tUnE-yArDs is playing at Exit/In on Friday night, and I am going to let you know why I think you should go see it. That is also the last time that I am going to spell the name of Tune-Yards with it’s (technically corrrect) “RaNsOm NoTe” caps. Why? Because it is like me trying to figure out how to write about Prince when he changed his name to & (or whatever it was) for an entire blog post…. it’s fuckin’ annoying (sorry about the language, but as Dolly Parton said the other day on Twitter, “Some people are just born cussers.”)
Anyway, back to Tune-Yards. We first started telling you about this Merrill Garbus project back in May. We told you about the Nashville date back in July. We told you that Spin Magazine mentioned Tune-Yards as one of the top 30 fall tours of 2011. Well, we are not the only one talking about this internet buzz “band”. Paste Magazine called Tune-Yards the “Best of What’s Next”. The Beastie Boy’s Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz and Cut Chemist remixed the hit “Gangsta” (free download of Ad-Rock’s remix). She was a darling of festivals across the country this summer (I sadly missed her set at Outside Lands this year). And, in the past couple of days, the internet lit up when she released the video for “Gangsta” (below). The only band right now that is really vying for the internet “buzz” band title with her is YUCK! (our post and Nashville date at Mercy Lounge coming next week).
Merrill is originally an east-coaster who transplanted to the San Francisco Bay Area. She plays a complicated set of looping drums, ukulele, voice, electric bass, along with other sounds and instruments, and rumor has it she has included a sax section for her whokill tour. Her first album, BirdBrains, was originally recorded using only a handheld voice recorder and was released in 2009 on recycled cassette tapes (have you heard that cassette tapes are the new trendy way to release music?….. oh, hipsters). Though the first release was later repressed for limited release by her 4AD label. Her second album, whokill, was released in 2011, and the internet exploded with chatter about it. Her unique sounds and production techniques were immediately in demand, as she began working with Thao & Mirah and others, while her solo career continued to blossom.
So, there you go. I’m personally a huge fan of multi-instrumental looping stuff, and can’t wait for this one. I honestly think this is the music that someone like Nina Simone would be making if she were a young, up and coming artist today. If you aren’t a fan of experimental music that has the capability of stretching the walls of the venue, then this is probably not the show for you. Not to fret though, I’ll throw up another post tomorrow with another idea for your Friday night.
You can still grab tickets here. The Cream is also running a “caption contest” for a pair of tickets (get your wittiest in before noon on Friday). The “Gangsta” video and a couple of other tracks are below (I even included a live version of “Gangsta” as the last track. It’s pretty poorly recorded, but, at least, you can hear that it isn’t just overproduced studio garbage). Listen up, and then get out to see some live music.
[youtube_sc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbkMPHW67xM&w=560&h=315]
Sorry, iPhone users. You have to get on a computer to get the player.
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