CD Review – Girl Talk: All Day

Girl Talk
All Day
Illegal Art

The popularity of Glee is proof of the popularity of the medley. However, while many people probably think of the cheesy television show first when they think of familiar songs in a crazy context, Gregg Gillis, also known as Girl Talk, has been mashing together one pop song after another with class and savvy since 2002. Gillis is an American musician and DJ who is the king and master of the mash-up.

On the new album All Day the very first track features 22 different songs. Although in places the album can feel messy and over saturated, the majority of the time it’s a culmination of fun and serious music that makes an amazing party soundtrack. It’s hard to choose a specific track that stands out because as you are listening it feels like songs are starting, stopping, and continuous all at the same time. Specific moments do really stand out: at the beginning of ”Jump on Stage”, for example, Girl Talk samples Portishead’s “Sour Times,” Naughty By Nature’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” and Big Boi’s “Shutterbugg.”  This two minutes of perfectly sampled tracks is magical. There is no excuse not to play this at your next party because the whole album was released for free on Illegal Art’s website.

Kelly Malone
Contributor