Girl Talk, 29 year old DJ Gregg Gillis has just released his latest ADD sample mosaic record. Titled “All Day”, GT’s 5th full length album is available for free download from his label’s website: Click here. You can get it in two different flavors: separated into 6 minute bite sized chucks, or collected in one long MP3.

I’ve given the whole thing a listen and I have mixed feelings. Gillis is giving his fans more of what they want, Hip-Hop vocals over 90s alt-rock rifs, 80s ballads mixed with top 40 hits. All your favorite radio friendly celebrities are there, Rihanna, Beyonce, Missy, Miley, L’il Wayne, Drake, and if you listen carefully you may even hear some Willow Smith. Yeah, these tracks are recent.

It’s sounding a little stale and forced in some places. When I first heard the Night Ripper album, I was blown away. I had heard mash-ups before, but nothing with that level of effort. Seeing him in concert each time is an amazing experience. For one dude with a laptop, he sure knows how to entertain. 2 albums later though, and you start realizing that you like what you’re hearing because you already like the song being sampled, instead of enjoying the new context it’s being used in. The Biggie / Tiny Dancer mix from Night Ripper was inspired. Every time that part came on, my train was interrupted so I could listen. I’m less impressed the third time around. The album opens with Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”, and I don’t really like it. The first six minutes are pretty forgettable.

There are still some great samples. MOP’s Ante Up appears first as the track behind Beyonce’s Single Ladies, then the vocals come out over Miley Cyrus’ “Party In the USA”. The juxtaposition between in the latter mix is super; the hardcore aggressive gangster lyrics combined with the bubblegum pop of PitUSA sure is something to witness. And the mix of the former fits really well. I haven’t heard too many good remixes of Single Ladies, and I think it’s due to the weird cadence of the vocals, so props to Girl Talk for making something great fresh again.

Some other mixes noticed:

  • Big Boi’s Shutterbug with Portishead’s Sour Times
  • Spacehog’s “in The Mean Time” with Fat Joe’s “Lean Back”
  • Beyonce and Phoenix
  • L’il Wayne’s “A Milli” (a live favourite of mine) finally gets the album treatment
  • Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” with Fugazi… some indie purists might not like that, haha
  • Aphex Twin’s “Windowlicker” sandwiched between vocals of Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow”
  • And of course, there’s a Nirvana sample (Aneurysm). Wouldn’t be a Girl Talk album without one.
  • Rage Against the Machine with I think a little bit of M.I.A. Interesting combination of “politically aware” artists.
  • Foo Fighters, Peter Gabriel, The Toadies, Pitbull, etc.

You’ll be getting your money’s worth with this release for sure. I’m sure once I’ve listened to it a few more times I’ll love it more. Girl Talk is on a massive North American tour right now, if he comes near your neighborhood do yourself a favor and go to one of the best concert experiences you’ll ever have.

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