Talkin' Jazz

Released in 1996, 'Talkin' Jazz' is the debut studio album by Gregg Gillis under the Girl Talk moniker. Long before he became a household name for his maximalist pop mashups like 'Night Ripper,' Gillis was deeply embedded in the experimental noise and glitch scenes. This album serves as a foundational text for his plunderphonic style, though its execution is vastly different from his later work. Rather than high-energy juxtaposition, 'Talkin' Jazz' focuses on the manipulation of a single genre: jazz. Using tracks by artists like Stan Getz and Thelonious Monk as source material, Gillis applies early digital editing techniques to create a 'broken' lounge aesthetic. The album was released during a fertile period for abstract electronic music, echoing the 'clicks and cuts' movement while maintaining a melodic tether to its source material. It remains a cult favorite for fans of experimental sampling and provides critical context for the evolution of the mashup genre.