Girl Talk: All Day

Girl Talk
All Day
Rating: Grrrr

Gregg Gillis, better known by his Girl Talk moniker, releases All Day, his 5th album of pop culture music mashups.  At this time, there is really no point in arguing the merits of what Gillis does, you either like him or you don't, you either think what he does is completely brilliant or you think he is just an annoying party DJ that you cannot escape.  I tend to think he is pretty amazing, transforming what you expect into something truly sublime.  His albums remind me of meeting up with a fellow music geek and taking your entire record collection and trying to play the person your favorite songs, barely letting the melody take root before moving on to the next song.  You get snippets and pieces of songs mixed together into a wonderful mess.  Of course, Gillis is far more artful than just playing song after song after song.  His blend of different styles and strands is frequently mind-blowing, making you look at certain songs in a different light, showing that music really is more than just genres.  Music is music and it is surprising how certain things work together when, at least on paper and in personal taste, it would seem to be a waiting disaster.

While there are "songs" with titles on All Day, they really are just placemarkers for the entire 70 minute release.  There is no overarching theme or mood to the album other than to just have a great time.  Even if you don't like all of his mashups, you just have to wait a few seconds before the whole piece to morph into something else entirely.  Plus, it's just fun trying to figure out what all the samples are.

My favorite mash-ups are the following:

Black Sabbath's heavy metal classic "War Pigs" mixed with Ludicris' "Move Bitch;"
Ramones" "Blitzkrieg Bop" with Missy Elliot's "Get UR Freak On;"
Jay Z' "Can I Get A..." with General Public's "Tenderness;"
Rhianna's "Rude Boy" with Fugazi's "Waiting Room;"
Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins' "Get Low" with Simon and Garfunkel 's "Cecilia" and U2's - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker;"
Portishead's "Sour Times" with Big Boi's "Shutterbug"
Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" with Rye Rye featuring M.I.A.'s "Bang;"
Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" with Pitbull's "Hotel Room Service;"
Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" with Young MC's "Bust A Move;"
Phoenix's "1901" with Ludicris" "How Low;"

Not all the mashups work, but I don't think that is the point.  He is trying to push the envelope to see how out there he can get them before they fall and crumble under the weight of his ambitions.  And at any rate, within seconds the album shape shifts into something else.
Kurt and I got into a minor argument about the album when I mentioned that it was fun but disposable, and he got on to me thinking I didn't enjoy pop music enough to appreciate it.  I really didn't intend to malign the album by calling it disposable, and I didn't mean it in a truly derogatory sense.  I guess what I meant was, because of the fact that it is just fun and not meant to be a commentary on anything, it doesn't have any lasting subtext.  It is all surface fun, which there is nothing wrong with.  I put it on and I truly enjoy it, a lot.  It just doesn't stick with me long afterwards.  So, I suppose, in a long-winded way, it is the amazing dessert after a long 7 course meal. 

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.