tune-yards: bird-brains

Merrill Garbus is a criminal genius. In tUnE-yArDs, she has created the most frustrating band name to type in the history of the universe, a theme that is carried on into the title of her debut album, BiRd-BrAiNs. Luckily, Garbus is here to show us that even the most sadistic of minds can make the loveliest music.

Upon my first listen I had reason to pause. Her voice is low and husky enough to make me wonder, just for a moment, whether I was listening to an album not fit for Wears The Trousers’ purposes. But fear not! Garbus is confirmed all woman, and a rather talented woman she is too. Initially self-released in 2008 and now reissued on vinyl, BiRd-BrAiNs is an album of wonderful variety – morose and cheerful, classical and bizarre, harsh and gentle. Reportedly captured entirely on a handheld digital voice recorder, the album has a fuzzy, warm and intimate feeling that is so pleasing it might cause you to wonder if all those huge studios full of fancy recording equipment are really necessary when good music can be made this simply.

At the risk of sounding like an old-world colonial gentleman twiddling his moustache and making patronising comments about the ‘natives’, there is a quality to BiRd-BrAiNs that can perhaps best be called “wOrLd-mUsIcKy”, or something equally nonsensical. Perhaps it’s the powerful, twisty-turny versatility of Garbus’s vocals, or the variety of sounds bursting out of every crack. Whatever it is, there’s a rich, exotic feeling to these songs that cannot be put accurately into words. It’s more than a little folky, that much is certain; the acoustic songs have something of Simon & Garfunkel about them, in a good way.

‘Hatari’ and ‘News’ are cheerful, foot-stomping numbers that seem to cry out for big groups of people to dance madly about along to their beat, while standout number ‘Whenyoutellthelions’ is a haunting, beautiful song in possession of a sense of exquisite urgency and yearning. Elsewhere, ‘Jamaican’ is eerie and threatening, ‘Jumpingjack’ a twisted schoolyard chant, and ‘Fiya’ a song of love and giving up. Kimya Dawson will love this.

By the time the fluttering ‘Synonynonym’ draws the album to a perfect, gentle close on a quiet and softly sad note, you’ll probably have noted that BiRd-BrAiNs is a satisfyingly disparate listen whose rough, lo-fi charms are unlike anything else. You can hear the care and thoughtfulness that has gone into its making, and if care, thoughtfulness and a good sense of humour are qualities that appeal to you in music, a wander through Garbus’s peculiarly lovely little world comes very highly recommended.

[Marriage; March 20, 2009]

Written by: Hugh Armitage

Tags: hugh armitage, merrill garbus, tUnE-yArDs

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 5:56 pm and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.