Merrill Garbus

Merrill Garbus is a musician, producer and composer who slams, wails, strums and shakes with her band, tUnE-YaRdS. You can follow her on Twitter here.

@tuneyards

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Bio

Tune-Yards (sometimes stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the American, Oakland, California-based music project of musician Merrill Garbus, with long-time collaborator, bassist Nate Brenner. Garbus’s music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and utilizes elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, vocals, and lo-fi percussion. Tune-Yards’ 2011 album Whokill was ranked the number one album of that year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz and Jop critic's poll. Their debut album BiRd-BrAiNs was first released on limited edition vinyl and cassette in June 2009, via the Portland-based imprint Marriage Records. In July 2009, it was announced that tUnE-yArDs had signed to 4AD, and a limited edition pressing of BiRd-BrAiNs was released on August 17, 2009. A full worldwide release followed on November 16, 2009 (and November 17th in North America). The autumn 2009 pressing was remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Christian Wright, and includes two new bonus tracks: "Want Me To" and "Real Live Flesh." BiRd-BrAiNs was entirely self-produced and recorded, with Garbus utilizing a hand-held digital voice recorder, ukulele, some noisy off-balance drums, and produced using shareware mixing software. Garbus described their sound as "a patchwork of sound snippets, of history in a present tense. It is a composer's commitment to the preservation of stories, however small and unassuming." A second album w h o k i l l was released on April 19, 2011, preceded by the single "Bizness". It was produced by Garbus and engineered by Eli Crews at New, Improved Studios in Oakland, California. Comparing the act to Sonic Youth, Frontier Psychiatrist said, "if BiRd-BrAiNs was Garbus’ EVOL, a record bursting with musical ideas that attempted to subvert the notion of song, w h o k i l l is their Sister, a record that embraces the traditional pop song as a vehicle to convey those ideas." The song "Fiya" is featured on a 2010 commercial for the Blackberry Torch. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Talks

Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes) Talks with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) on the Talkhouse Podcast

By Talkhouse Podcast | April 22, 2021

Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes) Talks with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs) on the Talkhouse Podcast

The two songwriters (and friends) talk about meaning, songwriting, and more.

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Adele’s 25

By Merrill Garbus | January 6, 2016

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Adele’s 25

Our writer finds herself swooning, romanced and disappointed by Adele's third album. And then she locates the appeal of this vastly popular artist.

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Deerhoof’s La Isla Bonita

By Merrill Garbus | November 10, 2014

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Deerhoof’s La Isla Bonita

Tune-Yards' leader finds you can get to some amazing places with the new Deerhoof album — even if you're listening while on a treadmill.

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Haiti and Exploring a Non-Western Musical Tradition

By Merrill Garbus | June 1, 2013

Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards) Talks Haiti and Exploring a Non-Western Musical Tradition

These days, I'm trying to write a new album. Right now it's called Sink-o, but who knows if that will remain. It came from my obsession...