tUnE-yArDs | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Beginning as the lo-fi experimental folk project of Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs fuses indie-pop and global elements into uniquely vibrant music. Garbus began writing and performing under the tUnE-yArDs moniker in 2006, using a digital voice recorder and shareware mixing software to assemble her patchwork of found sounds, field recordings, ukulele, unusual percussion, and soulful vocals. It took Garbus two years to craft her debut album, Bird-Brains, which she offered as a pay-what-you-want download on the tUnE-yArDs website. Thanks to frequent touring with artists like Thao and positive buzz from music blogs, Garbus sold over $1,000 worth of copies of the album. In spring 2009, Marriage Records released the album on vinyl; that summer 4AD reissued it in a special screen-printed version before releasing a widely distributed CD version of Bird-Brains that fall, coinciding with a tour opening for the Dirty Projectors. For 2011s W H O K I L L, Garbus added bassist Nate Brenner to the fold and ventured into a professional studio for a more polished but still wide-ranging sound. The album earned widespread critical acclaim and topped The Village Voices annual Pazz and Jop poll of music critics. Early in 2013, Garbus returned with tUnE-yArDs as Yoko, a single that saw her covering and remixing two of of Yoko Onos songs to benefit the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, one of the charities helping those affected by Hurricane Sandy. When she began work on the third tUnE-yArDs album, Garbus changed her approach -- a trip to Haiti provided inspiration -- while collaborations with producers Malay and John Hill -- better known for their work with Big Boi and M.I.A., among others -- gave 2014s Nikki Nack an even more eclectic and accessible feel. Prior to the release of tUnE-yArDs fourth album, Garbus had a weekly DJ set at an Oakland, California bar and curated C.L.A.W., a Red Bull Radio show featuring music from female-identifying artists. To record 2018s I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life, she and Brenner -- now an official member of the band -- shared production duties, streamlining their music while tackling complex issues in the lyrics. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: BiRd-BrAiNs Released: 2009-03-19 Tracks: 13 Duration: 53:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 For You (01:50) 2 Sunlight (03:47) 3 Lions (04:59) 4 Hatari (05:39) 5 News (03:24) 6 Jamaican (03:54) 7 Jumping Jack (03:16) 8 Little Tiger (04:59) 9 Safety (04:37) 10 Fiya (05:28) 11 Synonynonym (03:50) 12 Want Me To (04:24) 13 Real Live Flesh (03:32) |
| BiRd-BrAiNs : Allmusic album Review : Though tUnE-yArDs’ debut album Bird-Brains was eventually released by the famed indie label 4AD, it began as truly independent music. Merrill Garbus (also of Sister Suvi) recorded the album at home with a digital voice recorder and shareware recording software, patching together artfully messy beats, ukulele, field recordings, and her surprisingly rich, almost androgynous voice into songs with folk purity and the boldness of mash-ups. Despite -- or more likely, because of -- the pared-down instrumentation, Bird-Brains is equally eclectic and personal. She ends the winding melody of “For You” with spoken word snippets of her and a child eating blueberries, then seamlessly shifts abruptly to "Sunlight"s bludgeoning beats and high-strung guitars. Throughout, Garbus pulls off stunning contrasts, whether it’s her torchy voice and lyrics like “tiny teenage cocks” giving “When You Tell the Lions”’ simple melody a surprising worldliness, or “Jumping Jack”’s brittle percussion and massive bass lending a menacing edge to its nursery-rhyme chant. Best of all is “Hatari”’s exotic yet homespun pop, which layers Garbus’ barbaric yawp over a beat that feels like a bhangra/hip-hop hybrid. Even on the album’s more straightforward songs, there’s something surprising to be found, like the coughs used as percussion on “Jamaican.” With all of Bird-Brains’ sonic intricacy, it takes a little while to appreciate Garbus’ equally smart and evocative lyrics, although “Synonym”’s “You remind me of when I didn’t have to wear any clothes … you remind me of the person you used to be” stand out immediately. Few debut albums are audacious enough to call to mind Odetta, M.I.A., and the Raincoats -- often all at the same time -- but this is just such a rare bird. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: BiRd-DrOpPiNgS Released: 2009-11-03 Tracks: 4 Duration: 15:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Want Me To (04:24) 2 Real Live Flesh (03:33) 3 Hap-B (03:23) 4 Hatari (The Small Is Beautiful remix) (04:21) |
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: w h o k i l l Released: 2011-04-18 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 My Country (03:42) 2 Es-So (03:31) 3 Gangsta (04:00) 4 Powa (05:05) 5 Riotriot (04:15) 6 Bizness (04:25) 7 Doorstep (04:18) 8 You Yes You (03:35) 9 Wooly Wolly Gong (06:09) 10 Killa (03:12) |
| w h o k i l l : Allmusic album Review : Merill Garbus home-made patchwork of recordings and loops was so crucial to the success of her first tUnE-yArDs album, Bird Brains, that it seemed like lo-fi sounds were integral to her style. However, she recorded the songs that became W H O K I L L in a professional studio with an engineer and a crew of musicians, and the results are not only as vital and distinctive as what came before, they find Garbus coming into her own. Instead of confining herself to conventionally nice-sounding arrangements and techniques, Garbus sounds like a kid in a candy store, exhilarated by all the possibilities afforded to her. As on Bird Brains, she makes noise-pop of a completely different flavor. She tosses jazz, folk, R&B;, hip-hop and whatever else strikes her fancy into fascinating collisions that are as melodic as they are abrasive, and as globally minded as they are distinctly urban. “Gangsta” is a dense crush of brass and beats topped with sirens and samples that make it sound like it’s unfolding on the street, while “Bizness”s rippling layers evoke a futuristic hybrid of gamelan and Afro-pop. It’s Garbus voice, however, that defines W H O K I L L. One moment, her singing is so unbridled it sounds like field recordings. The next, she hits a remarkable high note or turns a phrase with a torchy lilt like she does on “Powa,” where she sounds sexy, innocent, and demanding all at once. Her messages come through even louder and clearer than they did on Bird Brains, and they’re just as bold and complicated as their surroundings. Throughout the album, Garbus tackles violence, power and identity, shaping “America” into a love-hate anthem of her own on “My Country” and confessing her secret feelings about a policeman on “Riotriot”: “You had come to put handcuffs on my brother/I dreamt of making love to you.” Yet as clearly as she sees danger and corruption, she still leaves room for hope and innocence on the dark, delicate lullaby “Woollywollygong.” W H O K I L L is a tour de force of sounds and ideas that are as intimate as a conversation and as striking as a manifesto, and shows that Garbus is capable of just about anything. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Nikki Nack Released: 2014-05-05 Tracks: 13 Duration: 44:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Find a New Way (03:28) 2 Water Fountain (03:03) 3 Time of Dark (04:33) 4 Real Thing (03:22) 5 Look Around (04:26) 6 Hey Life (03:37) 7 Sink-O (03:17) 8 Why Do We Dine on the Tots? (01:28) 9 Stop That Man (03:33) 10 Wait for a Minute (03:54) 11 Left Behind (04:31) 12 Rocking Chair (02:03) 13 Manchild (03:09) |
| Nikki Nack : Allmusic album Review : tUnE-yArDs music thrives on contradictions, not the least of which is how an album as singular as W H O K I L L earned the critical consensus to top The Village Voices 2011 Pazz and Jop poll. The fascinating dualities continue on Nikki Nack: Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenners third album is also their most musically sophisticated, yet its primal emotions come through even more clearly. Its not that Nikki Nack is more focused than the bands previous work, since its overflowing with sounds and ideas (and Garbus has always had a firm grasp on her aesthetic). "More concentrated" might be a better way of expressing the albums vibrancy and vitality -- and how these songs are even more distinctive and accessible than tUnE-yArDs previous music. "Find a New Way" suggests that this evolution wasnt exactly easy, but Garbus and Brenner turn the struggle against writers block into something joyous, with sparkling harpsichords and beaming choruses channeling liberation and determination in equal measure. The duo did find a new way for Nikki Nack, eschewing the loops that dominated Bird-Brains and W H O K I L L for intricate polyrhythms (Garbus even went to Haiti to study drumming) and collaborating with producers Malay and John Hill, who have worked with Big Boi and M.I.A., respectively. Somehow, sacrificing some of tUnE-yArDs D.I.Y. ethic brings out more of their musics essence. The R&B; elements lurking in their music come to the fore, especially on the dreamily impatient "Wait for a Minute," one of Garbus poppiest and most emotionally complex songs yet. The duos ambition is also more apparent on the excellent "Time of Dark," which moves from moody introspection to towering empowerment, while "Look Around" sings the praises of love and self-reliance in a threatening world. Though their new way is on display throughout Nikki Nack, theres a lilt to Garbus melodies and rhythms that is quintessentially tUnE-yArDs. She understands and modernizes the power of rhythm-based storytelling, passed down from nursery rhymes, jump-rope chants, and work songs, and gives it a subversive twist. Ominous images like bloody dollars, cracking whips, and drought cloud "Water Fountain"s musical sunshine, while the child-eating grandparents of "Why Must We Dine on the Tots?" provide a neat, if horrifying, allegory for how the old guard cannibalizes opportunities for young people. Elsewhere, the duo touches on so many issues -- "Real Thing" alone tackles fame, consumerism, and body shaming -- that it could feel superficial if it werent for the passion coursing through each track. Nikki Nacks awareness is perhaps most refreshing when it involves self-awareness: "Hey Life"s reflection is profound in its simplicity and offers some much-needed breathing room on an album that borders on sensory overload. Nikki Nack demands, and rewards, repeated listening to appreciate everything Garbus and Brenner are doing. Its an oddly nourishing album thats as big a step forward for tUnE-yArDs as W H O K I L L was from Bird-Brains. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: I can feel you creep into my private life Released: 2018-01-19 Tracks: 12 Duration: 44:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Heart Attack (03:43) 2 Coast to Coast (03:55) 3 ABC 123 (03:34) 4 Now as Then (03:52) 5 Honesty (03:38) 6 Colonizer (03:54) 7 Look at Your Hands (03:46) 8 Home (04:18) 9 Hammer (03:15) 10 Who Are You (03:17) 11 Private Life (03:20) 12 Free (03:41) |
| I can feel you creep into my private life : Allmusic album Review : Tune-Yards made a timely return with i can feel you creep into my private life, a vibrant album that explores the political and cultural tumult of the late 2010s with anthemic heft and individualistic perspectives. Merrill Garbus creative process included DJing, taking workshops on race, and doing lots of writing, all of which can be felt in the albums poppier sound, its leaner, more direct confrontations and confessions, and the skill with which she and Nate Brenner examine race, politics, and feminism. Theyre as confident on big-picture songs like "Coast to Coast" and "ABC 123" which respectively envision a sinking New York and a burning California, as they are on "Look at Your Hands," a bouncy expression of connection and responsibility, and "Colonizer," where Garbus sings about using her "white womans voice" over a gnawing beat that suggests a colony of termites or a multiplying virus. While i can feel you creep into my private life is less overtly whimsical than Tune-Yards previous albums, Garbus and Brenner still manage to have fun in ways that dont detract from its urgency. With its junkyard beats and tumbling layers of vocals, "Private Life" is equally joyous and searching -- in other words, quintessential Tune-Yards. Likewise, "Hammer" feels like the spiritual heir to "Water Fountain" in the way it juxtaposes oppression with irresistible rhythms and harmonies. Brenner and Garbus balance dynamic songs like these and the bold opening track "Heart Attack" with reflective moments such as "Home" and the dubby "Who Are You," both of which ensure theres as much questioning as proclaiming on the album. Though many more artists became politically outspoken in the years following W H O K I L L and Nikki Nack, Tune-Yards passionate commentary and innovative sounds are just as potent as ever, and i can feel you creep into my private life might just be their most cohesive set of songs yet. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Sorry To Bother You (Original Score) Released: 2019-04-19 Tracks: 21 Duration: 41:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Transformative Experience (00:33) 2 Study Up (01:52) 3 Stts (00:19) 4 SIGNS (Detroits Theme) (02:09) 5 Regalview Theme (00:57) 6 Money Money Money (02:08) 7 Powercallers Suite (01:26) 8 Mr Greens Muzak (00:49) 9 Lets Begin Again (Nitnot) (02:12) 10 Does It Feel Good (02:17) 11 Sad Theme (02:25) 12 Revealed (02:33) 13 Steve Lifts Par Y (03:08) 14 Performance Art (02:16) 15 Triumph (01:57) 16 Love Theme (00:39) 17 Play My Clip (02:32) 18 This Is My White Voice (03:26) 19 Does It Feel Good (Lucid Dream mix) (02:19) 20 The Reveal (02:33) 21 Backbone (02:32) |