illegal Art label’s website.
(Of course, his relentless touring schedule has resumed. His Spokane show comes midway through a four-day sprint that takes him from Sasquatch today in George, Wash., to Spokane to Boise to Missoula.)
Gillis has said he spent more time on this album than any of his previous albums in an effort to make the ultimate “pop collage” of unabashedly recognizable mainstream hits with obscure underground gems.
Essentially a music trivia night made into a mixtape mashup, “All Day” plays like one long song that could rock any house party on the block as Gillis cleverly splices unexpected fits such as Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” with Ludacris’ “Get Out The Way,” or Lil Wayne’s “Amili” with Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out,” or Outkast’s Big Boi with Portishead, or Jane’s Addiction with Ice Cube, or The Temptations with 2 Live Crew.
The blends shift in tempo and genre without missing a beat or disturbing the groove.
Even Radiohead’s “Creep” sounds downright natural with the outrageous vocals of Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
Sometimes Gillis samples full-on jams, other times he jacks just a vocal hook, a drum break, or even a piece of a skit.
Designed to satisfy even the shortest attention span, the mashes come in less-than-a-minute increments. As soon as Gillis settles into a mood, he switches it up, from cheesy pop, to gangsta rap, to grunge and so on.
Whether you’re a new-school listener with your ear on the cutting edge, or an old-school head with a penchant for the classics, you’re bound to be both stumped by and warmly familiar with “All Day.”
Part of the pay off for listening to “All Day” is playing Name That Tune as the record progresses. And if you want to check the answers, you can do so by visiting the Illegal Art website to see a complete list of all the artists and songs sampled on the record, including Cyndi Lauper, Nine Inch Nails, Simon & Garfunkel, Third Eye Blind, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Aphex Twin and Ke$ha.
From start to finish, “All Day” is, of course, inexorably danceable.
An obvious proponent of open source culture, Gillis has been the subject of case studies on the socialization of music.
After releasing “All Day,” Gillis hinted at creating an original song, rather than full-length albums of other artists’ songs spun into a unique blend. In the meantime, he continues to release music under Creative Commons licenses, allowing the public to legally use derivative works.