Girl Talk: All Day

By Michael Lopez Tue., Nov. 30 2010 at 8:42 AM

Categories: Review Roundup

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Girl Talk - All Day

As we inch towards December -- traditionally a graveyard for non-Christmas related new releases -- the weekly roster of new music becomes dangerously slim. Some of the more notable new releases in this week's lineup include yet another Glee volume, a new Black Eyed Peas album and an El Debarge album, his first in sixteen years.

This dearth of new music is why I chose to give a two-week old album -- All Day by Girl Talk -- a shot this week. Gregg Gillis, the man behind the madness, unleashed his fourth album on an unsuspecting world two Mondays ago, giving reviewers no time to proffer their take on his music. With plenty of time to get All Day under their collective belts, the reviewers have spoken and the results are rather mixed -- much like Gillis' trademark mashup style.

What the rest of the critics are saying:

Pop Matters: The most impressive thing about the latest Girl Talk album is the vast arsenal of "UNH!"s and "OH!"s and "AY!"s that Gregg Gillis has amassed and put on display. On his new record, All Day, the mash-up hero may have collected every single utterance of those syllables committed to tape by a hip-hop artist in the last, say, 30 years. It certainly feels that way. If his decision sounds to you like it might be somewhat excessive, you have good instincts.

Consequence of Sound: As far as advanced reviews or hype, All Day doesn't need it. You know whether you'll like this album before you even listen to it. While people want to seem like there is more to it, All Day is a party album. A party with a sick DJ.

Paste Magazine: For the most part, the record plays free-flow style, appropriately accommodating a riotous cha-cha fiesta. Though monotonous on occasion--we probably could have done without all the GaGa-gushing--his dance-ready mash-ups are best when the contrasts are high. Foxy Brown's "Hot Spot" becomes softer and more accessible when paired with the soothing croons of Peter Gabriel.

Pitchfork: There was a certain thrill to being something of a captive audience, of letting yourself go and being impressionable for just once, finding out that "Possum Kingdom" was pretty rad while waiting for a new Beck single, that both "Flava in Ya Ear" and "Liquid Swords" were great in their own way and that your parents liked some cool shit after all once you discovered the classic rock station. It's fitting that Gillis went old-school and "released" All Day so that everyone could have it at the same time: He wants nothing more than to recapture the thrill of a true communal pop experience.

Download All Day for free via Illegal Art.

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