City Councilman honors ‘Gregg Gillis’

The infectious party attitude Gregg Gillis — better known as the mashup master Girl Talk —… The infectious party attitude Gregg Gillis — better known as the mashup master Girl Talk — brought to Pittsburgh during his two-stop tour this weekend has spread all the way to the City Council Chambers.

Today, City Councilman Bill Peduto will sponsor a resolution declaring today — the 69th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor —  “Gregg Gillis Day” for the city of Pittsburgh.

Peduto said in a release yesterday that “Gregg has become an international sensation selling out performances around the world. I am honored to recognize all of the accomplishments of one of our native sons.”

Officials in Peduto’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

The release pointed to a number of accolades that Gillis has received for his sometimes controversial musical stylings.

Gillis’s album “Feed the Animals” reached No. 4 on Time’s Top 10 Albums of 2008 as well as No. 24 on the Rolling Stone Top 50 Albums of 2008.

Blender Magazine named the album the second-best recording/album of 2008, and NPR listeners rated it the 16th best album of that same year.

Gillis released a new album last month, called “All Day,” which fans can download for free on his website.

Some have questioned how Gillis can copiously use samples of other artists’ music without violating copyright. Gillis, who has never been challenged in court for using the other artists’ samples, has argued in the past that he uses the samples in such unique ways that he creates a new work entirely.