Gregg Luskin graduated this last quarter with a degree in computer science from UCSB, but he’s been bringing his dance technology to the masses since 2006 under the guise of his DJ alter-ego, Milkman. In his albums and his live gigs, Luskin mashes together layer upon layer of popular music, mixing a bass line from Beck, a rap from Snoop Dogg, a vocal from Shania Twain and bits and pieces from all over the charts, making them work together as very danceable songs.
Mashups have been with us for about 10 years now, starting off with very simple but smile-inducing tracks from Freelance Hellraiser and 2 Many DJs. Their hit featured Christina Aguilera’s vocals matched to the backing track of a song from The Strokes. Just when critics were calling mashups dead, younger artists like Girl Talk and Milkman have resuscitated the genre with very dense tracks that mash as much as possible. Ideas only last for a few bars before moving on to something else. This is music for an ADHD generation.